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Lady Digby
Photo Credit: Jim McCue/MJC
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LAUREL, MD. 04-12-08---Earle I. Mack’s Lady Digby battled Mary Louhana (GB) tooth and nail down the stretch to win the $80,000 Dahlia Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf at Laurel Park.
These two finished a length-and-quarter apart in their previous meeting when they ran two-three behind 2006 Eclipse Award winner Dreaming of Anna in the Grade III Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay last month. The public decided Lady Digby was the better of the two and sent her to post as the 4-5 favorite. This time, at the end of the one mile Dahlia, they finished just a head apart.
The race was not without some added intrigue. A goose wandered into the path of the field as the horses raced to the first turn but the bird was able to flee without incident. Then Keep On Talking refused to be rated and prematurely wrested command, racing wide and then dropping down in front of the field as the horses approached the far turn. When Keep On Talking surrendered her lead, the race was left to the top two finishers. Montecito finished seven lengths farther back in third.
Jeremy Rose was aboard Lady Digby for trainer Graham Motion. The daughter of Grand Slam paid $3.80 and covered the one mile distance over the firm turf in 1:38.92.
Rose said, “Actually the two horses in front of me took it (the goose) out first and my filly never even saw it. It was a little slower than I’d like to see. I had to make an early move to get her out and get her motivated. I felt confident from there that we were going to win.”
The four-year-old has now won three of 10 starts with eight in the money finishes. Lady Digby has run at nine different tracks: Woodbine, Delaware Park, Colonial Downs, Saratoga, Calder Race Course, Santa Anita Park, Fair Grounds, Tampa Bay and Laurel Park.
“We just got her back from Florida four days ago,” said Adrian Rolls, Motion’s assistant trainer. “One of the exercise riders came up with her and commented how well she was doing. She is a hard knocking filly who runs hard every time. It was another good effort and the mile seems to suit her. Obviously it does not seem to matter where she goes.”
Rose won six of the 17 stakes races carded during the Laurel winter meet, which ends tomorrow. The 29-year-old ranks third in the colony with 41 victories, winning races at 32% clip. His runners have earned just under $1 million in the first 58 days of the stand.
-MJC-