Frank Calabrese’s Romacaca won her second stakes race in her last three starts Saturday as she took the $100,000 Indian Maid Stakes at Hawthorne Race Course near Chicago.
Sent off as the 3-5 favorite, the Florida-bred daughter of Running Stag and the Kris S mare Romaca did not disappoint her backers, taking the lead right out of the starting gate with jockey Francisco Torres aboard. Allowed to set pedestrian fractions of :24.86 for the first quarter-mile, :49.78 for the half and 1:14.23 for six furlongs, Romacaca left little chance for second choice Julie’s Love, who raced in second the entire way then tried to catch Romacaca down the long stretch of the Cicero, Ill., oval. The 6-year-old mare trained by Danny L. Miller finished the 1 1⁄16 miles on turf in 1:43.62 under 123 pounds and was a length and three-quarters ahead of Julie’s Love in second with Kepi third.
It was the seventh start of the year for Romacaca, who also has victories over allowance fillies and mares at Calder Casino and Race Couse in April and Grade 3 Modesty Handicap at Arlington Park earlier in the year.
Bred in Florida by Cashel Stud, Romacaca earned $60,000 for the victory which pushed her career earnings to $866,992. The very consistent mare has now won nearly half of her 31 career starts as the Indian Maid was victory number 15 for the multiple graded stakes winner. She also has five seconds and three thirds.
Her off the board losses include the second race of her career when when she bobbled at the start and finished ninth, a fifth-place finish against males in the 2009 Hawthorne Derby (G3) and a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes in August to name a few. So when she does not fire, it is usually against top rate competition or outside her division.
Romacaca paid $3.20 to win, $2.40 to place and $2.10 to show while Julie’s Love returned $3.80 and $2.60. Those with $2 show tickets on Kepi got back $3.20.
Photo by Four Footed Foto
