Santa Anita: Firenze Flavor gets nose down to win Honeymoon

Firenze Flavor emerged victorious in a three-way photo finish Sunday when only a pair of noses separated the top three finishers in a thrilling edition of the Grade 3, $100,000 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, Firenze Flavor made her stakes debut for trainer Patrick Gallagher in the 1 1/8-mile turf event for 3-year-old fillies.

Click here for Santa Anita entries and results.

Firenze Flavor (7-1) bested runner-up Miso Phansy (5-1) by a nose with 6-5 favorite Jungle Peace, who had led from the start until the final jump, another nose back in third.

Pacesetter Jungle Peace entered 3-for-3 in the U.S. for trainer Phil D’Amato but never had raced around two turns. She went to the lead as expected and set fractions of 23.84, 48.10 and 1:11.72 for six furlongs as both Firenze Flavor and Miso Phansy were content to race at the back of the pack.

Jungle Peace continued to show the way into the stretch and maintained a 1 1/2-length advantage at the eighth pole, which was reached in 1:37.08. But she could not hold off the pair of closers.

Firenze Flavor, racing in tandem with Miso Phansy while directly on her outside, used one final surge near the wire to spring the upset.

“I think there’s more to come for her, but first I need to go to LensCrafters,” Gallagher said. “I thought she finished third.”

Firenze Flavor, a homebred for Oda Racing and US Equine, won with a time of 1:49.91.

For Van Dyke, who made a full-time return to Santa Anita last month, it was his first time riding Firenze Flavor.

“My main thing was to get along with her,” Van Dyke said. “She likes to throw her head around I saw from her previous races and watching her in the morning. She likes to throw it down if you fight with her, so I was just trying to get along with her the best I could and go from there.

“I was a little worried. She kicked nice for me and was trying to shy away from the (Miso Phansy) to my inside. As I got closer to her, she dug in the last little part, and it just worked out good for me.”

Firenze Flavor broke her maiden Jan. 20 in her second start, going a mile on turf at Santa Anita. Then she ran a clunker when finishing last in a first-level allowance Feb. 11, also at a mile on turf. But last time out April 25, she rebounded nicely when rallying to a half-length victory to clear her first-level allowance condition at a mile on turf.

“We’ve always liked the filly,” Gallagher said.

Firenze Flavor paid $17.40, $5.80 and $3.60. Miso Phansy, ridden by Héctor Berrios for trainer Leonard Powell, returned $4.80 and $3.20. Jungle Peace, with Saturday’s Preakness-winning jockey Umberto Rispoli up for trainer Phil D’Amato, paid $2.40.