Sister Ginger Wins Girls, Inc.

Sister Ginger and Ricardo Santana Jr. added another stakes win to their credentials Wednesday, July 23 at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino. After winning the $125,000 Indiana Grand Stakes in 2013, they were back in the winner’s circle as winners of the sixth running of the $100,000-added Girls, Inc. of Shelbyville Stakes.

Starting from the inside post one, Santana, Jr. had few options at the start of the 10-horse race. He was able to leave just enough to secure a position inside and trail the majority of the horses in eighth place as Stoptalkingmaria and Fernando De La Cruz set the pace over the sloppy surface. Wild About Irene and Orlando Mojica stayed right on Stoptalkingmaria’s heels early on while race favorite Honey Hues and Jesus Castanon sat in perfect stalking position along the outside.

Around the turn of the one and one-sixteenth mile journey, which was moved to the dirt from the turf due to heavy rains earlier in the day, Stoptalkingmaria was not relinquishing her spot at the top. However, many horses behind her began to look for positioning and racing room that would carry them around the leaders.

In the stretch, Stoptalkingmaria got a few lengths advantage over the field as the horses fanned to the outside for the drive home. Santanta, Jr. moved up along the inside and chose an inside path to challenge Stoptalkingmaria, which turned out to be the winning one, getting by for the win by a neck over Stoptalkingmaria. Via Vellagio and Miguel Mena proved to be the toughest closer from the outside, moving up for a close third place finish, less than a length off the winner. The time of the race was 1:42.82.

“She (Sister Ginger) is a nice filly,” said Santana Jr. “We have had a couple nice stakes wins now. I have been watching the races today and three or four wide seems good. I tried to stay there. I asked her in the stretch to make a run and she gave it.”

Sister Ginger is owned by Rosendo Parra’s Millennium Farms along with Lee Ackerly’s Littlebrother Farm. She is trained by Steve Asmussen, who has a string stabled at Indiana Grand under the direction of assistant trainer Mitch Dennison. The win in the Girls, Inc. Stakes is the first of the year in six outings for the four-year-old daughter of Student Council. She is now two for two at Indiana Grand with a career bankroll that exceeds the $300,000 mark.

“(Sister) Ginger likes it here a lot,” said Dennison. “It doesn’t matter if it is turf or dirt, she’s competitive. She is a nice filly to be around and glad we have the opportunity to work with her.”