Trainer
David Fawkes sent out three runners at Calder Casino & Race Course on
Saturday and they all won. The third victory came in the $90,900 Brave
Raj Stakes, won by Alex Lieblong’s Florida-bred 2-year-old filly Conway Two Step, ridden by Daniel Centeno.
Fawkes’
good day started with Get Away Farm’s 2-year-old filly Live Every Day, winner
of the fifth race, a maiden special weight event. Three races later, the
Fawkes team sent out Harold Queen’s 2-year-old colt Burning Time to win the
Foolish Pleasure Stakes. The Brave Raj Stakes was two races later, where
Conway Two Step defeated Frolic’s Revenge, the post time favorite, by 2 ½
lengths. It was another three lengths back to Sinister Brew in third.
Conway
Two Step, who broke her maiden last out going six furlongs, ran the 1 mile and
70 yards of the Brave Raj in 1:45.32. At the mutuel windows, she returned
$31.00, $10.80, and $5.40. Frolic’s Revenge paid $2.80 and $2.40;
Sinister Brew returned $3.00 to show.
Conway
Two Step is one of only two offspring of the sire, Spanish Steps, eligible for
the Florida Stallion Stakes series, the final leg the $300,000-est. My Dear
Girl Division on Oct. 15. She is out of Nancy’s Glitter, who, in 1997, became
the first of only three fillies to sweep the Florida Stallion Stakes.
The
Fawkes team has one more horse to race today: Harold Queen’s 3-year-old filly
Hot Summer goes in the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks in West Virginia with a post
time of 10:30 p.m.
Winning
trainer’s quotes:
Celia
Fawkes (wife and assistant to trainer
David Fawkes) – “We really loved this filly at the 2-year-old sales. She didn’t
actually sell (at auction), but fortunately we were able to get the owner (Alex
Lieblong) to buy her privately afterward. In her first couple of races we were
dealing with some respiratory issues—she really was never sick—but finally it
all came together for her when she won last time and we were pretty sure she’d
like the additional distance.”
Winning
jockey’s quotes:
Daniel
Centeno – “She has some speed coming out of
sprint races and now going two turns for the first time, so she made the lead
easily. I was expecting the favorite (Frolic’s Revenge) to come running
at us, and she did, but when I peeked back and saw her at the quarter pole, I
still had a lot of horse left.”