From a Maryland Jockey Club release
Martin Scafidi’s Winning Image showed initiative and showed the way in the $100,000 What A Summer Stakes, the last of four stakes races Saturday afternoon at Laurel Park.
Away alertly under Tony Black for trainer Michael Aro, Winning Image battled post time favorite She’s Ordained into defeat and completed the six-furlong distance in 1:10.37 to win by 1-3/4 lengths.
“She had some early pressure but she’s used to it,” said Black, who ranks 23rd on the all-time North America win list with 5,205 career victories. “She broke a little awkward. She broke in on the six (Vicki’s Dancer) and the eight (Crespano) stumbled out of the gate. I was able to get her back into position. She has natural speed. She’s as quick as some of the better horses I have ridden like Dave’s Friend and My Juliet.”
The win was the eighth stakes victory for the 7-year-old daughter of Southern Image, which included a run of four straight stakes from December 2012 to July 2013.
“We were locked down for two months because of the quarantine at Parx which kept us from running anywhere,” Aro said. All we did was train, train, train. This mare is very fast and that’s always been her style, just go to the front. Jose Caraballo had to ride in Florida so he couldn’t get up here and he recommended giving Tony a shot. He thought with his expert technique on speed horses and being the journeyman that he is he would get along with her perfectly. Glad I took his advice.”
Winning Image paid $9.40.
(Featured image by Laurie Asseo.)
