Abaco surges late in Cardinal

Phipps Stable's Kentucky homebred Abaco came flying late to capture her first

stakes in Saturday's Grade 3, $112,800

Cardinal Handicap at Churchill Downs as

the 5-2 second choice and paid her supporters $7.60 for the victory.

"I was tickled to death with her," trainer Shug McGaughey said. "She never

had won a stake. She had been second in three. She's so deserving of winning one

and I was really glad. She should have won down in Baltimore (in Laurel's Lady

Baltimore on September 21), but today we wanted to make sure she didn't get in

trouble. (Jockey) Rosie (Napravnik) rode a big race on her and we're all really,

really pleased."

The five-year-old mare was bothered at the start and broke last in the

field of 10 as Soft Whisper drew away by seven lengths to post an opening

quarter in :23 4/5. The field closed that margin in half at the half-mile mark

which was run in :48 1/5. Soft Whisper would put up three-quarters of a mile in

1:13 3/5 before fading.

"I thought she (Napravnik) rode her good," McGaughey said. "She didn't get

away good, but she got her over and saved the ground. She got in good position

and I think she probably thought she was on the best horse. She got her in the

right spot and she was able to finish good. We're all very pleased."

Abaco eventually settled in midpack after the slow start but was still 13

lengths off the lead at the half-mile mark. She slowly

started to chip into that deficit while 2-1 favorite Starstruck emerged with a

brief lead on the outside as the field turned for home. Starstruck started

to weaken while eventual third-place finisher Solid Appeal had a half-length

lead in the the stretch, but it was Miz Ida who slipped though down along the

rail and was the one to catch.

"She didn't come out real fast, but it really isn't a big factor with her

because she comes from so far off the pace anyway," Napravnik said. "My

instructions were to keep her out of trouble and that's all I had to do. She's

got a huge kick and that's her strength."

Abaco angled out in the stretch and surged late to run down the leader in the

final yards to prevail by a length. She stopped the teletimer in 1:50 4/5 for

the 1 1/8-mile test over the good turf.

Miz Ida took second by a head over third-place finisher Solid Appeal.

Starstruck, Somali Lemonade, Street of Gold, My Perfect Ten, Soft Whisper, Rare

Event and Embarr rounded out the order of finish.

"These past few months our horses have run good in all of these stakes, but

we've often been second-best -- just beaten by a horse that had a little more,"

said Steve Margolis, trainer of Miz Ida. "But she ran good. (Jockey) Shaun (Bridgmohan)

saved the ground and he didn't give her too much to do. He said a

mile-and-an-eighth is kind of pushing it with her, but he had her in a good

tracking spot. She came through on the rail and she did what she had to do, but

the eight-horse (Abaco) kind of got rolling and just had a little more. But it

was a big effort.

"The plan is to keep her here for about a week and have her checked out, and

then we'll send her over to Amy LoPresti's place (in Lexington)," Margolis

added. "We'll probably give her the rest of November and all of December off,

then bring her back for the Fair Grounds and get her ready. It's possible that

we could run her at the end of the (Fair Grounds) meet, but probably be looking

more for something at Keeneland or Churchill. She had a good year and between

this second and the second at Parx, she runs hard and she tries."

Abaco was unsuccessful in breaking her maiden in six tries as a

three-year-old and did not do so until her third start as a four-year-old in

July 2012 over Saratoga's turf course. She went on to win her next three starts

in optional claiming races to close out the year. The chestnut made her stakes debut

in her first start start as a five-year-old in the Suwannee River Stakes at

Gulfstream Park, finishing second. In her next start she crossed the wire in

sixth in the Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland but was placed fifth through

disqualification.

The daughter of Giant's Causeway took a break over the summer and returned to

the track against stakes company at Saratoga on September 1 and came in fourth.

Abaco just missed by a head in the Lady Baltimore Stakes later that month at

Laurel Park and was exiting a runner-up finish in the Athenia over Belmont's

Widener turf just last month. With Saturday's score, she banked $66,439 to

increase her lifetime earnings to $395,108 from an 18-5-7-2 career line.

"I talked to Mr. Phipps about it and said there was a race at Gulfstream that

would fit her on February 8 and I'll try to run her before that," said McGaughey,

when asked if Abaco has more racing in front of her or if she would become a

broodmare prospect. "And I said 'Let's make up our minds then.' He said, 'If I

thought she could be one of the tops in her division, I'd sure like to keep her

in training.' So, we'll let her tell us.

"But she's awfully good right now, and

she has been since we brought her back. After her race at Keeneland, I turned

her out for a while. She's run well over the Gulfstream turf course and I

wouldn't think there's any reason why we wouldn't want to keep her training."

Abaco is out of the Grade 2-winning Pleasant Colony mare Cat Cay, who is a

half-sister to Grade 1 victor Strolling Along as well as Grade 2-placed Lion

Hearted, who are both sires. Abaco's third dam is champion and 1989 Broodmare of

the Year Relaxing, who produced

1988 two-year-old champion Easy Goer as well as Grade 1 scorers Easy Now and

Cadillacing.

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