Morocco Moon Sharp in US Downhill Debut
Morocco Moon, a slightly built English-bred filly making her U.S.
debut, scored in style under veteran David Flores at Santa Anita Friday, taking
the afternoon’s third race, a $53,000 second-condition allowance affair
by 1 ¾ lengths while negotiating 6 ½ furlongs down the hillside turf course in
1:11.38.
Idle since running at York
in her native England
on May 18, the 3-year-old daughter of Rock of Gibraltar came into today’s
race with a solid work tab that included two moves over the Santa Anita turf
course.
“I worked her both times here at Santa Anita and I
could tell right away she was a nice filly,” said Flores.
“We worked in company here the last time (Sept. 30) and I could tell
right away she was very competitive. She was really a handful.”
Morocco Moon burst clear from off the pace in mid-stretch
to win handily at odds of 6-1.
“She’s got so much class,” said Flores. “She broke good and she was into the bit
right away. These are the kinds of horses that can make a difference,
especially if your business is slow and mine has been.”
Hall of Fame conditioner Neil Drysdale noted,
“She’s a little bitty thing, but she’s not badly made.
She’s just small. She came over during Del Mar and she’s been training well,
and she had a couple nice works with David. We’ll wait and see what to
do next.”
Owned by Bamford and Speelman, Morocco Moon sat mid-pack in
the field of 10 fillies and mares as longshot Magic School carved out fractions
of 21.03, 42.28 and 1:05.23.
Morocco Moon paid $14.00, $7.80 and $4.20. With the
winner’s share of $31,800, she padded her earnings to $49,284 from an
overall mark of 5-3-1-1.
Hopeful Union, with Jose
Valdivia Jr. aboard, was off at 32-1 and paid $24.80 and $11.40.
Graser, the 9-5 favorite with Corey Nakatani, appeared to have an uneventful trip while running third, finishing a length behind Hopeful Union and returning $2.80 to show.