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Search Results Runs Down Miss Brazil in Busher

Also on March 6 card, Lake Avenue took Heavenly Prize Invitational by 6 3/4 lengths.

Search Results catches Miss Brazil in the Busher Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack

Search Results catches Miss Brazil in the Busher Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack

Coglianese Photos

The $250,000 Busher Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack March 6 provided a two-filly stretch battle, a race Klaravich Stables' Search Results won by a half-length over Miss Brazil.

Sent off as the narrow second choice in the wagering at 2-1, Search Results made just her second career start on the heels of a four-length debut win Jan. 3 at Gulfstream Park for trainer Chad Brown.

Miss Brazil won the local prep for the Busher, the Feb. 8 Ruthless Stakes, by 6 1/4 lengths following a front-running maiden score Nov. 29 at Aqueduct. The betting public had the race pegged with near-laser precision, sending her off as the 9-5 favorite—a margin that was almost transposed onto the racetrack given the way the race unfolded.   

The field of six broke well and formed a tight pack down the backstretch as Miss Brazil showed the way through splits of :24.53 for the opening quarter-mile and :49.64 for the half with Search Results in close attendance on her outside. The two continued to amble along on the front around the far turn, logging three-quarters in 1:15.14, and began to separate from the others turning for home.

As jockey Eric Cancel finally let her loose, Miss Brazil tried to inch away from her rival down the lane, but Search Results proved an intractable foe and refused to concede any ground to the favorite. With a sixteenth to go, it was still anyone's race, and it was only in the waning strides that Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano and Search Results were able to finally pass Miss Brazil, completing the mile on a fast track in 1:39.75.

"She broke so well out of the gate. She put me in a good position to rate and I didn't want to take that away from her and take her back," said Castellano. "I just let her do what she wanted to do. She was happy and she settled fine. They were just galloping along in the lead with the 1 horse (Miss Brazil), who was my target on paper.

"When I asked her, she didn't switch leads, but everything I asked for, she gave it to me. She responded. I like the way she galloped out and I think she's going to be a good filly in the future. Two turns will be even better."

The win made it two in a row for Search Results ($6.30), who earned $137,500 to bump her bankroll to $161,500.

A game Miss Brazil finished second, 5 3/4 lengths in front of Search Results' stablemate The Grass Is Blue, who got caught up in a bit of traffic around the turn and was still able to muster a rally in the stretch behind the tepid early splits. It was another half-length back to Laobanonaprayer in fourth.

The Busher provided Road to the Kentucky Oaks qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 basis to its top four finishers.

Search Results, a Flatter filly bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall, is the first stakes winner from the graded stakes-placed Candy Ride  mare Co Cola. The dam's two foals to race are winners, she also has an unnamed 2-year-old full brother to Search Results, and was reported bred to Nyquist  for 2021.

The winner was purchased from the Select Sales consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $310,000 by bloodstock agent Mike Ryan.

Video: Busher Invitational S. (BT)

Lake Avenue Makes Triumphant Return
Godolphin homebred Lake Avenue made a triumphant return to Aqueduct Racetrack Saturday, winning the $125,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational for older fillies and mares at a mile on dirt by 6 3/4 lengths.

The win was a long time coming for Lake Avenue, who hadn't tasted victory in a stakes race since the Demoiselle (G2) over the same track in 2019. Following a highly promising juvenile season that saw her win the Demoiselle by four lengths and established her as a leading contender for the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, the chestnut daughter of Tapit  had a disappointing 3-year-old campaign, with her best placing a third in the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2).

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was able to revive her career in South Florida, sending her out to victory in an allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park Feb. 3 in her 4-year-old debut.

Lake Avenue wins the 2021 Heavenly Prize Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct  
Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Lake Avenue wins the Heavenly Prize Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack

Squarely back on the beam following her comeback win, Lake Avenue seemed intent to stay there Saturday. Breaking from the outermost post 8 with Manny Franco aboard, she left the gate cleanly and assumed a stalking position in fourth-place early as Portal Creek led the field through splits of :23.77 and :48.02 on the fast main track.

Looking a winner every step, Lake Avenue coasted around the far turn while perched three to four wide off the leader as three-quarters went in 1:13.82, and once given the go-ahead by Franco, stormed to the front and never looked back, rolling home to complete the distance in 1:39.25.

"They just left it up to me and I think she's a different filly right now," said Franco. "She grew up and Mott is doing a great job with his horses. She is just very kind right now. I put her wherever she wants. I broke well and was able to rate her a little bit because I knew the pace was quick in front of me.

"I didn't want to be too far back. I wanted to be third or fourth and see what the 2 horse (Thankful) had. (At the far turn) I knew I had a lot of horse, so I didn't want to move too soon. The one horse who could have beat me was behind me, so I took a peek back to see what she had. When the moment came, I asked her and she just took off."

Lake Avenue returned $3.90 on a $2 win wager as the odds-on favorite, and with the lion's share of the purse increased her career earnings to $319,787.

"She came in looking good and ran to that," said Leana Willaford, assistant to Mott. "She rated nicely and ran very well. It was good to see."

A tough-luck loser of the Go for Wand Handicap (G3) at Aqueduct in December, Portal Creek held well to be second, 2 3/4 lengths in front of longshot Flashndynamite, who finished a neck ahead of Needs Supervision.

Lake Avenue is out of the multiple grade 1-winning Street Cry mare Seventh Street, also dam of grade 1-placed Marking . Seventh Street's 3-year-old Into Mischief  colt, Highway Bound, broke his maiden last fall at Belmont Park. The mare's latest foal is a 2-year-old full brother to Lake Avenue named Shreveport. She was reported bred back to Into Mischief for 2021.

Video: Heavenly Prize Invitational S. (BT)