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Triumph turns to tragedy for Springside in Demoiselle James and Alice Sapara's SPRINGSIDE (Awesome Again) turned in a monstrous effort in Saturday's Demoiselle S. (G2) at Aqueduct, circling the field from last turning for home then swallowing up the long-time top two of Ain't Love Grand (Dixie Union) and 1-5 favorite Sky Diva (Sky Mesa) en route to a 9 1/2-length walloping under Garrett Gomez in a time of 1:51 3/5 for nine furlongs over the fast oval. No sooner had she begun to pull up, however, than the juvenile filly took a bad step and was vanned off. "When she was galloping out, she swapped leads and I heard a pop," Gomez said. "She never indicated that anything was wrong." "It is not a simple fracture, but the (right-front) pastern is intact," said Dr. Anthony Verderosa, Chief Examining Veterinarian for the New York Racing Association, after looking at the X-rays. Verderosa indicated that Springside would be sent to the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine's George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at New Bolton Center on Sunday. The 5-1 third choice in a field of six, Springside returned $13.20, $5.30 and $2.70 while topping the $243.50 exacta and $585 trifecta. Boleyn (Proud Citizen), a 33-1 chance, was forced to check entering the first turn then settled along the inside soon after entering the backstretch. She rallied along that path from fourth to edge Frizette S. (G1) winner Sky Diva by a nose for second, returning $15 and $4.30. Sky Diva was three parts of a length clear of her nearest pursuer and brought back $2.10. "She was throwing her head around and the horse on the inside of me bothered her a little bit," jockey Ramon Dominguez said of the heavy favorite. "She is better than she showed today. She will be better next time." Ain't Love Grand, who set the early pace through splits of :24, :48 1/5 and 1:12 3/5, faded to fourth and was trailed by Bluegrass Princess (Dynaformer) and Stormy's Smile (Stormy Atlantic). The injury to Springside could not have happened at a worse time. The Josie Carroll charge had been based at Woodbine prior to her trip to Aqueduct, where she beat only four of her 20 rivals in her first two starts. However, the dark bay awoke in an October 2 maiden going seven furlongs over Polytrack, which she won by a length, then made a smashing debut in the allowance ranks, scoring by 10 lengths going 1 1/16 miles. With her Demoiselle tally, the Kentucky-bred improved her mark to 5-3-0-0 with earnings of $190,163. Bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Springside sold for $335,000 last year at Keeneland September. Out of Grade 2-placed stakes winner Folly Dollar (Digression), Springside has a yearling full sister and a weanling half-sister by Yes It's True. This female family has also produced Grade 2 winners Real Cash (Tank's Prospect) and Shirley's Champion (*Noholme II).
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