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Sea rolls to victory in Allaire DuPont Millennium Farms' ROLLING SEA (Sefapiano) put her head in front turning for home and surged clear to record a 2 1/4-length victory in Friday's $134,000 Allaire DuPont Breeders' Cup Distaff S. (G2) at Pimlico. Garrett Gomez settled the Steve Asmussen trainee in second early, stalking Fiery Pursuit (Carson City) through splits of :24 3/5 and :48 3/5. Rolling Sea accosted the leader by the time they reached six furlongs in 1:12 4/5, put her away, and was never given a challenge as she completed 1 1/16 miles on the fast track in 1:42 4/5. The nearly 6-1 shot returned $13.60, $6.20 and $3.40 while earning her first graded stakes score. "Garrett gave her a dream trip," said Asmussen, who will saddle Curlin (Smart Strike) in Saturday's Preakness S. (G1). "She laid second with modest fractions to put her in a position to win." Asmussen also noted that Rolling Sea's task was made easier by the withdrawal of five rivals. "(The scratches) made it extremely manageable for us with the post-position draw, with her drawing 11 of 12," the trainer said. "I was very concerned. She kind of wants to be forwardly placed, but she doesn't have the speed to clear them." Leah's Secret (Tiger Ridge) finished best of the rest in her two-turn debut to give back $5.40 and $2.80 at 4-1. The 6-5 favorite, Kettleoneup (Victory Gallop), was hung out four wide on both turns but still rallied for third, another three-quarters of a length back, to yield $2.20. The exotics were worth $66.80 (exacta), $189.60 (trifecta) and $1,147.80 (11-4-9-6 superfecta) with the 9-1 Lexi Star (Crypto Star) in fourth. Amandatude (Aptitude) crossed the wire an additional 4 1/4 lengths adrift in fifth, followed by Gasia (Silver Deputy) and Fiery Pursuit. Promenade Girl (Carson City), Take a Check (Touch Gold), Peak Maria's Way (Pyramid Peak), Sugar Shake (Awesome Again) and Swap Fliparoo (Exchange Rate) were scratched, with the latter two opting to run in Saturday's Shuvee H. (G2) at Belmont Park. Rolling Sea now sports a mark of 20-8-3-4 with a bankroll to the tune of $403,624. Her first two stakes victories came against Illinois-breds, taking the 2005 Illinois Debutante S. as a juvenile and adding the Purple Violet S. to her resume last year. Rolling Sea soon proved that she could hold her own in open company, finishing third in the Arlington Oaks (G3), Pago Hop S. and Furl Sail H. She romped by five lengths in the Fortin H. at Fair Grounds in March and was most recently third in the Sixty Sails H. (G3) at Hawthorne, beaten 6 1/4 lengths by Kettleoneup. Rolling Sea convincingly turned the tables on that rival here. Bred by Asiel Stable in the Land of Lincoln, Rolling Sea is out of the winning Cure the Blues mare Almost Sma, who has also produced an unraced juvenile named Perfect Remedy (Luhuk).
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