No Such Word earned her first Grade 1 victory Saturday
afternoon at Aqueduct Ractrack, edging clear to a 2 ½-length victory in the
$250,000 Gazelle, the final graded stakes race of the year for 3-year-old
fillies in New York.
Fanned four-wide down the backstretch as Awesome Maria led
the field through a quarter in 24.60 and a half-mile in 49.90, No Such Word
moved up to take the lead from the pacesetter in the stretch and complete the 1
1/8 miles in 1:51.05.
It was the third consecutive stakes victory for the daughter
of Canadian Frontier, who in her last outing took the October 10 Remington Park
Oaks by 6 ½ lengths under a hand ride by regular jockey Terry Thompson.
“We knew today she’d probably lay a little closer,” Thompson
said. “She puts herself where she wants to be. If there’s pace in the race,
she’ll be off it, and if not, she’ll be on it. [The Remington Park Oaks] was
going to be our last race for the year [and] what people don’t realize that I
just let her gallop around there. That’s why we pointed for this one. The next
day she was tearing the barn down, and Cindy did a good job of getting her
ready.”
No Such Word was the last planned starter for trainer Cindy
Jones, who took over for husband Larry Jones when he decided to retire late
last year. Earlier this month, Larry Jones announced he would return to
training full-time.
“That was the way we planned it, to win, absolutely!” said
Cindy Jones. “She had been training so awesome into this race. It looked like
she was galloping down the backside and when he asked her to go, it was all
over. This filly has just gotten better and better all year.”
No Such Word closes out her sophomore season with a lifetime
record of 7-1-2 from 15 starts and $653,213 in purse money for owner and
breeder Brereton C. Jones. Sent off as the 9-5 favorite in the seven-horse
Gazelle field, she returned $5.60.
Awesome Maria held second with Seeking the Title a neck back
in third. Joanie’s Catch, Quiet Temper, Dubai Dancer and Belle of the Hall
completed the order of finish.