Caressable - 2FP
bay filly, by Niatross
In a race that was thrown wide-open by the late scratch of the prohibitive odds-on favorite Follow My Star, Caressable and Valentina, stablemates in the Bill Haughton stable who had been following the divisional star for much of the season, took advantage of their nemesis' absence to finish one-two in the Breeders Crown, worth $632,803, at Yonkers Raceway.
Another late scratch was driver Bill O'Donnell, scheduled to pilot Caressable but late in arriving due to a helicopter snafu. In need of a quick substitute, Haughton, at the very last moment in the drivers' room, turned to the man who has won more races than anyone else, Herve Filion, and the legendary French-Canadian responded with one more, capturing his first Breeders Crown in his first drive in the Crown series.
The quick early pace, set by Gillian's Dream and then by second choice Razzle Hanover, favored the closers, and Filion, who knows every inch of the Yonkers half-miler, had maneuvered his filly into perfect striking distance, while Bill Haughton, steering Valentina, encountered serious traffic from her starting point in the second tier. As the field rounded the final bend, Razzle Hanover began to show the effects of being parked for the first two turns, and Filion steered the Niatross filly around that foe. Valentina, who had raced three and four-wide for the second half of the mile, was able to pass every rival except her stablemate, and Razzle Hanover, exhausted but brave, held on for third.
Wall Street Stable II, co-managed by Louis P. Guida and Robert Boni, owns the irascible brown filly which was bred by Marjorie J. Mohr's Larimohr Farm and Tom Stewart, Manager of Stoner Creek Stud.
Owners
Wall StreetStable II
Trainer | Driver
Bill Haughton | Herve Filion
Purse $632,803
Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers, NY
