Owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables of Brookline, Mass., and William Lawrence of New York City, Florida-bred Unhedged remained undefeated in three starts when taking the $100,000 Presque Isle Debutante Stakes at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa., Saturday. Any stakes win is sure to feel good for most owners but this may have been a little more needed for Klarman and Lawrence, who had their promising Florida-bred 2-year-old colt Spurious Presision euthanized after a training accident in New York recently.
Bred in Florida by Westbury Stables LLC and Alphonso Figli, both of Brooklyn, N.Y., Unhedged went into the six furlong Debutante having defeated a group of special weight maidens at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Ind., on Aug. 15 in her first start before coming back to win a $58,800 allowance race over the Presque Isle Tapeta main track on Sept. 11 by more than three lengths.
Trained by Tom Amoss and ridden by Mario Pino in the Debutante, Unhedged used her successful stalking running style again to win her first stake. Breaking from post five with odds at nearly 7-1, the daughter of Broken Vow and the Smart Strike mare Smart Wildcat started well and momentarily had the lead but was pinched back and fell into fourth then third position behind early leaders Just Got In and Funfair. After a quick opening quarter in :22.04 Unhedged followed those two around the turn with daylight between them as Just Got In came out of the turn in front with Fun Fair falling back to eventually finish last in the field of nine. By this time Tiny Bear and Eddington’s Note had rallied up to join the leaders when suddenly Unhedged found an opening on the rail and shot to the lead. By the time she hit the eighth-pole, Unhedged had two lengths on a rallying Tiny Bear and Eddington’s Note. Tiny Bear started to make up ground on Unhedged in the final strides but the Florida-bred dug in and won by neck over Tiny Bear in second and Eddington’s Note in third. The final time for the six furlongs was 1:11.73.
Unhedged returned a nice $15.80 on to win, $7.20 to place and $5.20 to show while long shot Tiny Bear paid $23.20 to place and $9.00 to show and those two made up a $287.40 return for those with $2 exacta tickets. Second-choice Eddington’s Note paid $3.80 to show and helped complete a $1,915.60 trifecta. Unhedged earned $60,000 for the win, more than doubling her career earnings $114,600.
Photo by Coady
