Jerry Romans

 Jerry Romans’ Sassy Image collected her fifth win in six starts at Churchill Downs when she narrowly defeated Beat the Blues by a head in the eighth running of the Grade III, $111,600 Winning Colors for fillies and mares ages three and up on Memorial Day.

Sassy Image ran six furlongs over a “fast” track in 1:08.59 and was one of three winners for The Downs’ leading rider Corey Lanerie on Monday. Lanerie took over the mount from regular rider Robby Albarado, who had a pair of stakes engagements at Lone Star Park in Texas.

“I was lucky to get the mount on her today with Robby being out of town. Things have just seemed to fall into place this meet,” said Lanerie, who, at the halfway mark of the 39-day Spring Meet, had 23 winners, one more than Shaun Bridgmohan.

Starlite Starbrite broke fastest of all and led the field of nine fillies and mares through the first quarter mile in :21.54 with Beat the Blues pressing the pacesetter and Sassy Image rating patiently in mid-pack. Beat the Blues took the lead at the half-mile marker in :44.65 as Sassy Image ranged into striking distance with a five-wide move on the turn for home. The two battled down the stretch and Sassy Image, from the outside, wore down Beat the Blues in the final yards for the win.

“At the quarter-pole I thought I was definitely going to win, but I wasn’t so sure at the sixteenth pole,” Lanerie said. “When we hit the wire I knew we won.”

Sassy Image, who sprang a 16-1 upset in the Grade I Humana Distaff on Kentucky Derby Day, returned mutuels of $3.80, $2.60 and $2.40 as the odds-on 4-5 favorite. Beat the Blues, ridden by Miguel Mena, paid $6.20 and $4.60. Fortune Play, with Freddie Lenclud up, was 4 ½ lengths back in third and returned $8.40.

Jocata, Starlite Starbrite, Wind Caper, Stephanie Got Even, Bell’s Shoes and My New Lady completed the order of finish. Indian Ink was scratched.

Dale Romans trains Sassy Image for his older brother, who purchased the 4-year-old daughter of Broken Vow for $42,000 at the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale. She banked $66,426 for the win and improved her overall record to 13-6-2-1 with career earnings of $598,781.

"She loves this track and she ran good,” Romans said. “That was a little more work than I expected, but they ran so fast and there’s only so fast a horse can run.”

The Kentucky-bred filly has enjoyed tremendous success beneath the Twin Spires. At 2, she broke her maiden by 5 ¾ lengths and later won the Pocahontas (GIII) by two and the Golden Rod (GII) by 3 3/4. She faltered in two starts at Gulfstream Park this winter but it was discovered that she had an entrapped epiglottis and underwent surgery to correct the problem. Her three-length triumph in the Humana Distaff on May 7 was her first victory since taking the Sweet Chant at Gulfstream Park early in her 3-year-old season.

“We’ll look at a couple of different spots for her now,” Romans said. “We may go to Saratoga for the 

Ballerina (a Grade I, $250,000 seven-furlong sprint on Aug. 27). We’ll probably run her in one more sprint and  then give her a route race before the Breeders’ Cup (Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4). We’re going to try and make her a champion and to get that she’ll probably have to win the (Ladies’ Classic).”

The Winning Colors is named in honor of the 1988 Kentucky Derby winner, who is the most recent of three fillies to win the famed “Run for the Roses” at Churchill Downs. Past winners of the Winning Colors are Lady Tak (2004), Molto Vita (2005), Ever Elusive (2006), Miss Macy Sue (2007), Graeme Six (2008) and Dubai Majesty (2009-10). The latter won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.Churchill Downs will be dark Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Racing will resume Friday with an 11-race twilight program that begins at 2:45 p.m. ET. There will be a two-day Pick 6 carryover of $9,553 on Races 6-11, and a Super Hi-5 carryover of $5,689 in the finale.

                       WINNING COLORS QUOTES

Corey Lanerie, jockey of Sassy Image, winner: “I was lucky to get the mount on her today with Robby (Albarado) being out of town. Things have just seemed to fall into place this meet. I actually broke her maiden, but I lost the mount when she went to New York. She ran good for me today. At the quarter-pole I thought I was definitely going to win, but I wasn’t so sure at the sixteenth pole. When we hit the wire I knew we won.”

Dale Romans, trainer of Sassy Image, winner: “She loves this track and she ran good. That was a little more work than I expected, but they ran so fast and there’s only so fast a horse can run. We’ll look at a couple of different spots for her now. We may go to Saratoga for the Ballerina (a Grade I, $250,000 seven-furlong sprint on Aug. 27). We’ll probably run her in one more sprint and then give her a route race before the Breeders’ Cup (Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4). We’re going to try and make her a champion and to get that she’ll probably have to win the (Ladies’ Classic).”

Jerry Romans, owner of Sassy Image, winner: “I didn’t think she was going to get up, but she somehow did! She ran a great race and Bret’s filly ran an amazing race too. She (Sassy Image) is a once in a lifetime horse.”

Bret Calhoun, trainer of Beat the Blues (runner-up)

“You know, it’s tough.  It’s disappointing to get beat like that after you run such a huge race.  I’m happy with the way she ran, but very disappointed to get beat like that on the wire in a Grade III.  We were expecting a big race out of her, I really was.  I know Sassy Image is a great filly and a Grade I winner and I didn’t expect to beat her.  But I thought she had a big shot in there today and she ran up to expectations.  I’m just disappointed to get beat right there on the wire.”

Q: You won this race last year with Dubai Majesty and returned in the fall to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.  Could she be that type of filly?

“This filly, from the time we bought her, has just gotten better and better and I think she proved that today.  You never know where they’re going to go, but I thought today was a big step forward in that direction.  Oh sure, you’d always love to end up there.  I don’t know if she’ll end up there or not, but she took on what’s right now one of the best one-turn sprint fillies there is, and one that’s really got an affinity for this track.”

Miguel Mena, jockey on Beat the Blues (runner-up)

“I had a perfect trip.  She broke good and settled off the speed in a perfect spot.  Turning for home we made a run and just got outrun at the end. But my filly ran really hard.  We’ve got a pretty good filly with a big future.”

FREDDIE LENCLUD, jockey on FORTUNE PLAY (third)

“She ran well.  We wanted to kind of rate off the pace.  It was six furlongs, but there wasn’t a lot of speed in the race, so we wanted to lay third or fourth.  She made a nice run down the lane.  She tried hard.”

Jerry Romans’ Sassy Image weaved her way between horses in the stretch and then drew away to win the 41st running of the $115,900 Pocahontas (GIII) for 2-year-old fillies by two lengths over Decelerator on the opening day of Churchill Downs’ 21-day Fall Meet.

Sassy Image was ridden by Robby Albarado, who posted his fourth victory of the afternoon on the “Stars of Tomorrow I” card that featured racing exclusively for 2-year-olds. Dale Romans, who won the Pocahontas last year with Sara Louise, trains Sassy Image.

Albarado gave Sassy Image a ground-saving trip down the backstretch as Tiz Miz Sue and Vivid Colors dueled through fractions of :22.46 and :45.66. The field began to bunch up as the leaders hit the quarter pole in 1:11.62 and Albarado began to look for an opening with Sassy Image.

He found it at the eighth pole as he moved between Vivid Colors and All Due Respect and spurted clear with plenty left to hold a late challenge by Decelerator, who had won the Debutante (GIII) here in June.

Sassy Image, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Broken Vow, covered the mile on a “fast” main track in 1:38.63. The victory was worth $66,828 for Sassy Image to boost her career earnings to $147,512 with a record of 6-2-1-1.

Sassy Image returned mutuels of $6.20, $3.40 and $2.80. Decelerator, ridden by Rajiv Maragh, returned $7.20 and $6 in finishing a head in front of All Due Respect who paid $8.80 to show under Brian Hernandez Jr.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE POCAHONTAS

DALE ROMANS, trainer of SASSY IMAGE, winner: “It’s great to be back on the real stuff and it’s great to be back at Churchill Downs. I think she’ll run all day. She outlasted ‘em and had the most stamina today and I just think she’ll run even further.

“You just don’t know [what will happen] when you turn for home and you’re down on the inside all boxed up like that. Are they going to get through? I just thought if [jockey Robby Albarado] found a seam that she would kick through and she did.”

Q: How nice is it to see her overcome adversity at such a young age? “It shows a lot. She’s got a bright future and she’s got a lot of room to improve.

Q: What’s next? “We’ll be here [for the Grade II, $150,000-added Golden Rod for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles] on closing day [Saturday, Nov. 28].”

JERRY ROMANS, owner of SASSY IMAGE, winner: “When she got through on the rail, that was the only anxious moment. Turning for home it didn’t look like it was going to open up. Robby [Albarado] said she felt like a different horse back here on her home track. Once she got head and head, I felt pretty good.
Q: How many horses do you have with your brother Dale? “I’ve got five horses with Dale and she’s by far the best. She’s the best one I’ve ever had. These are once-in-a-lifetime types of horses, for me anyway and not necessarily for Dale training-wise but for us to own.”

Q: The age difference between you and Dale? “I’m 17 months older than Dale.”

ROBBY ALBARADO, jockey of SASSY IMAGE, winner: “The filly (Sassy Image) ran great. [Trainer] Dale [Romans] gave me some instruction to keep her a little bit closer today, so I jumped her out a little earlier and got some forward position going down the backside. I was always very comfortable during the race and just had to find a place to get through. She found the spot up the rail and just went on without me really asking anything of her."

Q: On four wins through the first eight races: “This is just the way that I wanted to start my meet.  I wanted to get off to a hot start and try and keep it going.”

RAJIV MARAGH, rider of DECELERATOR, second: “She ran pretty well. She was game. She fought hard to finish second. ‘As seen on TV’ – it was the same way it felt out there. Maybe if I’d had an inside post it would have made a difference between winning and losing, because she did have a wider trip than the eventual winner. The winner was able to stay down along the rail while I was four wide. But she ran good.”

D. WAYNE LUKAS, trainer of DECELERATOR, second: “I thought she ran well. She got a little wide on the turn, but that other filly is nice filly, so I was pleased with the effort.”

Q: Was there any specific problem in her three off-the-board finishes coming into this race? “I don’t know. We had an active spring and she probably needed a little less action. Then I gave her a little break and came back with her, and now she’s good again. She appears to really like this track.”