John’s Niner nabs thriller at the wire in Queen Of Hearts(IRE) Bonanza

Another picture perfect close translated to victoty for John’s Niner is this week’s Queen Of Hearts(IRE) Bonanza. She was right where she needed to be at the halfway point, and turned the race into a thriller down the stretch. This was her third career victory and her first at stakes level. The victory raised her to a rank of 59 among filly sprinters, and raised her lifetime earnings to nearly $125K for her first ten starts. She paid $12.20 to win and contributed to a $47 dollar exacta and a $150.10 trifecta bet.

Angela grabbed the early lead from the gate in this one, quickly establishing a clear lead, without much heat from the rest of the field. She had opened up two lengths on the field by the halfway post, and was showing no signs of flagging in the second half. When they turned for home, she had a three and a half length cushion, and it looked like she had this one all but wrapped up. John’s Niner had other ideas though, and she stormed up on the inside down the stretch, rapidly closing the gap. The race was still in question as the wire came into sight, but John’s Niner found and extra burst, surging past nearly at the wire to capture a one half length victory over Angela. Spirit Of America worked a nice second half close as well, but just had far too much ground to make up, taking third place, five and a quarter out at the wire.