The Very One Stakes: Sensible Lady Defends Title
Three Lyons Racing’s Sensible Lady split rivals closing in on the finish line and surged to win the $100,000 The Very One Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.
Angel Serpa maneuvered the Tim Salzman trainee through traffic and reached the finish line in 56.57 seconds for the five-furlong distance on the firm turf to capture the stakes for fillies and mares for the second year in a row. California-shipper Nechez Dawn took second and longshot Donna Getyourgun finished third.
Sensible One paid $9.20. Besides winning the Very One Stakes last year, the Street Sense filly also won the Buckland at Colonial Downs, the Jenny Wade at Penn National and Coronation Cup at Saratoga in 2012.
THE VERY ONE STAKES
Tim Salzman (trainer, Sensible Lady, winner) – “Her first start this year at Keeneland (Giant’s Causeway), she just doesn’t fit there because that course is more sandy than this one. She’s just amazing. She got shut off 50 yards from the wire and still got there. She is a Street Sense, so I’d like to stretch her out and look for better races.”
Angel Serpa (jockey, Sensible Lady, winner) – “We had a hard trip because she broke a little bit slow. I just wanted to save ground. Turning for home, we had a lot of horse and I had no choice but to go. I just asked her to run at the eighth-pole and she responded so well. She gave me everything. She’s nice filly and she showed she has a big heart.”
Ruben Loza (assistant to trainer Jeff Bonde, Nechez Dawn, 2nd) – “She ran well. She hasn’t run in a while and is fresh. I was happy with the way she ran.”