NYRA/Adam Coglianese
by Sarah Mace
Dreamboat Annie, a 3-year-old daughter of Freud (Sequel Stallions New York) with an eye-catching big white blaze, improved her career record to three wins in four starts and added a main track victory to two prior turf scores on Sunday when she won the seven-furlong, $100,000 Cupecoy’s Joy division of the New York Stallion Stakes series at Belmont Park under a well-measured ride by John Velazquez.
Taken off the turf and contested over a track which improved to “good” over the course of Sunday’s card, the Cupecoy’s Joy was reduced to a field of five after the scratches of Amazing Anne, Cosmic Serenity, Kacy Lauren, Laura’s Patriot, and Twin Lights. Dreamboat Annie went off as the 2.25-1 narrow second choice behind last-out turf route winner Freudie Ann at 2-1.
Out of the gate eagerly and setting up position in second at the rail, Dreamboat Annie took back into fourth as many as five lengths off the lead late along the backstretch run for a breather, as The Lewis Dinner showed the way, pursued by Perfect Freud through splits of 23.19 and 46.67.
NYRA/Adam Coglianese
Angling out into the three-path in upper stretch, Dreamboat Annie began a relentless rally to the front in the lane, challenging game new leader Perfect Freud in the final furlong and drawing off to a three-quarter length victory in a final time of 1:25.64. Perfect Freud in second was followed 8 1/2 more lengths back by The Lewis Dinner, Loon River and Freudie Anne. [VIDEO]
John Velazquez, who has ridden Dreamboat Annie in all four career starts, explained his tactics. “It was a little bit uncomfortable because there was no speed in the race and I was trying to rate her. She was a little bit rank for the first part of the race, but the other horses moved outside and that made it easier for me. From the quarter-pole home, it opened up for me and it was perfect.”
Velazquez continued, “I didn’t want to be on the lead because I knew she’d be running off and would waste too much energy, so I wanted to get her behind horses. Finally, when I got her behind horses she relaxed and came with a good run.”
Leah Gyarmati, who trains the filly for co-owners Crown Stable, Who Wudda Thunk Racing, and Debora Kinns, had nothing but praise for Velazquez’s skill in rationing out his mount’s speed. “It was a great ride. [John Velazquez] did a wonderful job of getting her back there. I think if she’s inside, and being pushed, and head-and-head dueling, it might be a repeat of that Aqueduct race where [she] got a little weary.” Dreamboat Annie’s only defeat came two starts back, when she finished third after setting the pace in the Park Avenue division of the NYSS on April 26.
Continued Gyarmati, “Luckily, he was able to get her back and outside, and it was perfect. We’ll have a lot of fun with her at Saratoga – turf, dirt, 3-year-old filly, New York-bred, maybe can go open also. You have so many choices it will make for a fun summer.”
Bred by Michael Spielman, Dreamboat Annie whose earnings now total $131,200 from three wins and a third, is the third winner of three foals to start out of Extra Impact, a winner of nearly $100,000 by Honour and Glory bred in New York by Albert Fried, Jr. The mare currently has a juvenile filly by Frost Giant named A Little Extra, a yearling colt by the same sire named Iampoe and a filly this year by Posse.
