Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) – Molly Morgan, making her second start of
the year, used a ground saving trip to capture Friday’s $300,000 La Troienne
Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Dale Romans and ridden by Corey Lanerie, Molly Morgan broke from an
outside post and was racing sixth through the early going of the 1 1/16-mile
La Troienne for older fillies and mares on the Kentucky Oaks program.
“I was able to worm my way right over to the inside. I was following Javier
(Castellano) on My Miss Sophia, because I thought he had the horse to beat,”
Lanerie said.
Molly Morgan, sent off as the 5-1 fourth pick in the nine-horse field, came
flying along the rail turning for home to take the lead at the top of the
stretch. The 6-year-old mare held off the challenges of 2-1 favorite Sheer
Drama and 7-2 second pick Gold Medal Dancer to register a three-quarters
length victory.
“I got some momentum going. I was lucky the rail never shut down on me and I
was able to keep the momentum until I got through there,” Lanerie said.
Completing the order of finish were Tiz Windy, My Miss Sophia, Interest Free,
America, Sweet Whiskey and Frivolous.
The time for the La Troienne was 1:43.25 on a fast track.
Owned by Bill Cubbedge, Molly Morgan picked up her sixth win at Churchill from
14 starts and $169,260. The mare has earned $872,859 with eight wins, four
seconds and eight thirds in 29 lifetime starts.
Molly Morgan was second in the race last year to On Fire Baby followed by a
win in the Fleur De Lis at Churchill the next month. The mare began 2015 with
a third behind Sheer Drama in the Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park on
March 21.
“(Owner) Bill (Cubbedge) let me sit on her this winter as we didn’t turn her
out,” Romans noted. “We just let her stay in training and get her feet back
under her. I told Bill this is what helps winning big races down the road. She
came with a good performance last time and the race at Gulfstream set her up
perfectly for today.”
Molly Morgan returned $13.00, $5.40 and $3.20. Sheer Drama paid $4.00 and
$2.80, and Gold Medal Dancer paid $2.80 to show.
