OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Shoot It True ended her 2-year-old season the way she began it, with a sharp, front-running victory against males, this time doing so in Saturday’s $100,000 Notebook Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct.
Making her first start since a fourth-place finish against males in the Kentucky Juvenile at Churchill Downs on May 2, Shoot It True broke sharp under Frankie Dettori, cleared the field through a quarter in 22.43 second, repelled a modest challenge from Kenny Be and, despite not changing leads, coasted home a 4 1/4-length winner.
Kenny Be, under Romero Maragh, settled for second by 1 1/4 lengths over Soontobeking. It was another three-quarters of a length back to favored Man in Finance. Three B’s and In the Chase completed the order of finish.
:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.
Ward had entered Shoot It True and the filly Phoebeinwonderland in both Saturday’s Notebook and Sunday’s Key Cents Stakes, the latter for New York-bred 2-year-old fillies. He opted to run Shoot It True against the boys and Phoebeinwonderland against the girls on Sunday.
“She was just ready, and the other filly got a better post tomorrow, hopefully get her stakes placed against [unbeaten With the Angels],” Ward said.
Noting that Shoot It True had acted fractious in the gate in the Kentucky Juvenile, Ward removed blinkers from her equipment for the Notebook. Though she still flashed good early speed – as she had in her first two starts – the removal of blinkers had the desired effect.
“If you see the first part of the race she’s pricking her ears; with the blinkers they don’t do that because they don’t know who’s around them,” Ward said.
Dettori, riding Shoot It True for the first time noted how relaxed his filly was before and during the race.
“Last time she was a bit hot but [today] she was very calm, broke well and got to the lead on her own terms pricking her ears,” Dettori said. “The only concern was I couldn’t get to switch leads, but she was gong forward so don’t fix what’s not broken.”
Shoot It True, a daughter of Munnings, owned by Ice Wine Stable and Smart Choice Stable, covered the six furlongs 1:10.17 and returned $7.40 as the third choice.
Shoot It True won her debut at Keeneland by 7 1/2 lengths on April 5. Ward said he erred by running her back in four weeks off such a big effort and gave Shoot It True plenty of time to get over the race.
Ward believes Shoot It True has a bright future and doesn’t plan to run her again until next spring either at Keeneland, where she will spend the winter, or back at Aqueduct.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.