Mama G’s Wish prevails in Lewes
Mama G’s wish keeps getting better, and she showed it Wednesday at Delaware Park, wearing down favored stablemate Bandits Warrior to win the $50,000 Lewes Stakes for Delaware certified three-year-old fillies.
The win was Mama G’s Wish’s second in a row and sixth in her last nine starts. Overall, she has six wins from 18 starts with earnings of more than $240,000. The win was her first stakes triumph.
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All in all, it’s quite a turnaround for a filly who lost her first nine outings.
Regular pilot Xavier Perez did not ride Mama G’s Wish, deciding instead to stick with Bandits Warrior. That runner entered this tilt with two wins from six career starts, including an allowance victory last out, and she went off as the 9-10 favorite.
Perez’s decision proved to be jockey Carol Cedeno’s gain.
The race wasn’t a furlong old before Mama G’s Wish, a Maryland-bred Outflanker filly, was tugging her way forward. Bandits Warrior controlled the race early, doling out fractions of 22.89 seconds for the opener and 46.15 for the half-mile over a fast main track.
Bandits Warrior was still a length-and-a-half clear leaving the furlong grounds. But as she had in her only prior start beyond 5 ½ furlongs, Bandits Warrior tired late. Mama G’s Wish, to Bandits Warrior’s outside, was first to attack, while the Jamie Ness-trained Cashing Big Checks, one path farther out under Jaime Rodriguez, surged late.
In the end, Mama G’s Wish prevailed by a neck over Cashing Big Checks. Bandits Warrior was another neck farther back in third. Fuhgeddaboutit rallied late for fourth, 2 ¾ lengths behind the winner, while longshots Golden Eib Micrphn and My Sister Clurrie rounded out the order of finish.
Running time for the six furlongs was 1:11.74.
Mama G’s Wish paid $9.60 to win. The exacta returned $31.30 for a one-dollar wager.
Trainer Jerry Robb’s trio, all homebreds for his and wife Gina’s No Guts No Glory Farm, finished first, third, and fourth.
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