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Citronnade too sharp in Gamely Stronach Stables' homebred CITRONNADE (Lemon Drop Kid) continued her dominance of the turf distaff set in California with a front-running score in Monday's $367,800 Gamely Breeders' Cup S. (G1) at Hollywood Park. The Bobby Frankel trainee hurled back a challenge from her stablemate Price Tag (GB) (Dansili [GB]) in midstretch to finish nine furlongs in a sharp 1:45 3/5, extending her winning streak to four. Citronnade didn't explode right out of the gate, but she smoothly moved up to take charge by the time the field passed the wire for the first time. Regular pilot David Flores artfully rationed out her speed as she set fractions of :23 4/5, :47 4/5 and 1:11. Charm the Giant (Ire) (Giant's Causeway) and Vacare (Lear Fan) adopted close stalking positions, with Price Tag reserved slightly farther back in fourth. On the far turn, the hitherto unbeaten Vacare tried to make a run at Citronnade, but the winner kicked into another gear and looked well on her way to her third straight romp at the top of the stretch. Price Tag then ranged up ominously to make things suddenly interesting. As Price Tag drew ever closer to her flank, Citronnade found still more to repel her and secure the victory by three-quarters of a length. Sent off as the prohibitive 4-5 favorite, the winner furnished mutuels of $3.60, $2.60 and $2.10. Price Tag yielded $4 and $3 at odds of 4-1, while the all-Frankel exacta ($1) totaled $3.80. It was another 4 1/2 lengths back to Vacare in third, who paid $2.60 at nearly 3-1 and ended the $13.50 trifecta ($1). Three Degrees (Ire) (Singspiel [Ire]) checked in fourth. Sadly, the gray broke down approaching the wire. Despite the quick reaction of jockey Victor Espinoza, who pulled her up immediately, her injuries were so severe that she had to be euthanized. Sohgol (Ire) (Singspiel [Ire]) and Charm the Giant completed the order of finish. Citronnade's scorecard now reads 10-7-2-0 with $567,080 in her account. The four-year-old bay filly has won five of six on the turf, including tallies in the Graceful Darby S. at Belmont Park in September, the Audrey Skirball-Kenis S. at Hollywood in November, and the San Gorgonio H. (G2) and Santa Ana H. (G2) this year at Santa Anita. Her lone loss on the grass came last October at Keeneland, when she wound up a subpar ninth behind Vacare in the Queen Elizabeth II Invitational Challenge Cup S. (G1). The winner was bred in the Bluegrass State and is the fourth black-type winner produced from the stakes-winning Primarily (Lord at War [Arg]). Citronnade counts Canadian champions Poetically (Silver Deputy) and Primaly (Alydeed), as well as Grade 3 winner Whiskey Wisdom (Wild Again), as half-siblings. She also has an unraced two-year-old half-sister named Be Glorious (Red Bullet).
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