Clever victory
Chasing down Chanel’s Legacy in the final furlong, Ever So Clever won for the first time in three tries at Oaklawn Park on Friday, capturing the Grade III $400,000 Fantasy Stakes by 1¾ lengths. Ever So Clever had turned in back-toback fifth-place finishes at Oaklawn in the Grade III Honeybee and in the $250,000 Martha Washington Stakes.
HOT SPRINGS — Ever So Clever finally broke through for trainer Steve Asmussen.
Chasing down Chanel’s Legacy in the final furlong, Ever So Clever won for the first time in three tries at Oaklawn Park, capturing the Grade III $400,000 Fantasy Stakes by a widening 1¾ lengths Friday at the Racing Festival of the South.
Ever So Clever had turned in back-to-back fifth-place finishes in the Grade III Honeybee on March 1 and in the $125,000 Martha Washington Stakes on Feb. 1, but on Friday the 3-year-old dark brown filly ridden by Luis Contreras closed with a rush for her third victory in eight chances.
“Once I started making my move, I wasn’t worried about anybody in the race,” Contreras said. “I just went with the momentum and enjoyed the last part of the race.”
“The filly has a great personality, and we’ve always felt this way about her,” said Asmussen, whose filly went to the gate with odds of 151. “And for her now to win a nice graded stakes is what she deserves.”
Ever So Clever’s next start likely is the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., next month.
“She’s going to Churchill Monday, and it’s fun to have her there,” Asmussen said.
Chanel’s Legacy scored victories in the $125,000 Dixie Belle in Oaklawn’s opening weekend and in the Martha Washington, but she had an empty drive in the Honeybee. She came back with a second-place finish in the $150,000 Purple Martin on March 25.
“The only thing that would have been better is if she would have held on and won,” Chanel’s Legacy trainer Lynn Chleborad said. “It
was like a work when we ran her in the Purple Martin, but I thought she ran a great race today. I was proud of her, and I was proud of [jockey] Alex Birzer and the way he rode her. He knows the filly so well. I didn’t like coming out of the No. 1 hole at all, but in the end, it didn’t matter.”
Like the winner, Chanel’s Legacy has earned enough points to qualify for the Oaks.
“We’re going to talk about that,” Chleborad said. “She’s qualified for the Oaks, and we’ll have to see what [owner Allen] Poindexter wants to do and see how the filly comes back.”
Post-time favorite Benner Island was in position to make a move at the top of the stretch, but the Brad Cox-trained horse never improved on her position and finished fifth.
“I won’t make an excuse,” Benner Island jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. said.
“She didn’t have the answer today,” Cox said. “[Santana] had her in a perfect spot. [I’m] disappointed. It’s a roller-coaster game, and most of the time the roller
coaster is going down.”
Chanel’s Legacy jumped on top quickly, running the first quarter in 23.37. She held off Kell Paso and My Sweet Stella to the stretch, but Ever So Clever — who started from the far outside — came charging down the middle of the track.
Ever So Clever beat only one horse out of the gate and was sitting in eighth place at the 6-furlong mark. But by the head of the stretch, she angled out sharply and was six wide in chasing down the leader in a final running time of 1:43.40.
“We got everything perfect today,” Contreras said. “From the time we broke, she did everything by herself. I just waited, [stayed] patient and kicked in at the quarter pole. She gave me everything.”
Ever So Clever paid $33.60, 13.40 and 7. Chanel’s Legacy paid $11.40 and 6.60. Vexatious finished third and paid $4.00.
The victory was worth $240,000 for the Clearview Stable and gives Ever So Clever career earnings of $377,850.