Street Story takes graded bow in Victory Ride

Whispering Oaks Farm LLC's Street Story rallied in the stretch of Sunday's

Grade 3, $150,000

Victory Ride at Belmont Park to record a 1 3/4-length victory

with jockey Joel Rosario aboard. The Street Cry lass sprinted 6 1/2 furlongs

over the fast main track in 1:17 to return $22.20 as the 10-1 fifth choice in

the seven-filly field.

Red Velvet, the 8-5 favorite, set a blistering pace on the lead in :21 2/5

and :44 1/5 with Fat Kat keeping in close attendance. Miss Behaviour and West

Coast Chick tracked in the second flight of runners, while Street Story bided

her time near the rear.

Fat Kat couldn't keep pace for long with Red Velvet, and the leader was

tiring from the quick fractions herself. Miss Behaviour moved up to Red Velvet's

outside rounding the turn and took over in the stretch. However, the Jump Start

filly was also feeling the effects from the early pace and had nothing to

withstand Street Story's late rally in the final furlongs.

"I saw there was a lot of speed, and I was right," Rosario remarked. "In a couple of races she had

come from off the pace, and that was the reason why I thought she'd have a good

chance. I saw (Miss Behaviour) starting to slow down, and (Street Story) kept

fighting and fighting. Going past the eighth-pole, I thought I had a good chance

to win the race."

Miss Behavior was second by 1 1/2 lengths over Milam, who rallied from the

back to nip Red Velvet by a nose on the line. West Coast Chick, Isabelle and Fat

Kat completed the order under the wire.

Street Story entered the Victory Ride owning wins in the Dixie Belle and

Instant Racing at Oaklawn Park from earlier this season. She actually was making

her first start on Sunday since that latter race in mid-April. The Steve

Asmussen-trained dark bay began her career at Churchill Downs last summer,

missing in her first race before breaking her maiden just 21 days later. She

closed out her juvenile campaign with a runner-up effort in her stakes bow, the

Letellier Memorial, at Fair Grounds.

Street Story improved her scorecard to 4-1-0 from eight starts by taking her

graded debut in the Victory Ride, and has now banked $251,210 lifetime.

"She's been here for about a month and a half. We

freshened her up and gave her three breezes here," assistant trainer Toby Sheets

said. "She's been doing really,

really good; she likes it here. The pace worked out super, it was a big plus

today. We're just going to enjoy the moment and go from there."

Bred in Kentucky by John C. Oxley, Street Story sold for $155,000 to her

current owners at the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The dark bay miss

is out of the winning Tale of the Cat mare Perfect Story, making her a

half-sister to multiple Grade 2-placed Medjool.

Perfect Story is herself a daughter of 2001 Broodmare of the Year Turko's

Turn and counts as a half-brother Horse of the Year, champion three-year-old

colt and multiple classic hero Point Given. She has another half-sibling in last

Saturday's Grade 2 Summertime Oaks runner-up Live for Now. This female family

also includes Grade 1 scorer Badger Land and multiple Grade 2 victor Dignitas.

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