Refusing to let her multiple grade 1 winning competition get away in the stretch, It Tiz Well dug in and held on to pull off a two-length victory in the $1 million, Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing Sept. 23 over 4-5 favorite Abel Tasman.
Refusing to let her multiple grade 1 winning competition get away in the stretch, It Tiz Well dug in and held on to pull off a two-length victory in the $1 million, Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing Sept. 23 over 4-5 favorite Abel Tasman.
Tommy Town Thoroughbreds' Arch filly and jockey Drayden Van Dyke stalked the pace for most of the 1 1/16-mile race on the dirt for 3-year-old fillies. After Abel Tasman and jockey Mike Smith moved up along the rail in the backstretch to engage leader Lockdown and the two went head to head into the turn for home, It Tiz Well moved three wide and dug in to run down the pair in the stretch.
Abel Tasman, who entered the 11-horse field on a three-race, grade 1 win streak, had to settle for second.
The win marked back-to-back wins in the Cotillion Stakes for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who took last year's edition with champion Songbird.
In Saturday's event, Lockdown broke sharply under jockey Luis Saez and assumed the lead, taking the field through fractions of :23.26 and :47.27 for the first half-mile as It Tiz Well tracked in second on the outside. After a slow start from post 10, Abel Tasman rushed up the rail to engage Lockdown going around the far turn.
Six furlongs went in 1:11.37, as Lockdown and Abel Tasman were battling for the lead coming into the stretch. It Tiz Well moved three wide around those two and continued to dig in as they approached the finish. Edging away in the final strides, It Tiz Well hit the wire two lengths ahead in a final time of 1:43.67 on a fast track.
Abel Tasman battled back to get second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Lockdown, who was a half-length ahead of Mopotism.
Proud and Fearless, Actress, Salty, Teresa Z, Sine Wave, Thirstforthecup, and Stay Found completed the order of finish.
Sent off at 5-1, the winner returned $12.60, $4.60 and $3.20 across the board.