Two-year-old Morning Fire wore down favored Spillwright to earn a neck triumph in a maiden special weight event Sunday at Parx Racing and give Maryland sire Friesan Fire his first victory.
It was the second career start for Morning Fire, who had finished third in his earlier try. Bred in Pennsylvania by Cynthia Hipple and owned by Stony Brook Stables, Morning Fire is out of the winning Press Card mare Four Star Morning.
Friesan Fire, a son of A.P. Indy, won three graded events as a sophomore in 2009, capped by a win in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. He went off as the 3.80-1 favorite in that year’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby but finished 18th after a bad trip in a Derby won by longshot Mine That Bird. All told, Friesan Fire won five of 18 career starts and earned $679,356.
Friesan Fire, out of the Dehere mare Bollinger, has had one winner to date from six horses to start, with total progeny earnings of $48,110. He stands, for $4,000 stands and nurses, at Country Life Farm in Belair, MD.
