HOT SPRINGS -- Ingrad Mason stood with a handful of horsemen and patrons near the Oaklawn Park paddock Saturday.
They watched the final strides of the $100,000 one-mile Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on an overhead television as Mason-trainee Marquee Miss crossed the finish line first, half a length in front Grade I winner and 1-2 favorite Nickname.
"I can't believe she won this race," Mason said.
She said much the same after Marquee Miss' victory in the 6-furlong Dixie Belle Stakes at Oaklawn on Jan. 15.
Perhaps Mason is about to become a believer.
Marquee Miss, off at 12-1, finished the mile in 1 minute, 39.18 and paid $26.20, $7 and $5. Nickname was second and Dorodansa third.
Marquee Miss contended from the start with Channing Hill on board. She was third behind Durango and My Master Plan through a quarter mile in 23.64 and second to Durango through a half in 47.12.
"My filly was in the mix, and she was in a great spot, but I thought, 'Is she going to keep going?' '' Mason said. "That was the challenge."
Durango would lead into the homestretch but eventually finish fourth in the field of nine.
Nickname, trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Corey Nakatani, trailed Marquee Miss by a length through three-quarters in 1:12.19 but had a head in front as they turned into the homestretch. Once Durango gave way, Nickname, of Scat Daddy, took the lead.
"I thought my filly could stretch out, because I had plenty of horse left the last time," Hill said. "She just seems like a filly that's going to get better, and she's extremely competitive. The more competition she gets, the more competitive she gets, which I really enjoy. When someone heads her like today, she will do pretty much anything to get her head in front."
"Channing's always confident," Mason said. "I give him the credit because he always has a strategy in mind. He's very focused. Most jockeys are afraid to say what they really feel, but Channing's always like, 'We're going to win.' He's always like that. I appreciate that about him, because he's always got that positive outlook."
Nickname maintained her narrow lead until the 1/16th pole, when Marquee Miss pulled even and then led through the finish.
"She just dug in," Hill said. "With a 16th of a mile left, I knew we were going to win. She just seemed as confident as could be."
Dorodansa, trained by Ken McPeek and ridden by Chris Landeros, passed four horses in the final half-mile to finish third.
"I thought our filly ran super," McPeek said. "She ran a good race. She's solid."
Before the Martha Washington, Nickname's last race ended with a fourth-place finish in the $2 Million Grade I Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Oct. 31.
"I don't believe that filly will ever beat [Nickname] again," Nakatani said. "We were coming off a little bit of a layoff. We were just trying to get her to come away smooth and give her a good outing and give her an opportunity to win the race."
Nickname earned Breeders' Cup credentials with her victory in the one-mile Grade I Frizette Stakes on a sloppy track at Belmont Park at Elmont, N.Y., on Oct. 3.
"I really thought a lot of Steve's horse," Mason said. "I thought she was the one horse to beat. She had won a Grade I and my horse hasn't done that. My horse has won mediocre races at best so far. She hasn't proven to me that she's that kind of horse so far."
"I know [Nickname will] move forward with Steve being the horseman that he is," Nakatani said. "I look forward to bigger steppingstones. It wasn't a lack of effort today, because I thought she put out a pretty darn good effort. Their filly had a race under her belt, and they were able to take their shot and they deserved it. They won the race, and I can't take anything away from them."
Sports on 02/07/2016