Sunday Girl wins thrilling photo-finish in $125K Correction

Mitre Box Stable, Clear Stars Stable and Eighth Note Stable’s New York-bred Sunday Girl nosed out the oncoming St. Benedicts Prep in a photo-finish to win Sunday’s $125,000 Correction, a six-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by David Duggan, the 4-year-old Central Banker chestnut took an open allowance on December 27 and a six-furlong open optional claimer last out on February 1. On Saturday, with regular pilot Katie Davis aboard, she once again topped open company, notching a second career stakes score with the NYSSS Park Avenue in April here. 

“She’s stepping up but she’s coming along and become a more mature filly. That was a game effort,” said Duggan. “What a race. That was some game effort by St. Benedicts Prep.” 

Sunday Girl exited the inside post sharply, but Disco Ebo soon took command to her outside from post 2. Sunday Girl was content to press that rival in a rail-skimming second position through an opening quarter-mile in 23.29 seconds on the fast dirt. 

“I knew the two [Disco Ebo] wanted to go with us, but at that point I was half-way in and half-way out and I didn’t want to take out at that point – I’m here,” Davis said, adding that she was in close quarters throughout. “She’s so game, she ran right through that.” 

Sunday Girl dueled to the inside of Disco Ebo, with St. Benedicts Prep settling into third position two lengths back ahead of her Linda Rice-trained stablemate Shop Lifting through a half-mile in 47.46. The complexion remained the same in the turn with Sunday Girl and Disco Ebo still duking it out on the front end. 

“We were concerned about how fast Disco Ebo was going to go and on the Thorograph she had a lot more speed than us. I just left it in Katie’s hands,” said Duggan. “I said, ‘The last thing you want to do is go head-to-head but you have to make them work around you.’ And she did. You couldn’t have asked for a better ride and the filly was in a great spot to be able to do that.” 

Disco Ebo didn’t give up easily, but Sunday Girl wore her down to lead by one length as five-eighths elapsed in 59.96. The work was not done for Sunday Girl, however, as St. Benedicts Prep was swung wide by Jose Lezcano and showed instant acceleration. 

Sunday Girl needed the line as St. Benedicts Prep gained with every stride to her outside, the pair hitting the wire together with Sunday Girl prevailing by a narrow nose in a final time of 1:13.50. 

“I got nervous that last jump because she started mellowing out just a touch, but she held on,” said Davis, who earned a riding double to open the card. 

Disco Ebo held third 2 1/2 lengths back, with Neverwalkalone finishing fourth after being bumped at the start. Shop Lifting completed the order of finish. 

Lezcano said the multiple stakes-placed St. Benedicts Prep was game in defeat. It was another narrow runner-up effort for her, after a strikingly similar result three starts back to Ms. Bucchero in January’s What A Summer at Laurel Park with Jaime Rodriguez up. 

“My filly was running hard, but the other filly is a nice filly, too. My filly gave me a good race and we almost won it,” said Lezcano. 

Bred in the Empire State by McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds and Spruce Lane Farm, Sunday Girl was a $100,000 purchase at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale and is out of the winning Harlan’s Holiday mare Lady Daphne. Her second dam is stakes-winner Littlebitabling, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winner Too Much Bling, as well as multiple stakes-winners Ready for Roses and Barnsy.

Sunday Girl banked $68,750 in victory and returned $4.20 for a $2 win bet as the post-time favorite, while improving her record to 8-6-1-0. 

Live racing resumes Friday at Aqueduct Racetrack with an eight-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern. 

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
 
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