My Denysse is no longer a maiden . . .
HALLANDALE BEACH - Just For Fun Stable’s My Denysse, bred, owned and trained by Ruben Sierra, broke her maiden in spectacular fashion Saturday by rallying past favored Stunner in deep stretch to spring a 25-1 upset in the $300,000 My Dear Girl at Gulfstream Park.
The 1 1/16-mile My Dear Girl, third and final leg of the Florida Sire Stakes Series for 2-year-old fillies by accredited Florida stallions, served as a co-headliner with the $300,000 In Reality for 2-year-olds.
My Denysse ($72.80) had made four previous starts, the last three under jockey Jesus Rios, who gave the daughter of Neolithic a patient trip before unleashing a rally at the top of the stretch to snap stakes winner Stunner’s two-race win streak.
“My expectation, I’ve got to be honest, was I hope I run second. Stunner looked like a very difficult task. I was hopeful that the extra half a furlong was going to help us,” Sierra said. “I’ve got to give all the credit to Rios. When he rode her the first time he said, ‘This is the filly I want to ride.’”
Stunner, winner of the one-mile Tempted Nov. 2 at Aqueduct, broke running from her rail post under jockey Edgard Zayas and was in front through a quarter-mile in :23.32 and a half in :47.49 pressed by R Morning Brew, winner of the Sept. 7 Desert Vixen to open the series. Last out maiden winner Fede raced in third with Oct. 19 Susan’s Girl winner Win N Your In saving ground in fourth.
Zayas and Stunner made the turn for home with a comfortable lead but Rios and My Denysse were just gearing up from well off the pace as six furlongs went in 1:13.21 with Win N Your In passing R Morning Brew for second.
“All I told Rios was, ‘Good luck,’” Sierra said. “He’s been telling me all along he was very confident going into the race. I was surprised that he was that confident, but I guess he knew what he had. He executed the plan to perfection. I can only give him a lot of credit.”
Brad Cox-trained Stunner, sent off at 1-5 in a field of seven, clung to a shrinking lead past the eighth pole but My Denysse was coming with a flourish and surged past in the final sixteenth of a mile to win by a neck in 1:49.30 over a fast main track. Stunner was followed by Fede, R Morning Brew, Bee a Queen, Win N Your In and Kip the Distance.
“The horse was a maiden before race but I suspected he’d run a good race because a long time ago I said to the trainer, ‘This filly, with more distance at 1 1/16 miles she will be running very well and maybe she will run this race,’ and she won,’” Rios said through an interpreter. “I felt the pace was fast at the beginning, so I decided to be at the back of the pack. She allowed them to sprint and down the stretch she was coming very strong.”
Stunner had made each of her first three starts against open company in New York, winning her last two in front-running fashion by 9 ¾ combined lengths.
“The track seemed a little bit heavy and getting that pressure probably bothered her in the end,” Zayas said.
My Denysse has raced exclusively at her home track of Gulfstream, finishing fourth in her debut on June 23 under Leonel Reyes. Third in her next two starts sprinting six furlongs including as the favorite on Aug. 9 behind R Morning Brew, she got some time off before coming back in a one-mile maiden special weight on Oct. 20, finishing second by a neck.
“What we did was try to curtail her career for this target. [When] she ran the mile, she had a little bit of trouble. She actually lost a shoe in that race. We were very excited about this opportunity, until we saw Mr. Cox enter Stunner,” Sierra said. “She’s shown us that she wants distance. That’s why we targeted this race."