St. Benedicts Prep with John Velazquez up wins the Alma North Stakes. (Jerry Dzierwinski/TMJC)
Dan Illman/Laurel Parl
LAUREL, Md. –- If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
That’s been St. Benedicts Prep ’s motto since she started campaigning in stakes races last fall. In her first eight starts against stakes and graded stakes company, St. Benedicts Prep finished second four times and third once.
Her perseverance paid off in the $125,000 Alma North Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 ½ furlongs. Ridden by John Velazquez for trainer Linda Rice, St. Benedicts Prep settled at the back of the pack after breaking from the inside post position, angled to the outside, made a sweeping bid on the far turn, and then stayed strong in the stretch despite failing to change leads.
Alani finished two lengths behind in second, a nose in front of Easy Red. Then came pacesetter Happy Clouds and Fiona’s Magic.
Favored St. Benedicts Prep raced the distance in 1:17.50 and returned $4.60 as the favorite. Admiral Hopper, Jeanne Marie, and Mystic Lake scratched.
“I didn’t love the post position,” Rice said by telephone after the race. “She backed out of there, but they went fast. Once she got into the outside, she was in great shape.”
Hall of Famer Velazquez won his first race at Laurel since he booted Coast Line home in the 2005 John B. Campbell Stakes.
“I wasn’t expecting that she would be on the lead, but I thought I’d be [among] the leaders,” Velazquez said. “All of a sudden, [the speeds] went, and it set up perfectly for me. I got her into the clear at the three-eighths pole. I made sure I kept her mind on running. She gave me everything. Once she got head-and-head with the other horses, she was pretty game.”
Bred in Kentucky by Claiborne Farm, St. Benedict’s Prep is a 5-year-old mare by Flatter. Her second dam, Wend, was a multiple Grade 2 winner on turf.
A $75,000 yearling purchase, St. Benedicts Prep was claimed by Rice on behalf of owner Ronald Stewart for $80,000 out of a win at Keeneland last spring. Based in New York, St. Benedicts Prep raced twice before at Laurel, finishing second by a nose in the What a Summer Stakes on January 18, and third in the Barbara Fritchie Stakes on February 15.
St. Benedicts Prep earned a Grade 3 placing three starts back in Aqueduct’s Distaff. She finished last of seven in a tough edition of the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses at Saratoga on June 6.
“For me, it’s very important for her broodmare value,” Rice said. “She’s graded-placed several times, but to get that win. I think it’s very important.”
Rice describes St Benedicts Prep as a “bull of a filly. She’s not the easiest horse to train, but we love her. She’s been so good to us.”
