Wine Princess Ready for New Career

In a race filled with potential storybook endings, the $165,300 Falls City Handicap (GII) on Thanksgiving Day ended with the blue-blood princess living up to her promise in the final race of her career.

 

Becky Winemiller’s Wine Princess, a regally-bred daughter of Horses of the Year Ghostzapper and Azeri, scored her most significant victory in her final appearance on the track when she defeated rags-to-riches rivals Don’t Tell Sophia and Flashy American in the 1 1/8-mile holiday feature for older fillies and mares.

 

The Steve Margolis-trained Wine Princess won by 2 ¾ lengths under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, who rode the 4-year-old filly in every race of her life. Her final win improved her career record to 13-5-5-1 with earnings of $461,561.

 

“It was just a heck of a race,” Margolis said. “After watching it a couple of times, she just put her head down and she dug in.”

 

Margolis said Friday that Wine Princess came out of the race in perfect shape. She will travel to her new home at Lexington’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm on Sunday morning, where she will embark on her new career as a broodmare.

 

“It’s bittersweet for all of us,” Margolis said. “But how could she go out in a better way than in a big Grade II win like that?”

 

The victory by Wine Princess continued a memorable year for Margolis, who arrived at Churchill Downs in the late 1990s as an assistant to trainer Stanley Hough, and went out on his own as a trainer in 2000.

 

Margolis finally scored his first stakes victory at Churchill Downs when the 4-year-old filly Good Deed won the Unbridled Sidney overnight stakes on May 11 for Louisville’s family partnership of the late Elaine Klein, Richard Klein and Bertram Klein, a longtime client. His first graded stakes win beneath the Twin Spires followed quickly when the Klein homebred Miz Ida took the Early Times Mint Julep (GIII) over the Matt Winn Turf Course on June 8.

 

Wine Princess had come close to stakes success at Churchill Downs, but was runner-up to Falls City rivals Flashy American in the Locust Grove and Don’t Tell Sophia in the Chilukki (GII).

 

Margolis has one more shot at stakes victory in Saturday’s 70^th running of the $150,000-added Golden Rod (GII) with Hidden Brook Farm’s Canaryinacoalmine, a 2-year-old daughter of Birdstone who scored a 3 ½-length maiden win on the opening day “Stars of Tomorrow I” program on Oct. 27. 

 

Canaryinacoalmine is a 20-1 outsider in the morning line odds for the 1 1/16-mile race.

 

“We’re taking a shot tomorrow with Canaryinacoalmine,” Margolis said. “She’s got to step-up numbers-wise and she’s going two turns for the first time, but we’re excited about trying that and seeing what happens.”