Sabin

A veteran stakes campaigner in the Northeast, Mike G. Rutherford's homebred

TAITTINGER ROSE (Menifee) showed that she's enjoying the Florida winter with her

first graded stakes score in Saturday's $100,000

Sabin H.

(G3) at Gulfstream Park. After patiently biding her time toward the rear of

the field through the early stages, the Bill Mott-trained mare uncorked a winning rally

under Edgar Prado in the stretch to finish 2 1/4 lengths in front, posting a

final time of 1:50 2/5 for the 1 1/8 miles on the fast track.

The early pace was honest, dictated by a fresh Miss Matched (Formal Gold)

through fractions of :23 1/5, :46 3/5 and 1:10 3/5. As the leader began to tire

on the turn, the stalking Darling Daughter (Maria's Mon) asserted herself and

looked to be in the driver's seat with a 1 1/2-length advantage in the stretch.

However, with Taittinger Rose making eye-catching progress on the far outside,

and Mocita (Boundary) doggedly keeping on between rivals, it was clear that the

outcome was far from certain. Inside the final sixteenth, Taittinger Rose's

unassailable momentum swept her to victory, and Mocita's grim determination was

rewarded as she wore down Darling Daughter for second.

"It's all about producing her at the right time," said Kenny McCarthy, Mott's

assistant. "Edgar did that today. She'll always try for you. You might

lose a little ground, but she'll always give you her run."

Potra Clasica (Arg) (Potrillon [Arg]) reported home fourth, 12 3/4 lengths in

advance of Leona's Knight (Suave Prospect) in fifth, with Miss Matched the

trailer.

Sent off as the 8-5 favorite, Taittinger Rose returned $5.40, $2.80 and

$2.10. Mocita gave back $4.40 and $2.40 at 6-1, and the 3-1 Darling Daughter

paid $2.40 to show. The $1 exotics yielded $11.20 (exacta), $33.10 (trifecta)

and $96.30 (1-6-4-5 superfecta).

Taittinger Rose improved her scorecard to 23-6-7-5 with $382,503 in the bank.

The dark bay five-year-old has two other stakes victories to her credit, the

2004 Pennsylvania Oaks and the 2005 Sky Beauty S., along with 10 stakes-placed

efforts. In her prior start, she was a fast-closing runner-up in the Suwannee

River H. at Gulfstream.

Bred in Kentucky by Mike Rutherford Sr., Taittinger Rose is out of La Rosa (Wild Again), winner of

the 1995 Demoiselle S. (G2). La Rosa's youngest is a dark bay juvenile filly

named Rosa Gulch (Thunder Gulch). Taittinger Rose's granddam is 1985 Breeders'

Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) heroine Twilight Ridge (Cox's Ridge), who has produced

multiple stakes winner Daylight Ridge (Dayjur), winner and young sire Quaker

Ridge (Forty Niner) and three-year-old Avalon Place (Fusaichi Pegasus), a

Kentucky Oaks (G1) nominee and recent debut maiden winner for trainer Frank

Brothers.