Fast Market wins the G3 Pebbles, NYRA Photo
Brian Bohl
Hit The Bid Racing Stable’s Fast Market ended the turf racing year at Aqueduct Racetrack with aplomb, besting runner-up Love You Anyway by 1 1/2 lengths to notch her first stakes score in Sunday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Pebbles for 3-year-old fillies contesting at 1 1/16 miles on the outer turf at the Big A.
Fast Market has raced in routes and sprints on both the main track and grass in her young career for trainer John Terranova, but has established a comfort level on turf while stretching out. She built on a strong second-place finish by a neck by Ready for Candy in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 Sands Point on the Aqueduct turf last out on October 18 to notch her second win in her last three starts following a maiden-breaking score going one mile on the Aqueduct grass in September.
Fast Market has been successful employing a closing style and followed a similar trip in the 32nd running of the Pebbles under jockey Flavien Prat as Love You Anyway led the seven-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 24.28 seconds, the half in 49.12 and three-quarters in 1:13.11 over firm going.
Love You Anyway, ridden by Jose Lezcano, maintained the advantage in the stretch, shifting to the middle as Sweet Treasure made a strong bid near the rail. But Fast Market tapped into a deep reservoir and had plenty of run from the outside, powering home in a 1:43.22 final time.
Love You Anyway earned black type for the first time for trainer Rusty Arnold, besting Sweet Treasure by a half-length for second. Peak Hype finished fourth with Correto, Starship Pegasus and Paradise City completing the order of finish. It Ain’t Two and main track-only entrant With the Angels were scratched.
Fast Market, bred in Kentucky by Breed First, returned $5.08 on a $2 win wager as the 3-2 favorite, and improved her career earnings to $132,634 through an 11-2-3-1 record.
“She’s just a very nice filly. She finally put it all together her last few starts and it’s more of the same,” Terranova. “She’s just getting better and better. She’s a later foal, so she took a little while for us to figure out, but we finally got it all right and she’s been real consistent and we can’t wait for next season.
“I knew when she walked on the track she was ready,” Terranova added. “She’s so switched off and kind and classy. She is so nice to be around. She’s let us get away with quite a bit – we’ve sprinted her, done dirt and turf. She did have a few decent races on the dirt and she’s a big, strong filly, but she just took a little while for us to figure it all out.”
Prat picked up a personal stakes double, as he also piloted Oversubscribed to victory in the $150,000 Forever Together on the turf in Race 4. His win aboard the favored Apalta in the ninth-race finale gave him five victories on the card in total.
“I was traveling good and she gave me a good turn-of-foot,” Prat said. “I thought when I got clear that she was going to get there, and then the horse in front [Love You Anyway] kind of shifted out and she looked at her a little bit, but then she regrouped and went on. She’s very handy and does everything right.”
Love You Anyway, returning to stakes company after running second and third in consecutive allowance races in Kentucky, moved to 1-2-2 in seven career starts.
“My filly broke very good and did everything right,” Lezcano said. “I think the ground was a little soft for her today. In the stretch, she was lugging in and out a little and got tired. She gave me a good race. She felt good the whole way around.”
Live racing resumes Friday at the Big A with a nine-race card. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
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