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Tuscan Evening stays on a roll in Santa Barbara
"I have to give all the credit to Jerry (Hollendorfer)," Bejarano said. "This is a very special day. My mother is here from Peru, and to have this filly win four times at longer distances, it is unbelievable. She keeps improving every time. She relaxed so well the whole race, and I never hit her today. She was full of run at the finish." Hollendorfer, in turn, reflected the credit into Tuscan Evening. "She kind of made her own way, so I wasn't real nervous, no," the trainer said regarding her bold wire-to-wire trip over the longer distance. "She's something. I give her all the credit. She relaxed real nice, and when Rafael asked her, she had enough left. We were thrilled and we're very fortunate. "Winning these four races at different distances lets us consider a lot more things, but we'll take a hard look at the Gamely ([G1] at Hollywood Park May 29 going 1 1/8 miles on turf)." General Consensus (Giant's Causeway) rallied from last in the Santa Barbara quartet, and although she did not pose a serious danger to Tuscan Evening, she did well to reduce the winning margin to one length. The 5-1 third choice, General Consensus gave back $2.80 and ended the $2.70 exacta ($1). Another 4 3/4 lengths adrift in third came Restless Soul, who wrapped up the $6.20 trifecta (2-5-3) ($1). Eclair de Lune (Ger) (Marchand de Sable) brought up the rear, while Cat by the Tale (Tale of the Cat) and Medaglia d'Amour (Medaglia d'Oro) were scratched. Tuscan Evening now sports a mark of 25-10-4-5, $899,408. She made her mark chiefly as a miler last season, garnering the Royal Heroine Mile (G2), Las Palmas H. (G2) and Redondo Beach S. and finishing second in the Matriarch S. (G1) to conclude 2009. Tuscan Evening also showed good form in downhill turf sprints when placing third in both the Las Cienegas H. (G3) and Senator Ken Maddy H. (G3). Formerly based in Ireland with John Joseph Murphy, Tuscan Evening placed in four stakes as a juvenile in 2007, chief among them the Debutante S. (Ire-G2), without managing to break her maiden. At three, the bay crossed the wire a close second in the Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1), just a head back of Halfway to Heaven (Ire), only to be disqualified and placed fourth. Bred by Hascombe and Valiant Studs in the Emerald Isle, Tuscan Evening was a bargain $8,762 yearling at Tattersalls October. She most recently went through the auction ring at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky in November, fetching a bid of $650,000. Tuscan Evening was produced by Park Hill S. (Eng-G3) runner-up The Faraway Tree (Suave Dancer), who is herself a half-sister to French Group 1 winner Sasuru (Most Welcome [GB]) and English Group 2 heroine Sally Rous (Ire) (Rousillon). Tuscan Evening hails from the family of Rose Gypsy (GB) (Green Desert), queen of the 2001 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French One Thousand Guineas) (Fr-G1), and English Group 2 victress Crystal Capella (Cape Cross [Ire]), who was runner-up as the defending champion in the Pride S. (Eng-G2) last October at Newmarket.
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