Close Hatches too classy for Apple Blossom rivals

Juddmonte Farms Inc.'s Close Hatches opened the year with a gate-to-wire

victory in Oaklawn Park's Azeri on March 15, and on Friday parlayed that into a

1 1/4-length score in the Grade 1, $588,000

Apple Blossom Handicap.

The four-year-old daughter of First Defense broke on top from her inside post

and took command under jockey Joel Rosario. The duo led the way through splits

of :23 2/5, :46 3/5 and 1:10 3/5 while tracked by Rose to Gold and On Fire Baby

behind. Let Faith Arise took up position just off On Fire Baby's flank, and

Stanwyck was biding her time well back in last of the five-distaffer field.

Nearing the turn, Rose to Gold began backing up and Stanwyck had begun her

run on the outside. Close Hatches maintained her advantage in the lane while

Stanwyck briefly loomed large down the center of the track. The Bill

Mott-trained eventual winner proved her class and refused to yield, finishing 1

1/16 miles on the fast dirt in 1:42 3/5 to return $3.40 as the 3-5 favorite.

On Fire Baby was seeking a second straight Apple Blossom win after taking the

2013 running by a half-length, but just could not catch Close Hatches. The gray

mare was game in the stretch run, though, and got the best of Stanwyck by a

length on the wire. Let Faith Arise followed by another three parts of a length

while Rose to Gold was distanced in last, 11 1/4 lengths behind the fourth-place

runner.

Close Hatches now boasts five stakes victories, adding the Apple Blossom to

scores in the Cotillion and Mother Goose, both Grade 1s, as well as the Grade 2

Gazelle from her sophomore season. The dark bay miss suffered the only non

top-two finish of her career when running a subpar seventh in the Kentucky Oaks

last May, but quickly rebounded 24 days later to be second in the Acorn.