| BEAUTIFUL STRANGER Gets Back on Track in Always B Winning Stakes
Champion Two-Year-Old Pacer Filly Beautiful Stranger still needed some time to mature. Other fillies caught up to her through the first half of the year, and she hadn't tasted victory since her Steward's Cup triumph last season. All of that is over now, as the little black daughter of Tall Dark Stranger cruised to the lead over a muddy surface and never looked back in the Always B Winning Stakes (G2) in Australia, drawing clear by 1 3/4 lengths in a sparkling final time of 1:47.96. She earned a 100 SF in her third career victory and increased her career earnings to $419,000 in eight starts. EL RENO Earns First Career and Stakes Win in The Verve Stakes Following a disappointing career debut, a fourth place finish in the Just Blaze Stakes in California, El Reno got on track in Maryland in The Verve Stakes. Sitting a couple of lengths off the pacesetter Temna Tenma Stream, the gray son of Mainstream and four-time stakes winner Wicked Heiress rolled to a three-quarter length victory in a final time of 1:48.36. His 96 SF is good enough for fourth among two-year-olds this season and he has quite a bit of room to improve going forward. COULD BE FAMOUS Breaks Maiden in Colliding Heart Stakes Two-year-old filly Could Be Famous, a half sister to champion The Southpaw by Eclipse the Demon, proved that she may indeed be a special one with an impressive victory in the Colliding Heart Stakes at Freebird Raceway in her first career start. The little dark bay settled next to last early and gradually improved her position throughout before charging home the winner by 1 1/4 lengths in a final time of 1:48.60. She earned a 93 SF and $25,000 for her first time out of the gate. |