HOT SPRINGS -- Nothing came easily for the winner.
Include Betty came from far off the pace and then engaged in a fight to the wire before she and jockey Rosemary Homeister emerged victorious in the $400,000 Grade III Fantasy Stakes to kick off Oaklawn Park's Racing Festival of the South on Saturday.
Oceanwave finished second by a neck, but it was the battle between Include Betty and Achiever's Legacy that led to a jockey's objection and a five-minute steward's review before Include Betty was declared the winner.
Include Betty, at 19-1, and Achiever's Legacy, 12-1, charged past the field near the 16th pole. Achiever's Legacy was on the inside and seemingly glued to Include Betty. Both fillies leaned into the other until Include Betty began to gradually pull away with 50 yards left.
"She started bumping me coming down the lane, and by the time we hit the wire I was all the way on the rail," said Joe Rocco Jr., rider of Achiever's Legacy. "That's why I put a hold on the race because I really think it affected my filly's run."
Once Rocco's objection was overruled by track stewards, Homeister stepped into the winner's circle with a fist upraised.
Include Betting, the most lightly regarded of four fillies shipping in from south Florida and southern California for the race, paid $39.60, $14 and $8.80 while running the 1 mile, 1/16th in 1:44.16.
Oceanwave, second in the March 7 Honeybee, finished a neck back and paid $4.80 and $4.00. Achiever's Legacy, coming in from southern California for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, paid $7 to show.
Homeister, an Oaklawn regular in 2013 and 2014, explained what happened int he stretch as she watched a replay near the paddock.
"We're race riding, because we both want to win the race," Homeister said. "His horse is leaning out. Mine's leaning in. But I just have more horse than he does. I think she was just overpowering his horse. We did drift in pretty good, but we never banged into each other. But you never know how the stewards are going to watch it, but I knew we never really banged into each other. We were always together."
Oaklawn steward Stan Bowker explained the steward's conclusion. "There was contact initiated by [Include Betty], but we believed it did not warrant disqualification because neither rider had to steady, check, or stop riding," he said.
As Include Betty and Achiever's Legacy battled, Oceanwave, ridden by Ramon Vazquez, closed in a rush on the outside. She passed Achiever's Legacy but fell just short of the winner.
"The two horses in front of us got a little jump late, but she ran great," trainer Wayne Catalano said. "You like to win, but we're happy she showed up."
Include Betty trailed the field of ll through the early stages, as Homeister expected, but the Kentucky-bred daughter by Include began to accelerate with a half mile to run, almost catching Homeister by surprise.
Homeister said she had to temporarily check Include Betty as she ran up on Achiever's Legacy and Purr, who were immediately in front of her.
"She was just dragging me down the track," Homeister said. "She tried to go between those horses and there was no room. I just said, 'You know what? Let me take her back and go around.' I got a little concerned, but she has such a great turn of foot."
Super Saks, Lady Tapit, and Sarah Sis led the field into the final turn through fractions of 23.71, 47.91 and 1:13.16, while 5-2 betting favorite Feathered started fading from contention on her way to a seventh-place finish for trainer Todd Pletcher.
The front pack tightened and six fillies fanned out in a wall as the field entered the top of the stretch.
Include Betty was widest of all, with Achiever's Legacy and Rocco to her inside, and they swooped around the logjam to take control.
"My filly was so game," said Homeister, who won 20 races in 208 mounts at Oaklawn the previous two seasons. "I just had so much horse. She just wanted to win."
Homeister said she was unaware of Oceanwave's late, closing drive until the last few steps when victory was assured.
"I heard her," Homeister said. "I could see her in my periphery, but not until very late."
Include Betty and Oceanwave earned enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Oaks, scheduled for May 1 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
Oceanwave showed continued improved coming off a second-place finish in the Honeybee to Sarah Sis, the 4-1 second choice Saturday who encountered an odd and unlucky trip in the Fantasy.
Sarah Sis broke alertly out of the No. 1 post for Julio Felix, led through the opening quarter but dropped back on the backstretch when Super Saks rushed to take the lead.
Sarah Sis dropped out of contention while in traffic on the turn and in the stretch before getting free late to finish fifth, 4 1/2 lengths back.
What happened to Sarah Sis was of no concern to Homeister, who has been Include Betty's regular rider in all four of the filly's 2015 races.
Homeister rode Include Betty to a Jan. 3 maiden victory at Tampa Bay Downs and come-from-behind victory in the $100,000 Suncoast Stakes on Jan. 31 at Tampa. Trainer Tom Proctor tried Include Betty on the turf in the Grade III Florida Oaks on March 7, but she finished fifth in a field of 11.
Now the Kentucky Oaks is on the horizon for Include Betty.
"Going into the Oaks, knowing that I have a chance, with a nice filly, for a top trainer and a good owner, it's just a dream come true," Homeister said.
Sports on 04/05/2015