5th-KEE, $56,634, Msw, 4-27, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, :52.71, ft.
+NOOTKA SOUND (f, 2, Lonhro {Aus}–Miss Red Delicious {MSW, $203,425}, by Empire Maker) broke sharply and rolled to a front-running debut score at Keeneland for trainer Wesley Ward. Showing four local breezes, punctuated by a half-mile gate breeze in :49 1/5 (17/24) Apr. 19, the $100,000 Keeneland September grad was off best of all as the 3-2 second choice and made the point a few strides out of the gate. Tested to her inside by longshot Roman Around (Roman Ruler) through a :22.60 quarter, the dark bay shrugged that foe aside by the top of the stretch and spurted clear by the three-sixteenths marker, coasting home a 5 1/2-length winner over C J S Suzie Byu (Artemis Sunrise). Todd Pletcher trainee Orbolution (Orb) stumbled at the start and finished third as the even-money chalk. The winner, named for the body of water that separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island in western Canada, has a yearling half-brother by Yes It's True and a Lemon Drop Kid half-sister foaled Apr. 9. Her dam, who was the first overall and first stakes winner for Empire Maker, is kin to a More Than Ready filly who sold for $1 million at Wednesday's session of the OBS April sale after breezing a co-bullet :9 3/5 furlong. She is also a half to the dam of 'TDN Rising Star' Parlor (Lonhro {Aus}). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $36,000. Click for the \fs21field or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-Hat Creek Racing; B-KatieRich Farms (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward.[bullet ad=”nyra-astoria-fillies”]
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
