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Lady of Venice exudes class in Ouija Board Late last year, Lone Star Park officials decided to rename the WinStar Distaff H. (G3) in honor of the champion mare Ouija Board (GB), who scored the first of her two Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) victories at the Grand Prairie, Texas, oval in 2004. Appropriately enough, Martin Schwartz's LADY OF VENICE (Fr) (Loup Solitaire) delivered a stunning turn of foot, reminiscent of the race's namesake, to prevail in Monday's $200,000 Ouija Board Distaff H. (G3). The Patrick Biancone filly loped at the rear of the field through the first six furlongs, but when Garrett Gomez angled her to the outside for the drive and gave her the signal, she proved that she's in a different class. Lady of Venice's response was instantaneous, as she stormed past her foes to win handily by 1 3/4 lengths in a final time of 1:38 1/5 for the mile on soft turf. The 2-5 favorite paid $2.80, $2.20 and $2.10. Brownie Points (Forest Wildcat) closed well to nail the longtime leader Rich Fantasy (Richter Scale) on the line for second. The near 9-2 runner-up returned $3.20 and $2.40 while ending the $8.40 exacta. Rich Fantasy had carved out fractions of :24, :48 3/5 and 1:13 3/5, and the 5-1 shot gave back $2.60 to show for her efforts. The trifecta was worth $17.80. D Fine Okie (Burbank) checked in another three-quarters of a length adrift in fourth at 17-1, resulting in a $64.40 superfecta (8-2-6-7). Next under the wire were Barbette (High Yield), My Three Sisters (Defrere), Sweet Idea (Langfuhr) and Prospectors Spirit (Crafty Prospector). With this third stakes victory to her credit, Lady of Venice improved her record to 9-6-2-0 while increasing her earnings to $439,592. After capturing two of three outings in France as a two-year-old, she immigrated to America. In her first two starts for Biancone in 2006, the chestnut landed the Appalachian S. and Regret S. (G3) in impressive fashion. She tackled older mares in the Diana S. (G1) and was beaten only a length in fifth, and she wrapped up her sophomore campaign with a runner-up effort to champion Wait a While (Maria's Mon) in the Lake Placid S. (G2). Lady of Venice made a successful reappearance in a Keeneland allowance last time out. The winner was bred in France by S.C.A. Elevage de Tourgeville and Erculiani. Produced by Lacewings (Forty Niner), Lady of Venice is a full sister to French stakes winner Loup Masque (Fr). Her granddam, French stakes victress and Group 2-placed Lyphka (Lyphard), is herself a half-sister to champion and prominent sire Soviet Star (Nureyev) and Grade 1-winning millionairess The Very One (One for All). Biancone indicated that the July 6 CashCall Mile (G2) at Hollywood Park is on the agenda for Lady of Venice.
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