HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Naveed Chowhan’s America’s Tale engaged in a stretchlong duel and emerged victorious to take Saturday’s Inside Information Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park.
Breaking from post 2 at 11/1 odds under Paco Lopez, America’s Tale took back slightly and tipped out slightly to stalk Razorback Lady through opening fractions of :22.68 and :45.94. Sent three-wide around both the pacesetter and the 9/5 favorite Tequilita, America’s Tale began slowly inching her way to the lead. Clearing away in the shadow of the wire, the Bernie Flint trainee crossed with a 1 1/4-length advantage in a final time of 1:24.08 for the 7-furlong sprint over the fast main track.
“The owner said to me, ‘Send her, I want her 1 or 2,’ but my filly didn’t want to go inside,” Lopez said. “I took her outside and sat outside horses, and in the stretch, when I asked her, I had plenty of horse. She’s a very nice filly.”
Tequilita looked to be done at the top of the stretch but re-rallied late and nearly grabbed second, missing it by a head. Pink Sands was slow leaving the gate and had to rally five-wide down the middle of the front stretch to get up for fourth in a photo by a neck over Jala Jala, with Pacific Gale a neck behind in sixth. Teresa Z was a 1/2-length further back in seventh and a neck ahead of Cairenn, who completed the order of finish.
America’s Tale’s win was her first in a graded stakes event and her fourth straight on the dirt, having lost last time out over the Fair Grounds turf. The 4-year-old daughter of Gio Ponti improved her record to 17-6-3-1 with $390,853 earned.
“I was a little concerned because she usually likes to run out front and she wasn’t out front in the beginning,” Chowhan said. “But Paco thought she would rather like the outside instead of being inside horses, and I think he was right. She’s been really good for us. She’s been training great. For the past couple months, we couldn’t find a race near New Orleans for her, so this is her distance and we’re glad we shipped her down here.”
America’s Tale returned $24.40 to win, $12.40 to place, and $8.40 to show. Razorback Lady brought back $15.60 to place and $5.20 to show, while Tequilita paid $3 to show.
