Review: Steward's Cup Filly and Mare Turf Sprint

Original article written by Ashley Hunt posted 9 years 2 weeks ago

On Friday week 16 Yr 40 at a beautiful and warm Sunshine Park fourteen beautiful Thoroughbreds stepped onto the turf track for the 5 furlong Steward’s Cup Filly and Mare Turf Sprint.
The air was full of excitement as the horses loaded into the gate…and then silence as they waited for the starting gates to crash open. “And they’re off”, the Steward cried as the horses exploded out of the gate while crowd erupted into cheers.

A dark bay mare named Bodacious took an early lead while Chris Everett’s black filly Damascus Night had a pinched start. Wedidn’tstartthefire, the winner of the Grade 2 Arcadia Filly Dash, was on the rail looking for a way out, while Follow the Voice was making a move to get up third, The French bred Sunday Science owned by Chris Reed was rolling on to settle into fourth, The heavy favorite Big Fish, the massive chestnut mare owned and bred by Amy Atkins settled for fifth just a neck ahead of the winner of the year 40 Grade 2 Arcadia Filly Dash Wedidn’tstartthefire, who was on the rail looking for a way out, while last years Steward’s Cup Filly Turf Dash winner Miss Indian Nation had settled for 7th, The tallest horse in the field standing at a whopping 16.3 hands, Wish Upon a Storm was sitting in eighth place, Chris Reed’s second Filly and Mare Turf Sprint entry Lets Battle settled for ninth, Holy Pursuit, Alice in Chains, It’s All About You, Graffiti and Othersideofthemoon battled it out for tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth places.

As they rounded the turn the Louise Bayou owned Bodacious was still leading by 2 lengths and went wide around the turn. Big Fish started her monstrous move as she moved from fifth to second, while Miss Indian Nation made a big flying move going from seventh to third.

The crowd was on its feet cheering on their favorite horse, was it going to be a repeat for win for Big Fish, was it going to be last year’s Filly Turf Dash winner Miss Indian Nation, or was the Year 38 South Pacific Champion Two Year Old Female Simmy award winner, Bodacious going to be the winner? The Steward’s voice was full of excitement as the horses came barreling down track towards the finish “Big Fish has caught Bodacious, Miss Indian Nation is being asked to give it her all at three deep, however Big Fish is just too good! She has won back to back Steward’s Cup Filly and Mare Turf Sprint Cups, doing so by 1 ½ lengths! Bodacious is half a length apart with Miss Indian Nation in a well-deserved third place finish! And then it’s Damascus Night and Holy Pursuit.”

The final finish order are as follows:

1) Big Fish Amy Atkins 88
2) Bodacious Louise Bayou 84
3) Miss Indian Nation Ashley Hunt 82

4) Damascus Night, 5) Holy Pursuit, 6) Wish Upon a Storm, 7) Wedidntstarthefire, 8) Sunday Science, 9) Follow the Voice, 10) Othersideofthemoon, 11) It’s All About You, 12) Graffiti, 13) Lets Battle, 14) Alice in Chains

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