NYRA/Joe Labozzetta
By Sarah Mace
Chester and Mary Broman’s 3-year-old homebred Highway Star (Girolamo) ran down Frosty Margarita in late stretch to collect her first black type victory Sunday in Aqueduct’s $125,000 Staten Island division of the New York Stallion Stakes series for New York-sired fillies and mares.
Winner of a restricted allowance race at Belmont on September 28 going a mile, Highway Star turned back to seven furlongs in the Staten Island, while looking for a fourth victory in her sixth career start as the second betting choice at odds of 7-2.
In the early stages of the race, Highway Star led the second flight of runners in fourth position, while longshots Rosie P and Perfect Freud zipped along on the front end through a quarter mile in 22.44 and half in 45.46. Frosty Margarita tracked the top two in third.
Advancing on the far turn, Highway Star gained two spots as the longshots faded, and set her sights on Frosty Margarita, who had fully gained command.
NYRA/Chelsea Durand
Charging homeward in the two path, with more than two lengths to make up at the top of the lane, Highway Star eroded Frosty Margarita’s lead, fully opened up her stride in the final sixteenth and charged to a decisive 3 1/4-length victory. After six furlongs 1:10.54, the final time for seven panels was 1:24.18.
Frosty Margarita (8-1) held the place, followed a half length back by odds on favorite Super Surprise. Longshot Familyofroses (24-1) finished fourth followed, across the line by Wonderment, Lady Kreesa, Perfect Freud, Rosie P and Storied Lady. Hey Kiddo and Uncle Southern were scratched. [VIDEO]
Trainer Rodrigo Ubillo explained his master plan for jockey Angel Arroyo, aboard the filly for the first time Sunday. “I told Angel just let her tell you where she wants to be. She’s pretty smart and it worked out perfectly. I told him just let her be and in the end, she’ll need to get going. They went kind of quick 22 [seconds], I mean she’s fast, but not that fast.”
Continued Ubillo, “I didn’t want her to run her at 7 furlongs but there wasn’t another race for her so we decided to run in this spot. We could have run her a mile and an eighth but that wasn’t the right distance for her. This worked out perfect”
Arroyo commented simply, “She’s a nice filly and I got a good trip; the best trip. I had a lot of horse left in the end. She ran great.”
Unraced at two, Highway Star won her first two starts at three, breaking her maiden on debut last May at Belmont and following up with a restricted allowance victory in July. Unplaced in her first stakes try, the Statue of Liberty division of the NYSS at Saratoga, she finished third in the Fleet Indian at the Spa.
Highway Star is one of three winners, and the first stakes winner, out of Stolen Star, a multiple stakes placed homebred for the Bromans and a half sister to multiple stakes winner and sire Friend or Foe.
Highway Star’s sire Girolamo, a Grade 1-winning son of A.P. Indy owned by Darley, began his stud career in 2012 at Becky Thomas and Dennis Narlinger’s Sequel Stallions New York before relocating to Kentucky.
