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Silk too smooth in Sands Point Last time out, Darley Stable's RAW SILK (Malibu Moon) set a fast pace before fading to third in the Gaviola S. In Saturday's $150,000 Sands Point S. (G2), however, she got away with much softer splits, and made the most of her theft by running away with a 4 1/4-length victory. Under a well-judged ride by Alan Garcia, the Tom Albertrani sophomore enjoyed a daylight lead while strolling through fractions of :24 3/5, :49 and 1:13 3/5 on Belmont Park's good inner turf. As Raw Silk spurted clear in the stretch, her pursuers were never able to land a blow, and the bay strode authoritatively all the way to the line. The unheralded 8-1 shot completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 2/5, returning $18.80, $6.40 and $4.80 to her backers. "Alan rode her beautifully -- three-quarters in 1:13 and four," said assistant trainer Andy Rhem, rounding up the six-furlong split. "The last time, she was chased. This time, she was able to settle. We actually thought the rain might help us slow things down. Tom (Albertrani) was happy when it rained." Life Is Sweet (Storm Cat), the 6-5 favorite, rallied to claim runner-up honors by a nose from I Lost My Choo (Western Expression). The second-placer gave back $2.70 and $2.30 while ending the $54.50 exacta. I Lost My Choo yielded $3.20 at 3-1 and rounded out the $202.50 trifecta (6-2-7). Alwajeeha (Dixieland Band) checked in fourth, followed by Ambidaxtrous (Deputy Commander), Queen of Protocol (Housebuster) and Lookalike (Dynaformer). The main-track only entrant, Forest Trail (Forest Wildcat), was withdrawn. With the $90,000 winner's check, Raw Silk padded her bank account to $143,438 from a record of 6-2-1-2. She was well beaten in her first two outings on the main track, but has been a totally different proposition since switching to the turf. Raw Silk finished first in a turf maiden at Aqueduct last November, only to be disqualified and placed second. She made no mistake in her seasonal reappearance at Aqueduct in April, romping by 5 1/4 lengths to break her maiden officially. She skipped the allowance route and headed straight to the Gaviola, where she was overwhelmed in midstretch and beaten a total of four lengths. Raw Silk was bred by Joseph LaCombe Stables in Kentucky, and as a two-year-old in training, she was sold to her current connections for $460,000 at Fasig-Tipton Calder. She is out of the winning Danehill mare Silken Sash (Ire), who has since produced a yearling filly by Maria's Mon. Raw Silk's second dam, Flame Violet (Ire) (Fairy King), was an Irish stakes heroine.
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