Toupie and Daniel Centeno. (Jerry Dzierwinski/TMJC)
Dan Illman/Laurel Park
LAUREL, Md. — Toupie was her usual ornery self in the paddock before the Sensible Lady Turf Dash for fillies and mares at six furlongs.
She wore a hood, was saddled on the walk, and stubbornly refused to allow her assistant trainers to remove the bell boot on her right fore.
“The rule with Toupie is don’t make her mad,” said assistant trainer Cat McGee. “She’ll tell you what she wants. You just have to listen to her.”
“I was actually tickled with how good she was today,” said McGee’s husband, fellow assistant trainer Ian Wilson. “Like Cat said, it’s her way or the highway. You just got to work around her. On the track, she seemed pretty relaxed about everything.”
Jockey Daniel Centeno had no issues getting along with Toupie. They raced in midpack while longshot Sally’s Gold sprinted out to a lonely lead through splits of 22.57 and 44.99 seconds.
Centeno cut the corner into the straight, and Toupie always moved well. They eased outside the pacesetter, split rivals with a decisive bid, and went about their business to score by 1 ¼ lengths over a determined Lifelovenlaughter in 1:08.63.
Defending champion Loon Cry rallied for third, and was followed by Flamingo Way, Alla Breve, Sally’s Gold, The Amazing Mizzen, Twirling Beauty, and Anaita. Discreet Ops, Fiona’s Magic, Queen of the Mud, and Rileys Redemption scratched.
“Once she got to the track, she behaved better,” Centeno said. “She relaxed perfect. Turning for home, I saw the hole, and she went through. I knew that [Lifelovenlaughter] was the horse I had to beat. I followed her the entire way to see what she wanted to do. When he moved out, my filly saw the room and she went through like nothing. When she switched [leads], she just exploded.”
Toupie is a homebred owned by Wertheimer and Frere. A 4-year-old filly by Uncle Mo from the family of Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker, she is trained by Graham Motion, and has won six of 15 starts for $450,805 in earnings.
Motion mentioned earlier in the week that the Sensible Lady Turf Dash might be Toupie’s final start, but Wilson and McGee both indicated the owners will make a final decision in the upcoming days and weeks.
