Victim of Love Upsets What a Summer

LAUREL, MD – Tommy Town Thoroughbreds’ Victim of Love struck the front near the 1/4 pole and drew off in the stretch to upset Saturday’s $100,000 What a Summer Stakes at Laurel Park.

Breaking from post 2 under Weston Hamilton at 9/1 odds, Victim of Love bumped sides with the 3/5 favorite Needs Supervision to her outside but recovered quickly to race a close second behind the rail-breaking Hey Mamaluke. Racing heads apart, the two fillies posted opening fractions of :22.02 and :45.40 through the far turn.

As she hit the 1/4 pole, Victim of Love began pulling away sharply while Hey Mamaluke started to weaken. Kept to a drive until the 1/16 pole, Victim of Love crossed a geared-down 3 3/4 lengths clear of Needs Supervision. The Todd Beattie trainee completed the 6 1/2-furlong event over the good (sealed) main track in a final time of 1:18.02.

“She’s really hard-knocking and she always tries really hard,” Hamilton said. “I knew she had a little bit of fire in her. She’s got a little speed, so I just sat against her nice and she was good enough to get the job done.”

After bumping with the eventual winner, Needs Supervision steadied slightly and dropped to the rear before making a wide push. The bettors’ choice got up for second by a 1/2-length over Last True Love. Behind them came Angel At War, Wildcat Combat, and a tired Hey Mamaluke to complete the order of finish.

Victim of Love’s win was her second at the stakes level, having taken the Island Fashion Stakes at Sunland Park on February 24, 2019. The 4-year-old daughter of Speightstown improved her record to 12-4-1-2 with $171,829 earned.

“Really tickled about the way she ran,” Beattie said. “I felt very confident leaving the paddock and talking to Wes; he knew the horse well. He had all the confidence that you could ask for. The filly just answered the bell.”

In addition to the winner’s share of the purse, Victim of Love was awarded a future date with stallion Dortmund, courtesy of his owner, Kaleem Shah.

Victim of Love returned $21 to win, $6.60 to place, and $4 to show. Needs Supervision brought back $2.20 to place and $2.10 to show, while Last True Love paid $6 to show.