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By Sarah Mace
Gold Square’s My Italian Rabbi brought all the hype and all the credentials – including a prior stakes win and stakes placing – into the 41st running of the $108,775 Lady Finger Stakes at Finger Lakes on Monday, a six-furlong sprint for New York-bred juvenile fillies. She did not disappoint. Sent off at 1-9 odds in the field of five, the dark bay Competitive Edge filly took control shortly after the break and ran on unchallenged to a 6 3/4-length victory. The race was co-featured with the $114,213 Aspirant Stakes for New York-bred juvenile colts and geldings which was run later on the card.
Well-prepared by trainer Jeremiah Englehart for her May 30 Belmont Park career bow, My Italian Rabbi won handily, pressing the pace and pouncing for a 2 1/2-length score. Wading into stakes company next out in the Stillwater on July 18 at the Spa, she gamely beat her chief divisional rival, Fierce Lady, by a nose. Seventeen days ago, in the Seeking the Ante on New York Saratoga Showcase Day, Fierce Lady turned the tables winning by a neck. My Italian Rabbi had to settle for third after getting off a step slowly and being lightly bumped after the break.
Copper Gem (18-1) caught a flyer from her outside post when the gates opened on the Lady Finger Stakes, but My Italian Rabbi rushed up on the inside to take over the top spot and, in no time, established a one-length lead.
Controlling the pace through a moderate 23.40 first quarter, My Italian Rabbi extended her lead to 1 1/2 lengths by the quarter pole, ticking off a 47.61 half mile.
In the stretch it was just a matter how big My Italian Rabbi’s winning margin would be. She widened her advantage during the dash home, ultimately crossing the wire a 6 3/4-length winner in a comfortable final time of 1:13.02. Absent her regular jockey Luis Saez, My Italian Rabbi was piloted to her Finger Lakes victory by meet-leading rider Jaime Rodriguez.
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Maiden Single Verse (7-1), getting her first tilt over a dry dirt track following two runner-up finishes on a muddy sealed track and “good” turf surfaces at Saratoga, took second. Light in the Sky (6-1) finished more than 10 lengths back in third, separated by three-quarters of a length by Copper Gem. Maiden Princess Tapit (81-1) stumbled at the start and was never involved.
The $65,265 winner’s share of the Lady Finger purse increased My Italian Rabbi’s earnings to $178,365 from three wins and a third in four starts.
Bred by a partnership of Hidden Lake Farm LLC and Anthony Grey LLC, My Italian Rabbi was foaled at Hidden Lake Farm in Stillwater
She is one of four winners from four foals to start out of Golden Miss, an unplaced Kentucky-bred daughter of Golden Missile, who was a $180,000 purchase as a yearling by B. Wayne Hughes.
Offered first as a weanling at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton New York Fall Mixed sale, but failing to meet her reserve when bid up to $47,000, My Italian Rabbi brought $60,000 as a short yearling at the OBS Winter Mixed sale in 2018. Travis Durr and Jeremiah Englehart acquired her that summer at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale for $160,000. Golden Miss has an unnamed yearling half-sister by War Dancer. Without issue this year, Golden Miss has been red to Practical Joke.
