Colors A Virgin effortlessly notched her second consecutive victory at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in the featured event of the evening, a $21,000 Invitational Pace for fillies and mares, on Friday, April 24.
The reigning U.S. Three-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the Year has now gone back-to-back at the top level and remains undefeated in 2015.
Sent off as the overwhelming favourite in a field of eight, Colors A Virgin and regular pilot Trace Tetrick changed up their racing tactics and surprisingly left for early position. With American Girl and Sam Widger gunning for the lead from post six, Colors A Virgin left just enough to find a spot along the pylons in fourth.
American Girl dictated the early tempo of :27.1 before yielding the lead to Montenegro and Jason Dillander just before the second station in :56.2. Fits Well and Tyler Smith, sitting along the rail in third, made a costly break down the backside and scattered the field behind them.
Unwilling to take any chances, Tetrick avoided the breaker and gave Colors A Virgin the green light down the backside. She reached command just past the three-quarter clocking in 1:25 before turning for home with an ever-increasing lead.
As the rest of the field struggled to stay within striking distance, Colors A Virgin found another gear and kicked home in :27.2 to finish two and three-quarter lengths in front of Montenegro in 1:52.2. American Girl rallied gamely in the lane to round out the trifecta.
Colors A Virgin returned $3.20 to her backers at the windows.
Trained by Brian Brown, the four-year-old daughter of Always A Virgin-Full Color now sports a lifetime bankroll of $765,322 for her connections at Emerald Highlands Farm. Colors A Virgin won 13 of 18 starts in 2014, including the $178,862 Jugette on September 17 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
“Everything has been good with her, so far anyway,” winning trainer Brian Brown noted after the victory. “I feel like she has really come back well. She seems a little happier to me this year, not that she was unhappy last year, but I think she has come into herself this year.”
Colors A Virgin now has 20 career victories to her credit and has been nominated to races such as the TVG Mares Pace, The Lady Liberty and The Golden Girls for her four-year-old campaign.
“To be honest, I haven’t looked past the next race for her,” he continued. “We’re going to Miami Valley next Sunday, but as far as the rest of the year goes, we will play it stake race to stake race based on what she’s ready for. I just want to make sure she’s healthy, she’s not tying up, and everything is good with her and so far it has been.”
(With files from Hoosier Park)