HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- Civetta extricated herself from traffic on the final turn then outfinished the 30-1 outsider Winning Streep to close out her 2-year-old campaign with a hard-fought neck victory Thursday at Gulfstream Park in the $115,000 Wait a While Stakes, which headlined the opening-day program of the 2024-25 Championship meet.
Civetta, a Godolphin homebred by Into Mischief, shipped locally off a second-place finish in the six-furlong, Grade 3 Matron last month at Aqueduct. She was making her first start around two turns in the 7 1/2-furlong Wait a While.
With Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for the first time, Civetta saved ground while racing within easy striking distance for over six furlongs before having to steady along behind the leaders while appearing full of run approaching the stretch. Ortiz was able to guide Civetta through a narrow opening between horses to gain a short lead nearing mid-stretch, the 4-5 favorite digging in gamely to maintain a narrow advantage over Winning Streep to the wire.
Winning Streep, equipped with blinkers for the first time, also saved ground while racing mid-pack for nearly six furlongs, angled wide commencing her rally leaving the final turn. She joined Civetta for command at mid-stretch but was not quite good enough. Ramsey Pond, well placed outside rivals, dropped back briefly after appearing to bump with the winner at the head of the lane before re-rallying to finish third, two lengths behind Winning Streep.
Civetta, a half-sister to the multiple Grade 1 winner Santin, completed the distance over a firm course in 1:28.50 seconds and paid $3.80.
“She ran well, she did it nicely, and it’s great to get a stakes win for her being from that family,” said trainer Brendan Walsh. “She’s had herself a very good little 2-year-old campaign and hopefully we can build on that next year. She seemed to like the track, so maybe we’ll run her back at Gulfstream again. Probably give her a little break and bring her back in something towards the end of the meet.”
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