VERSATILE ACOMA FLAUNTS CLASS IN AZERI STAKES VICTORY
Article taken from Thoroughbred Times Today by Mike Curry
Acoma (EMPIRE MAKER) confirmed her class and versatility on Sunday with a dominant performance in the $144,000 Azeri Stakes (Grade 3) at Oaklawn Park.
A two-time graded stakes winner on turf, the EMPIRE MAKER filly completed 1 1⁄16 miles in 1:42.55 on a track rated as fast, to secure her second graded stakes victory on the main track.
Acoma (EMPIRE MAKER) split horses on the turn under jockey Julien Leparoux and accelerated powerfully when angled outside of pacesetter Devil House and Bear Now in the stretch. She unleashed a sustained rally from the outside, inhaled her overmatched opponents inside the eighth pole and drove clear to prevail by five lengths as the 3-to-2 favorite.
Trained by David Carroll for owners-breeders Helen Alexander and Helen Groves, Acoma (EMPIRE MAKER) closed her three-year-old campaign with back to-back wins in the Pin Oak Valley View Stakes (Grade 3) on October 17 at Keeneland Race Course and the Mrs. Revere Stakes (Grade 2) in November at Churchill Downs, both on grass.
Winner of the 2008 Dogwood Stakes (Grade 3) on the main track at Churchill, Acoma (EMPIRE MAKER) returned to a traditional dirt track for the Azeri. She showed no signs of rust in her first start off a four-month layoff.
Leparoux rated Acoma (EMPIRE MAKER) off the pace in seventh as Devil House set a solid tempo through an opening quarter in :22.61 and a half-mile in :45.89. Leparoux let out a notch on the reigns approaching the far turn and Acoma (EMPIRE MAKER) responded eagerly, surging into contention from between foes en route to her sixth victory in nine career starts.
Acoma (EMPIRE MAKER) boosted her earnings to $480,260 with the win and cemented her credentials as a potential top contender for the $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (Grade 1) on April 4.
A half sister to 2001 United Arab Emirates Horse of the Year and sire Festival of Light and Grade 1 winner and sire Arch, Acoma (EMPIRE MAKER) is out of the stakes-winning Danzig mare Aurora. Her grandam is 1983 champion two-year-old filly Althea.
Date:
09 March 2009