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Dancing Edie shows unflinching courage in Mabee Waltzing unopposed on the front end, DANCING EDIE (Moscow Ballet) had things her own way through the first six furlongs of Saturday's $400,000 John C. Mabee H. (G1) at Del Mar, but when veteran rivals Moscow Burning (Moscow Ballet) and Island Fashion (Petionville) turned up the heat in the stretch, the game four-year-old battled between foes with all her might to garner the victory in a photo-finish. Appropriately, there was a thoroughly California-bred flavor to this 1 1/8-mile turf race named in honor of one of the Golden State's most famed owner/breeders, with the exacta completed by California natives. Corey Nakatani steered the Craig Dollase-trained Dancing Edie to the early lead, carving out soft splits of :24 2/5, :49 and 1:13 1/5 as Island Fashion stalked in second and Moscow Burning scraped the paint in third. Leaving the far turn, the big gray Island Fashion was the first to mount a challenge, bumping into the leader in upper stretch before drawing up to her throatlatch. At the same time, Moscow Burning surged along the rail and took a slight advantage. Despite being stuck between Island Fashion to her outside and Moscow Burning to her inside, Dancing Edie refused to surrender and battled back to reclaim the lead by a nose at the wire, simultaneously barging into Island Fashion. The final time for the firm-turf nine furlongs was 1:48 1/5. The inquiry sign promptly flashed, and the result still hung in the balance as the stewards reviewed the stretch run. It was ultimately decided that the order of finish should stand, with the stewards ruling that both Dancing Edie and Island Fashion contributed to the scrimmaging. Thus Dancing Edie kept her hard-fought triumph, the first stakes score of her career. Fellow California-bred Moscow Burning ran valiantly for runner-up honors, a neck ahead of Island Fashion, who saved third by a head from the rallying 5-2 favorite Amorama (Fr) (Sri Pekan). Dancing Edie returned $10, $5.80 and $4 as the 4-1 third choice in the wagering, capping a $27.90 exacta ($1) and $242.90 trifecta ($1). The 7-1 Moscow Burning gave back $6.60 and $4.40, and Island Fashion paid $5.20 at 8-1. Memorette (Memo [Chi]) reported home fifth, followed by nearly 3-1 second choice Live Life (Fr) (Linamix), who bobbled at the start, and Katdogawn (GB) (Bahhare). Bred by Fast Lane Farms and Donald Reiker, Dancing Edie is campaigned by Julian Basin, Fast Lane Farms, J. Paul Reddam et al. The four-year-old bay's scorecard reads 14-3-4-2, and her bankroll has nearly doubled to $533,580. Although this was her first stakes win, she finished second in the Gamely Breeders' Cup S. (G1) two starts back and the Fran's Valentine S. three back, as well as racking up a third in the 2005 Del Mar Oaks (G1). Dancing Edie was most recently fourth in the CashCall Mile Invitational S. (G3). Produced by the Slewpy mare Duchess of Ack, the winner is a full sister to an unraced juvenile filly named Vodka Blush and a half-sister to an unnamed yearling filly by Decarchy.
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