King’s Hill(IRE) grabs victory in Gone At Last Bonanza

King’s Hill(IRE) capped a beautiful second half run by notching a length and a half victory in this week’s Gone At Last Bonanza. The filly posted her thrid straight victory, along with a third straight career best speed to capture her first stakes victory. This is her third win in six starts, and brings her career earnings to the $86665 mark, putting her at close to $14500 per race. Though this race was a sprint, it pushed her into the top 100 amonst juvenile filly turf classic runners, giving her a rank of 88 in that division, and also gave her a rank of 123 in the sprint division. With these odds, bettors barely made back the price of their admission in this one, with the winner paying $5.50 $2.10 $2.10 across the board. The exotics were simply dismal, with a $4.80 payout in the exacta, and a $4.50 return on the trifecta.

As predicted, Back In The Day(KY) provided the early excitement in this one. She was kept honest by Witchy Wells(IRE) to the inside, without ever really being threatened. Back In The Day(KY) had opened up three at the half, and it looked to be smooth sailing for her, with Witchy Wells(IRE) beginning to fade, and no one else within seven lengths. As they past the third call, King’s Hill(IRE) was making her move, but still five lengths out, it looked as if she was going to run out of real estate before she got there. She and her jockey must have seen the same thing though, and King’s Hill(IRE) found another gear, passing a leader that didn’t seem to show any signs of fading at all, and tacking on another length and a half for good measure. Back In The Day(KY) settled for second place. Witchy Wells(IRE) never really mustered a late move, but took third place, six lengths out at the wire.