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Awesome Maria scores in return; Queen of the Creek rules E. Paul Robsham Stables' AWESOME MARIA (Maria's Mon) stalked the pacesetter on the outside in Thursday's first division of the $70,000 Riskaverse S. at Saratoga, rallied to take over inside the furlong marker and battled determinedly to hold off the late challenge from Snow Top Mountain (Najran) to score by a half-length under jockey John Velazquez. The three-year-old filly was making her return following a more than 10-month layoff and for new trainer Todd Pletcher in this one-mile turf test. Awesome Maria broke on top, but didn't press the issue when Shirley She Can (Rock Hard Ten) moved up to take command through opening splits of :23 3/5 and :47 3/5. The gray miss edged her way closer to the leader through six furlongs in 1:11 1/5, then made her move to grab the advantage. The rest of the field had ranged up by this point, but Snow Top Mountain was going best of all. She came with a game late run, but Awesome Maria would not yield to finish this, her initial grass race, in 1:35 on the firm inner going. "This was an experience for her," Velazquez said. "She's worked twice on the grass and today she went out there like she'd never been on it, but she still handled very well. The plan was to give her a nice ride and do whatever she was comfortable with; stay where she was happy. "(Shirley She Can) went to the lead and I stayed right off of her. Another horse came to me on the backstretch, and kind of pushed her along. I just waited in that spot until the quarter pole. She seemed like she needed a little company, so I didn't want to take the lead too early. That was a really good effort. That was a pretty decent field and for the first time being on the grass, she ran well." Awesome Maria moved her record to 5-3-2-0, $313,000, with this victory. As a juvenile, she captured the Matron S. (G2) and just missed by a nose in the Frizette S. (G1) for conditioner Stanley Hough. "We were looking for a place to start her back," Pletcher explained. "We felt she was a filly who would appreciate some added ground, and obviously the (1 1/4-mile) Alabama (G1) is not somewhere you'd start back. The (six-furlong) Victory Ride (G3) was a little too short, and she seemed to handle it well when we worked her on the grass. "It was more about the timing and the distance than the surface. She's already proven she's a quality filly on the dirt. She's still a lightly raced filly and doing things on natural ability." In the second division five races later, Timothy B. Turney and Nathan Tinkler's QUEEN OF THE CREEK (Theatrical [Ire]) ruled throughout on the front end. Setting splits of :23 4/5, :46 3/5 and 1:10, the Tom Proctor trainee finished up in 1:33 4/5 while 3 1/2 lengths clear on the line. "She's the type of filly that you can't fight with her, you just have to leave her alone," jockey Julien Leparoux explained. "But today I got her to relax and she didn't pull as much as last time. Today she even finished up better, even though she ran pretty fast in the first part of the race. She was easier on herself and did it very easy." "This filly has a lot of ability, and we've quit trying to rate her," Proctor agreed. "The other day she ran well, and there were four-year-olds chasing her. I said, 'Next time, there will be three-year-olds chasing her.' If somebody went out there, running-and-gunning, maybe the jock would have taken her back, but maybe not. She's a Theatrical, and they're free-running horses." Queen of the Creek was sent off the 4-1 second choice in the 10-filly field. The public favored Lisa's Booby Trap (Drewman) at even-money to keep her unbeaten line perfect, but the Tim Snyder-owned and trained bay never factored after saving ground along the rail in her turf bow. "No response," rider Kent Desormeaux said. "She was never comfortable (on the turf). Not two feet out of the gate. She was grunting and making noise. I'm sure she didn't enjoy the going at all. This doesn't take anything away from her for me. She's already a superstar." Lisa's Booby Trap, blind in one eye and named after Snyder's late wife, has attracted national attention. The trainer's daughter and mother-in-law came to Saratoga for the Riskaverse and were followed throughout the day by a film crew from Dateline NBC. Snyder, though disappointed, was philosophical about the result. "I was trying to get a line on her by trying her on the grass," he said. "This is no big deal. It was a great experience for her. You've got to be on both sides; a lot of people are prepared for the win, and not prepared to be disappointed. I was prepared to be disappointed. She'll go back to my mother-in-law's farm in Syracuse." Queen of the Creek entered Thursday's race off an in-hand victory over course and distance. That followed a last-place run in the Regret S. (G3) at Churchill Downs after a rank start and a third-place effort in the American One Thousand Guineas, which also doubled as her stakes bow, on May 22. The bay miss is a half-sister to the winning Mien (Nureyev), who is better known as the dam of Kentucky Derby (G1)-winning champion Big Brown (Boundary).
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