Cellars Shiraz is Upset Winner of the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream Park
BY BROCK SHERIDAN
2002 – Florida-bred Cellars Shiraz won the first added-money test of her career in the second start of her sophomore year by taking the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream Park for owner Bitterroot Investments Inc.
Ridden by Cornelio Velasquez for trainer William Cesare in the mile-and-one-sixteenth turf test, Cellars Shiraz sat just off frontrunning August Storm until deep stretch when the daughter of Kissin Kris darted to the front to win by a length-and-a-quarter at odds of 18-1, paying $39.40 to win.
August Storm, the 3-1 favorite, held on for second to complete the Florida-bred exacta while She’s Vested finished third.
Cellars Shiraz would next win the $72,200 Gaily Gaily on March 1 and the $75,000 Via Borghese on April 7, both on the Gulfstream Park turf.
In a career that spanned 32 races, the Herecomesthebride was the only graded stakes victory among Cellar Shiraz’s 10 lifetime wins, although she was second to Little Treasure (Fr) in the Grade 3 Pucker Up at Arlington Park in September of 2002 and third behind winner Kiss the Devil in the Grade 3 Early Times Mint Julep at Churchill Downs in May of 2003. Her career record reflected seven seconds and five thirds with earnings of $728,410.
Cellars Shiraz was out of Cellar’s Best, by Band Practice and was bred by Bitterroot Racing Stable.
