Not This Time’s classy turf mare Dana’s Beauty became racing’s newest millionaire Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis with a hard-fought win in the $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff S.
Dana’s Beauty, 7, was second for nearly all of the 1 1/16-mile turf race. She’s Lookin Lucky set all the pace and had the lead until inside the final sixteenth, when Dana’s Beauty forged past and also held off Strikingly Spun to win by a neck in 1:39.57, missing the track record by less than a half-second.
“It was pretty straight forward,” winning rider John Velazquez said. “There really wasn’t much speed other than Mike (Smith on She’s Lookin’ Lucky) and myself. I didn’t want to go head-and-head with him. By the time we got to the backstretch, my horse engaged on the bridle. It took a while to pass Mike’s horse, and I thought maybe I was in trouble. Then the horse on the outside (Strikingly Spun) came up and she went on. That’s what made me pass Mike, because she got competitive with the horse on the outside.”
With the win, Dana’s Beauty has now earned $1,034,495. She has six stakes wins in her career and has a record of 13-6-9 in 43 starts. The dark bay is owned by Resolute Racing and was bred in Kentucky by John Liviakis.