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Take D' Tour revisits winner's circle in Ogden Phipps Alice Muller's TAKE D' TOUR (Tour d'Or) rated in second behind the pacesetting Teammate (A.P. Indy) for the first half-mile of Saturday's $300,000 Ogden Phipps H. (G1) at Belmont Park. Nearing the final turn the chestnut took over, eventually pulling off to a 3 1/2-length advantage in the stretch, but she had to dig down late to hold a closing Ginger Punch (Awesome Again) by a neck at the wire. With Eibar Coa in the irons, the David Fawkes-trained six-year-old mare defended her title in the 1 1/16-mile test, stopping the clock on the fast dirt in 1:41 1/5 to pay $4.10, $2.50 and $2.10 as the even-money favorite. "I was so happy to see her break the way she did," Fawkes said. "She was going easy the first eighth of a mile, then Eibar said that as soon as she got eyeball to eyeball with the other horse (Teammate), they both went. Once she shook off that filly, she had a little opportunity to get a breather. "It was nice to win this race the first time, and it is a thrill to win it a second time." Take D' Tour became just the third mare to win back-to-back runnings of this race, which was formerly run as the Hempstead H., joining Heatherten (1984-85) and Sightseek (2003-04). She also joins Heatherten as the oldest mare to win this event. "I always have a lot of confidence on her," Coa said. "The last two times she ran in California and Oaklawn, she just couldn't handle the post parades. She just wasted herself. Today, she was still a little bit bad, but she handled herself better. She walked nice to the end of the tunnel and then was a monster to the starting gate. This was a big performance." Ginger Punch came with her late rally to just miss in only her second graded try, returning $3.70 and $2.90 at 7-2 while ending the $14.40 exacta. Promenade Girl (Carson City) closed from last to finish another 8 1/4 lengths back of the runner-up, giving back $5.70 at 24-1 and completing the 4-1-6 trifecta that paid $95. Miss Shop (Deputy Minister) was 4 1/2 lengths adrift in fourth, and followed under the line by Bushfire (Louis Quatorze) and Teammate. Take D' Tour captured last year's Ogden Phipps by 5 1/2 lengths, leading all the way home. Though she used different tactics on Saturday, the mare still got the job done, improving her career mark to 24-10-8-0 and joining the millionaire's club by pushing her earnings to $1,032,740. The chestnut also scored in the Shuvee H. (G2) and Stage Door Betty H. (G3) last year, and owns placings in the Ruffian H. (G1), Apple Blossom H. (G1) and Sunshine Millions Distaff S., with the latter two coming in her prior starts this year. Bred by Paul Muller in Florida, Take D' Tour is out of the winning Cherry Flare (Mr. Washington). Fawkes indicated that the August 25 Molly Pitcher Breeders' Cup (G2) at Monmouth Park is Take D' Tour's likely next start.
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