Lady Lara arrives late to take Pebbles in U.S. debut

Owned by Ben Sangster, Lady Lara finished up the mile in 1:35 1/5 and paid

$21.20 as the 9-1 fifth choice in a field of 11.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott saddled Lady Lara for the first time in the

Pebbles, but was quick to give credit to her prior connections in England.

"We can't take much credit for the win; the previous trainer (Timothy Jarvis)

gets all the credit," Mott said. "We just picked her up out of quarantine. We

had been talking with Mr. Sangster about bringing her over for quite a while. It

was just a matter of when she was going to come.

"We thought she might come earlier, but we pointed her toward this race, got

her nominated and it worked out. Maybe after this race or another one, we'll

give her the winter off and bring her back in the spring. It looks like she's

got a bright future in front of her."

Distorted Beauty held second by three lengths over Walk Close. Sandiva was

fourth and was followed by Cash For Ever, 2-1 favorite Kenzadargent, Indian

Rainbow, Secret Someone, Hot and Spicy, Munirah, and Ubiquitous Mantle.

Bred in Ireland by the Shanty Syndicate, Lady Lara captured a Listed stakes

at Newbury in her final start in England on September 19. She previously placed

in the 2013 May Hill, a Group 2 event at Doncaster, and the August 23 Strensall,

a Group 3 contested during York's Ebor meeting. Her record now stands at

14-3-2-3, $236,664.

Reared by the Selkirk mare Shanty, Lady Lara is from the extended family of

classic winners Footstepsinthesand and Power, and the English and French

highweight Superstar Leo.

Unbound rallied for second, one length ahead of even-money favorite Voodoo

Tales. Wildcat lily and Katie's Garden completed the order of finish after Risky

Rachel, Rock Me Mama, and Thetaloveandmine were scratched.

Runner-up as the favorite in the 2013 Punkin Pie, the Florida-bred Classic

Point was also Grade 1-placed in that year's Ballerina at Saratoga when under

the care of Jerkens' Hall of Fame trainer-father, Allen. Jimmy Jerkens assumed

training duties prior to the Gallant Bloom.

Classic Point's record now stands at 29-6-4-1, $368,034. She was raised by

Discerning, a Langfuhr half-sister to multiple Grade 2 queen Any Limit. Classic

Point's third dam was Grade 1 scorer Personal Business.