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Gifted Sparkles Rather Than Snoozes in Steward's Cup Distaff
Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 13 years 3 weeks agoA small field of seven prime fillies and mares gathered on the showery day to battle over the $2 million Grade I Steward’s Cup Distaff in front of hundreds of thousands of racing fans who anticipated a great matchup between some great female runners.
At the finish line, it was Gifted who finished first by a ¼ length over Hit the Snooze in stirring fashion. The four year old bay filly ran the 1 1/8 miles at the dirt oval at Seattle Downs in 1:49.45.
She was a $616,000 purchase at auction as a spritely yearling by Ronnie Dee and soon showed that she had much to show on the racetrack in her morning works when she showed range in the speed she showed between four and six furlongs, doing the former in 46.36 and 1:10.37. Her sire Boise, was the American champion three year old colt and was himself a son of the famed Loki Dynasty and Prevail, the mare who produced as her last foal Persevere who dominated in the Triple Crown races and placed a strong second in the Steward’s Cup Classic. He ran in the Steward’s Cup but once in his final race and finished ninth in the Turf Mile.
Valentine’s Day Gift (by Tot Ziens) never won a dime on the racetrack but had produced a couple of stakes winners before Gifted.
Gifted herself had won 9 out of 13 starts going into the Steward’s Cup and missing the board only once by finishing seventh in an earlier Steward’s Cup Distaff. A good thing that she continued to persevere on the racetrack in search of greatness and took on that challenging race again.
As a two year old, she was undefeated and captured two stakes races including the Babe Ruth Stakes. She then won the Southern California Oaks at three before running into the very talented runner, Woman King who later captured that ill fated Distaff and finishing second behind her in the Louisville Oaks. She won both the Toronto Oaks and the Metropolitan Oaks before running a game second to Jive in the Loki Reflection Stakes.
The first attempt at the Distaff didn’t quite work out as planned but next year, armed with lasix, Gifted returned and defeated Woman King in the Orange Blossom Handicap by a ½ lengths. That runner vanquished her to second place in the Everything Right Stakes but Gifted won her next two stakes putting her in excellent position to give it her best in her second attempt at the Distaff.
Not that it would be an easy task to win this contentious race, to add this jewel to her career.
The effervescent Sparkle Factor, a gifted daughter of East and a half sister to Bragging Rights (who won the Classic) and Prestige loomed huge after her stellar campaign. East and West had a half sister named Hit the Snooze (by Awake As I Am) who also had won 10 out of 15 starts including many stakes. There was also Woman King though others like Whitney and Sound Asleep ran in other races, both at and away from the Steward’s Cup.
Jockey Alice Hunt had ridden Gifted in her races and placed her in the gate confidently and when it opened, Legendary Quest bolted to a two length lead surprising no one. Wrap and Sparkle Factor went into pursuit while Gifted sat near the back of the pack in sixth saving her best moves for later, a somewhat different running style than in some of her earlier starts. As they romped into the backstretch, Legendary Quest grabbed her bit and widened her lead further ahead of Wrap and now Hit the Snooze while Sparkle Factor and Gifted stayed further back. Into the far turn, Hit the Snooze with her powerful stride began to reel in Legendary Quest shortening her advantage while Sparkle Factor and Gifted began to shift into the gears they would need to launch powerful bids to try to win the race.
But Gifted proved to be too much to handle whirling into the stretch passing Hit the Snooze while Sparkle Factor tried to kick it in too but Gifted won the race very nicely showing some gameness. Hit the Snooze finished second about 1 ¾ lengths over Sparkle Factor who finished third.
A crowd of cheering spectators gathered in the winner’s circle and others partied under umbrellas in the infield. Gifted didn’t travel too far going off to relax at the nearby Madrona Ridge Farm joined by Sparkle Factor though Legendary Quest called it a career as they and the other fillies and mares, old and new will be sure to provide more competitive battles in the new racing season.