Black Horse Racing's superstar pacing mare Katie Said is off to a fast start in 2016. The 5-year-old daughter of Well Said came into the featured harness racing event at Harrah's Philadelphia on Friday afternoon (May 13th) in red hot form, winning her first two races of the season vs. open company at The Meadowlands.
She was in for a stern test in this Winner's over $25,000 lifetime event however, starting from post eight.
The field was deep in talent as well. Directly to her inside starting from post 7 was last years Bluechip Matchmaker and Milton Stakes winner Venus Delight. The race also included Divine Caroline (2015 Dan Patch award winner), Devil Child (multiple stakes winner as a 3-year-old), and the red-hot Jonsie Jones, who won 3 of her last 4 races by open lengths.
Katie Said's prospects looked dim from the start however, as she took back to last, and had to deal with excess cover for the first 3 quarters of a mile.
Devil Child (Geo Napolitano Jr) set the tempo, challenged by Ron Burke trainee Aniston Seelster (Time Tetrick), who was first over from the half. Katie Said (Brett Miller) was fourth over, and didn't begin her move until after three-quarters. She briefly followed Divine Caroline (Dave Miller) before fanning 4 wide as they entered the stretch. She used a :27.3 final quarter in the off going to complete the last-to-first sweep, getting the jump on Jonsie Jones (Pat Berry), who closed sharply up the inside to finish second. Venus Delight (Yannick Gingras), who enjoyed a second-over trip, settled for third.
Katie Said is now a perfect 3 for 3 on the season, and is now a 17 time winner out of 45 starts in her career. The Jimmy Takter trainee paid $6.80 to win.