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Princess leaves Rags behind in Gazelle
"It worked out great," trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said. "I didn't think we would ever be outside of Rags to Riches, but we were and it worked out great. She deserved to win a Grade 1. I hate that we had to beat Rags to Riches, in a way, but that gives much more credit to our filly." McLaughlin said that Lear's Princess would now go for a likely rematch with Rags to Riches in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) on October 27 at Monmouth Park. "The only worry with putting the blinkers on today was that she might get a little rank," he added about the decision to add first-time blinkers. "We were talking about it, and she is such a classy filly and she does everything right, so we decided to put them on." "She didn't run a bad race," said a disappointed Todd Pletcher of Rags to Riches. "Obviously, the winner has been knocking on the door in some big races, and she was the one we feared. It has been well documented that we haven't had a real smooth three months since the Belmont. I'd say that some missed workouts, some temperatures and this and that from June 9 to today hurt us inside of the sixteenth-pole. "I would never be discouraged with the filly. I still think she is the best three-year-old filly in the country. I think she is one of the best we've seen in a long time. Sometimes, the best get beat. I wouldn't switch places with anyone, and I look forward to making amends six weeks from now in the Breeders' Cup." Lear's Princess, the 2-1 second pick, rewarded her faithful backers with payouts of $6.20, $2.30 and $2.10. Rags to Riches was still best of the rest, finishing two lengths in front of Tough Tiz's Sis to return $2.10 and $2.10. Show gave back $2.40 at 10-1, and next under the line were Dorm Fever and Le Chateau (Chester House). The exotics were worth $10.80 (exacta) and $31 (1-5-3 trifecta). Lear's Princess began her career on Keeneland's Polytrack in late April, breaking her maiden by a nose. She moved to Belmont Park's turf for her next two starts, adding an allowance and the Tweedside S. to her record, and was placed against some of the best in her division when trying the dirt for the first time in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1). She was just a half-length back of Octave (Unbridled's Song) on that day, and had that rival back in third when a neck second in the Alabama S. (G1) prior to this one. From a 6-4-2-0 mark, Lear's Princess has now earned $429,100. Bred by Palides Investments N.V. Inc. in Kentucky, the bay lass is the second registered foal out of the unraced Pretty City (Carson City), who has since produced an unraced juvenile colt named Crowned General (General Royal), an unnamed yearling filly by Runaway Groom and a 2007 filly by Matty G. Pretty City herself counts My Big Boy (Our Hero), hero of the 1988 Bernard Baruch H. (G1), as a half-sibling. Lear's Princess brought $60,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, then sold for $110,000 to her current connections as an OBS March two-year-old in training last year.
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