Princess Haya wins Canadian thriller

Eileen H. Hartis' homebred PRINCESS HAYA (Street Cry [Ire]) prevailed in a

three-way photo in Sunday's $283,376

Canadian

S. (Can-G2), narrowly defeating 1-5 favorite Forever Together (Belong to Me)

and Much Obliged (Kingmambo) to earn her first stakes victory in dramatic

fashion. A Maryland shipper trained by Michael Matz, the 15-1 shot got up late

along the inside to snatch the spoils while finishing about 1 1/8 miles in 1:45

on Woodbine's firm turf.

Princess Haya's odds were a reflection of her prior stakes appearance this

summer -- a pair of distant seconds in the John W. Rooney Memorial S. at

Delaware Park and the Matchmaker S. at Monmouth, both rained off the turf.

Finally getting the opportunity to compete in a turf stakes, the four-year-old

bay bided her time off the pace with new rider Rafael Bejarano. Meanwhile, the

late-running Forever Together was similarly positioned.

At the head of affairs, Lomaki (A.P. Indy) set the pace under stiff pressure

from Points of Grace (Point Given) through splits of :24 1/5 and :48 2/5. Points

of Grace, the clear second choice at nearly 9-2, took charge on the turn and

inched away entering the stretch. The Malcolm Pierce trainee had no answer,

however, when tackled by her uncoupled stablemate, Much Obliged, and Forever

Together, who were both getting into high gear in midstretch. At this point,

Princess Haya was making less conspicuous progress along the rail.

Although Forever Together appeared ready to roll right on by her rivals, the

champion's momentum stalled. Much Obliged hung tough on her inside, and Princess

Haya kept gaining ground relentlessly to make it a trio approaching the wire.

The three crossed the line abreast, with the nod going to Princess Haya. The

winner rewarded her fans with payouts of $32.10, $6.50 and $5 while keying the

$62.90 exactor, the $237.90 triactor and $453.50 superfecta (2-5-1-6).

Forever Together, who was conceding 11 pounds to Princess Haya as the

124-pound highweight, gave back $2.20 and $2.10. Much Obliged, the 8-1 third

choice, returned $3.40 for finishing another head back. Points of Grace checked

in another two lengths adrift in fourth, followed by Dance to My Tune

(Stravinsky), She's the Umpire (Smart Strike) and Lomaki.

Princess Haya more than doubled her earnings to $307,363 from her 13-4-4-2

line. After capturing a turf maiden at Laurel last October, she scored her first

allowance win on the grass at Gulfstream in January. Princess Haya took four

more tries to clear her second-level allowance condition, finally checking that

box two starts back at Monmouth.

The Texas-bred is out of the winning Sally Slew (Slew City Slew), whose only

subsequent registered foal is a yearling full brother to the winner named Street

Flyer. This is the family of Del Mar Oaks (G3) victress Slew of Pearls (Tsunami

Slew), Pan American H. scorer Irish Rebellion (Needles) and Sanford S. hero

Louis d'Or (Centime).