Lady On the Run took advantage of swift early fractions and closed
steadily to break her maiden in the Park Avenue Division of the New York
Stallion Stakes (NYSS) Sunday afternoon at Belmont Park.
Off slowly, Lady On the Run sat at the back of the pack as Good Habits
led the field through an opening quarter in 22.74 and was pressured by favored Saltamontes
through a half in 45.57. Taking over from the tiring front runner in the
stretch, the daughter of Ten Most Wanted drew clear to win by 4 ¼ lengths.
Her final time for the 6 ½ furlongs was 1:17.49 over a fast track.
“We didn’t expect her to be fast away from there,”
said winning rider Mike Luzzi. “We’ve been working her behind
horses to teach her how to close. It was a wonderful training job by John
[Morrison], and it paid off. And I think she appreciated the big turn.”
“That was the plan,” said Morrison, who co-owns the 3-year-old
filly with James Buckley, Vincent Kennedy, Gerard Casey, Frederick and Patricia
Schultz and breeder Jeffrey Tucker. “We thought we’d get her a
little freshened up and as long as we had some pace in front, which we did,
we’d be fine. I’m just happy everything worked out. It’s nice
to break her maiden in a hundred thousand dollar stake!”
Lady On the Run returned $22.60 as the 10-1 fourth-choice in the field
of seven. Her record now stands at 1-2-2 from six starts with earnings of
$85,450. Freuds On Holidays completed the exacta, followed by Good Habits,
Saltamontes, Sounds Freudian, Silky Me and Kocher Girl.