Peach of a Gal scores Christiana upset

Frippery, here breaking her maiden, ran second at long odds in the Christiana. Photo by The Racing Biz.

From a Delaware Park release

Glenangus Farm’s Peach of a Gal got up in the final strides and won the $50,000 Christiana Stakes at Delaware Park today.

With Jorge Vargas Jr. aboard, the 3-year-old daughter of Curlin won by a length and returned $34.00. Frippery, with Carol Cedeno, finished second. It was another half-length further back Layla Noor, with Feargal Lynch, in third. The 6-to-5 favorite in the field of eight, Tesora with Joe Bravo, finished fourth beaten 5 ¼ lengths. Souper Striking, with Julian Pimentel, cut early fractions of :46.39 for the half mile and 1:11.06 for three-quarters mile before finishing fifth. The final time for the about mile and a sixteenth over a firm turf course was 1:42.39.

The Christiana Stakes is the first career stake victory for Peach of a Gal. The Maryland-bred trained H. Graham Motion, who has six wins from nine starts at Delaware Park this season so far, finished third beaten 10 ¼-lengths in her previous outing in the $100,000 Hilltop over the Pimlico turf course on May 18.

“She broke really well and she put me in a great spot,” said winning rider Jorge Vargas Jr. “They were going pretty quick up front, so when they came back to me, I just kind of tapped her and she responded. We had a great trip and the race set up good for us. She is a nice filly. With every race she is developing more and more. The last time I rode her at Pimlico (Hilltop Stakes), the turf was way too heavy for her because of the rain. She tried on it, but she was just was not herself. Today, she got back to herself and brought us to the winner’s circle.”

Peach of a Gal raised her career record to three wins from eight starts with earnings of $75,750.