Harmonious takes American Oaks
July 4, 2010INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) -Harmonious remained unbeaten and won her first Grade 1 stakes Saturday, beating Antares World in the American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the turf at Hollywood Park.
Ridden by Martin Garcia, Harmonious sat fourth on the backstretch, moved up to second going three-wide into the homestretch and took the lead from Antares World in the final yards, winning by 1 1/4 lengths and covering 1 1/4 miles on turf in 2:01.77.
The filly has won three straight, two months after starting her career. She becomes another Grade 1 winning female for John Shirreffs, who also trains unbeaten super-mare Zenyatta and has made champion ladies a hallmark.
``We had high hopes for her,'' Shirreffs said. ``She showed us a lot,''
It was also the first ever Grade 1 win for the 25-year-old Garcia, who took over for regular rider Mike Smith.
Harmonious paid $7, $4.60 and $4. Antares World paid $10.60 and $7.80. Weekend Magic was third and paid $16.80 to show.
The favorite, City to City, was briefly second after a mile, but faded to fifth.
Earlier, heavy favorite Gotta Have Her and jockey Tyler Baze won the $150,000 Royal Heroine Mile Stakes, a turf race for older females.
Gotta Have Her, a 6-year-old mare trained by Jenine Sahadi, rallied from sixth to beat Burg Berg by a half-length in 1:34.98.