Keystone Racing’s Miss Mosaic ended her first career on a high note Jan. 22, with a determined victory in the $150,000 American Beauty Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
The 6-year-old daughter of Verrazano, a half sister to grade 1 winner Miss Temple City, made her 19th start and secured black type for the first time under jockey David Cabrera before heading off to her second career—life as a broodmare and a date with Tapit.
Miss Mosaic was bred in Kentucky by Keystone Racing and Bob Feld Bloodstock out of the Artax mare Glittering Tax, also the dam of grade 3 winner Pricedtoperfection. She was foaled and raised at Hidden Brook Farm in Paris, Kentucky and is also a graduate of the Hidden Brook Florida training center.
“She’s been great,” trainer Ben Colebrook said Saturday. “She’s been so consistent, and she’s run big, big races—she just hadn’t been able to crack through (at the black-type level). Today she got the right setup and David gave her a perfect ride. That she got to go out on a winning note is so awesome; she deserves it.”
Prominent from the start after breaking well from post 9 in a field of as many, Miss Mosaic shifted over to press pacesetter Sarah Harper and the forwardly placed Ain’t No Elmers through a quarter in :21.97, then moved up to second through a :45.72 half. Confidently handled three-wide off the turn, she put a head in front when straightened out for home and dug deep while holding off the late charge of Joy’s Rocket. That rival closed from sixth after bobbling at the break, but ran out of time in the six-furlong test and had to settle for second by a neck. The winner was timed in 1:10.71.
“I would like to thank the owners and the trainer,” said Cabrera. “They were telling me right before the race that this is going to be her last out; she’s going to be a broodmare, so I’m extra happy for them and I’m glad she retired on a good note.
“I talked to (Ben) right before the race and he just told me to try to get her comfortable, he told me, ‘She’s big, try not to get her stopped…. she ran so big. We came out of there, she showed a little speed, we sat nice and comfortable, and in the end I had all I needed.”
Ain’t No Elmers held for third while favored Li’l Tootsie finished sixth. Miss Mosaic was sent off at odds of 7-1 and returned $16.80 on a $2 win ticket.
-from www.bloodhorse.com
