8 Mzo. USA. Very One H. G3. Gulfstream Park. 9f. Turf. 100.000 $
1.- MAURALAKANA (R.Douglas)
2.- TEJIDA (J.Castellano)
3.- HERBORISTE (J.Chavez)


Robert Scarborough’s 5-year-old Mauralakana dove through a narrow gap between horses to score trainer Christophe Clement a sixth career victory in the $100,000 The Very One Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Gulfstream Park March 8.

The 1 3/8-mile turf event was reduced to 1 1/8 miles after an early morning downpour left a yielding course. Bumped at the start under jockey Rene Douglas, Mauralakana took back to fourth behind a steady pace set by Edmund Gann’s Eclisse. Helen Groves’ Tejida raced in second through a :25.19 quarter and a half in :49.52, while Archstone flashed up to third before fading after three-quarters in 1:14. “I had thought that her best distance was a mile-and-a-quarter, so the change in distance was not too big a concern,” Clement said of his runner. “She’s a good filly.”

Turning for home, Eclisse eked out a brief lead on the rail, but Tejida battled up to overtake her in a 1:38.17 mile. They headed down to the wire with Tejida clear by a head – until Mauralakana swung out from behind horses and slid past her in the final 50 yards to post the victory by a neck in 1:49.94. It was another head back to Bee Charmer Inc.’s late-closing Herboriste.

“I wasn’t concerned when I got stuck behind horses,” Douglas said. “I just had to ride my race. I knew the horse in front of me (Eclisse) would hang, because the form has shown that she does that, so I didn’t want to get stuck behind her. I knew that the pace was slow but I wasn’t worried because the horse I was on is very good.”