Two Daughters of Candy Ride Battle to the Wire in Lady’s Secret

$100,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes (32nd running) at Monmouth Park

WINNER – Nonna Madeline ($4.80, $3.00, $2.10)

2^ND –  Royal Flag ($2.40, $2.10)

3^RD – Another Broad ($2.60)

WINNING TIME – 1:44.09

WINNING EXACTA – $11.80

WINNING TRAINER – Byron Hughes (assistant to Todd Pletcher): “I think she likes being involved early like she was today. Last race (an eighth-place finish in the Shuvee [G3]) she wasn’t as involved early and it hurt her in the end. She likes Monmouth and she has shown she likes two turns so this was a good spot for her. She’s definitely a hard-knocking filly. I thought she was close enough, even with the slow pace, to take on the leader when (jockey) Nik (Juarez) asked her to do that. Our thought was to draw a line through the Shuvee, keep her sharp and keep her closer to the pace and it worked out today.”

WINNING JOCKEY – Nike Juarez: “I wasn’t worried that they were going slow up front. I had her in a perfect spot for that type of pace. She was right off the lead and I know what kind of filly she is so I was confident the entire way. She’s just such a nice filly. When the other horse came up beside her she just pinned her ears back and kept fighting. When you have horses that are competitive that way the biggest thing going down the stretch in a duel like that is to stay out of their way and let their talent take over.”