Vixen prevails in the Herecomesthebride to secure her first graded stakes win (Coglianese)
Fourth Victory in Herecomesthebride for Trainer Mark Casse
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Favored Vixen, a 3-year-old daughter of Vekoma ridden by John Velazquez, held off longshots Mrs Worldwide and Daisy Flyer to win Saturday’s $215,000 Herecomesthebride (G3) by a neck at Gulfstream Park.
The mile Herecomesthebride on the turf was the first of nine stakes on the Saturday program worth $2.15 million.
Owned by D J Stable LLC and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Vixen made her 3-year-old debut here Feb. 1 with a victory in the Sweetest Chant after concluding her 2-year-old year with a sixth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly Turf (G1).
Vixen broke sharply in the Herecomesthebride and raced third around the first turn and down the backstretch while Grade A set fractions of :22.97 and 46.51. Around the turn, Vixen moved three-wide outside Grade A and Mrs. Worldwide before taking the lead inside the final eighth and then holding off the longshots. Classic Q, another Casse-trained filly, finished fourth with a late rush.
Vixen, a winner of three of five starts, covered the mile in 1:33.57.
This was the fourth Herecomesthebride victory for Casse, having won the stakes last year with Pounce, in 2017 with Dream Dancing and in 2016 with Catch a Glimpse.
Vixen returned $3.60.
The first three finishers of last year’s Herecomesthebride – Pounce, Life’s an Audible and Ozara – all return to run later Saturday in the Honey Fox (G3).
Trainer Mark Casse (Vixen): “She ran good. Maybe she bounced a little off her first performance but today was good. Hopefully, she moves on from there. She’s tough; she’s a good horse. Like I said, maybe she kind of regressed from her first start. She’ll have some time and she’ll be off to Kentucky.
“I thought Classic Q was going to be on the lead, but she got away bad. She ran a helluva race to be fourth.”
Jockey John Velazquez (Vixen): “I had an easy trip, to tell you the truth. They went a little faster than I expected. I had to take a really good hold of her the first part of the race. We got to the second turn and I let her go, and she was a little hesitant to go by the horse on the lead. We were laying second and we started getting closer. It was a good effort. She came back first time off the layoff and ran really great and she came back today to a little tougher group and ran a good race. She’s more mature, for sure. She’s doing things a lot easier from a 2-year-old to a 3-year-old. I think she has a little more in the bottom of her. I just hope she can [reach that] and move forward a little more.”
