Woodbine Racecourse witnessed a determined performance on Sunday as Meilani battled past front-runner Happy Destination in the closing stages to capture the $100,000 Alywow Stakes, earning the three-year-old filly her first career stakes victory.
Alywow Stakes results
Breaking sharply from post position five, Happy Destination immediately took control of the 6 1/2-furlong contest, leading the field of 10 through an opening quarter-mile in 22.62 seconds. Meilani, starting from the outside gate eight and ridden by Kazushi Kimura, settled comfortably in second position while Stroke of Genius tracked the leaders in third.
Meilani secured her first stakes victory in the Alywow Stakes after producing a powerful late finish at Woodbine.
As the field approached the three-furlong marker, Kimura asked Meilani for more and the filly responded smoothly, moving up on the outside to challenge Happy Destination. The pair remained closely matched after completing the half-mile in 45.69 seconds.
The battle intensified inside the final eighth of a mile, with Meilani pressing from the outside as Happy Destination refused to give way. Stroke of Genius began to fade, allowing the late-running Irish-bred Flowerhead to enter contention.
Trained by Kevin Attard, Meilani showed her fighting qualities in the final strides, gradually wearing down Happy Destination to score by half a length in a final time of 1:18.17.
Kimura, who was making his return to Woodbine after travelling from California for the weekend, produced a patient ride and guided Meilani to a memorable success.
“My plan was that two or three horses might be going forward, so I didn’t need to be on the lead,” Kimura said. “I wanted a pocket trip and just kept grinding, getting closer with every stride.”
Meilani, a bay daughter of Omaha Beach out of Tide Is High by Broken Vow, had already shown promise earlier in her career. She broke her maiden at Woodbine last autumn during her fourth start, winning a one-mile inner turf event by 1 1/4 lengths.
The filly began her three-year-old campaign with a pair of starts at Gulfstream Park before returning to Woodbine for the Alywow Stakes. Her previous effort in the Ruling Angel Stakes on May 16 provided further encouragement, as she finished second after setting a strong pace in her first synthetic surface appearance.
Meilani’s Alywow Stakes performance confirmed the ability she had displayed since the beginning of her career.
“She has always shown talent from the start,” Attard said. “She ran some credible races at two and has plenty of speed, which helps her put herself in a good position.”
Owned by X-Men Racing V LLC and Madaket Stables LLC, and bred in Kentucky by Jayne Johnson and Fergus Galvin, Meilani improved her record to two wins, two seconds and two thirds from eight starts.
Happy Destination finished second after setting much of the pace, while Flowerhead completed the top three. Stroke of Genius rounded out the first four. Star Shoot Stakes winner Mony Mony, who was among the leading contenders before the race, finished ninth after being bumped at the start.
Meilani’s victory added another promising chapter to her developing career and highlighted her potential as she continues to progress against talented three-year-old fillies.
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