Pontchatrain completes stakes hat trick in Monrovia

Glen Hill Farm's Pontchatrain helped continue trainer Tom Proctor's stellar

weekend with a three-quarter length victory in the Grade 2, $200,500

Monrovia on

Sunday. With Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens in the saddle, the four-year-old

miss stopped the clock in 1:11 to remain perfect in three starts on Santa Anita

Park's about 6 1/2-furlong downhill turf course.

Pontchatrain also gave Proctor the 1,001 win of his career after he scored

the milestone 1,000th victory on Saturday in Tampa Bay Downs' 8TH race. Sent off

the even-money favorite on Sunday, the dark bay filly paid $4.20.

"Tyler (Baze)'s filly (Camryn Kate) must have jumped in a little bit the first step because my

filly's right rear went down for two strides," Stevens said. "She got right back up underneath

me but I thought she might have grabbed a quarter; it was pretty severe. But

then, boom, she just took off. I even asked (assistant trainer) Amy (Dollase) when we came back to check her right hind and she said that the

shoe had 'sprung.' It almost would have been better if it came off completely.

It's not often that happens.

"She's still a young filly loaded with talent and she's

still learning. There are races down the road so I don't think there's any use

in being in a hurry with her. She's got a great turn of foot and I wouldn't be

surprised to see Tom stretch her out at some point. She's got that ability and I

was thinking about her next step as we were crossing the dirt believe it or

not."

"She's so fast. We went :22 and change and I had a hold of her," remarked

Kindle's jockey, Rafael Bejarano. "When we crossed the dirt, I had to let her

go. The winner is a really nice filly. My horse ran good."

"I'd have to be happy with

that. She ran :11 flat off an 11-month layoff so how could you be

disappointed with that?," declared Gary Mandella, who trains Kindle. "Tom has a

very nice filly and

that's why she's won five out of seven. We're both blessed to have very talented

fillies.

"The obvious thing to do would be to keep her in races like

this but the next race isn't until April, so what we do in between now and then,

I'm not quite sure."

The lightly raced Pontchatrain broke her maiden by a head in her racing debut

in August 2012 over Del Mar's Polytrack. She followed up her initial win with a

third-place finish against allowance company over the Cushion Track at Hollywood

Park in her sophomore bow on June 29.

Pontchatrain made her turf bow the following month back at Del Mar, winning

by 3 1/4 lengths in an allowance race. The dark bay daughter of War Front

crossed the wire in fourth in her stakes debut in the Sandy Blue Handicap on

August 16 before earning her first stakes victory while trying Santa Anita's

downhill turf in the September 28 Unzip Me Stakes. She followed that last out

with a one-length score in the November 2 Senator Ken Maddy, and now boasts

$324,882 earnings to go along with her 7-5-0-1 career mark.