After a series of good efforts for which she was not rewarded with a victory to start the year, Daddy Is a Legend finally was able to break into the win column after slipping up the rail to a 2-length triumph over Altea in the $150,000 Lake George, the co-feature on Friday’s opening-day program at Saratoga.
Daddy Is a Legend closed out her 2-year-old campaign with a come-from-behind victory in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante at Del Mar. After taking the winter off, she opened her 3-year-old season with a third and two fourth-place finishes against the best of her division on the East Coast.
Sent postward as the 8-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Lake George, Daddy Is a Legend raced within striking distance from the outset, bided her time while saving ground around the second turn, found ample room along the inside to launch her bid upon settling into the stretch and readily ran down Altea to win going away. The latter, last early on, circled the field on the final bend, gained control into the stretch but proved no match for the winner through the final sixteenth. It was another 2 1/2 lengths back to Goodthingstaketime in third.
Daddy Is a Legend, a daughter of Scat Daddy, is trained by George Weaver for owners Jim and Susan Hill and was ridden flawlessly by Manny Franco. Final time for the 1 1/16-mile race over a firm course was 1:40.42. She paid $5.30.
“We wanted to run in the Belmont Oaks, but she got a little bellyache getting close to it, so it just wasn’t going to happen,” Weaver said.
“This was the logical next spot to try. She looked good on paper going into the race, I felt good about the way she was training, I was just hoping she got a good trip and that’s the way it worked out for us. There was more pace developing than I thought there would be, she was in a good spot, she got some cover, wasn’t too far off the pace, and was ready to pounce whenever he (Franco) wanted her to.”
Weaver said he felt Daddy Is a Legend had performed well in her three previous starts this year even though she was still winless entering the Lake George.
“This is a very tough division, she’s hooked Rushing Fall, those fillies she hooked in the Wonder Again were all very good fillies, and I felt this was the easiest race she’s been in so far this year,” Weaver said. “It’s a very deep division, she’s one of the better ones in it, and we’re just hoping she can move forward and continue to do well the rest of the year.”
This story originally appeared on DRF.com.
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