Spiced Perfection Necks Out $200,000 Evening Jewel

ARCADIA, CA – Dare To Dream Stable’s Spiced Perfection stole the show in the shadow of the wire, necking out victory over the heavily-favored Show It N Moe It in Saturday’s $200,000 Evening Jewel Stakes at Santa Anita.

Off well from the rail under Joe Talamo, Spiced Perfection saved ground early while stalking Blessed Lady‘s early pace of :22.24 and :45.48. Tucked in behind Show It N Moe It, Spiced Perfection bid to the favorite’s outside in mid-stretch, battling gamely alongside her to the wire. Spiced Perfection was able to inch forward enough in the final jumps to take the race by a neck in a final time of 1:17.08 for the 6 1/2-furlong main track event.

“We really had a beautiful trip,” Talamo said. “She broke pretty sharp, and our plan was really to kind of follow the favorite around there, and it’s quite funny how a plan works out sometimes. At the 1/4 pole, I was able to angle around, and she did her thing down the lane. I was pretty confident that she could turn it on for the win this afternoon.”

Nearly 5 lengths back, Smiling Tigress was able to get up just in time to neck out third over Ismelucky. Blessed Lady faded to fifth, with Wishful, One Fast Broad, and Empress of Lov completing the order of finish.

Spiced Perfection’s win was her first since taking the $100,000 Generous Portion Stakes at Del Mar last August, a race in which Show It N Moe It was also the heavy favorite but finished third. The Brian Koriner-trained 3-year-old daughter of Smiling Tiger improved her record to 8-3-3-1 with career earnings of $277,625.

“I loved my filly coming into this race, but when we drew the rail, it diminished our hopes a bit,” Koriner said. “I thought the favorite would be able to do anything she wanted from the outside and that she’d be tough to beat. My filly handled the rail well, she took the dirt in her face very well. She was very professional.”

Spiced Perfection returned $23.60 to win, $6 to place, and $3.40 to show. Show It N Moe It brought back $2.40 to place and $2.10 to show, while Smiling Tigress paid $2.80 to show.