Just Read It dug in gamely to hold off Exogen by a head in Saturday’s $100,000 Cicada S. at Aqueduct to give the 3-year-old daughter of Constitution her first stakes victory.
The odds-on favorite Save took the lead out of the gate in the six-furlong affair, with Just Read It pressing her through a quarter-mile in :23.12 and a half in :47.66. Just Read It took over the lead in upper stretch and was up a length with a furlong to go before Exogen rallied along the rail to cut into the final margin.
“She broke well, she put me there great, she was on the bridle and then she was able to settle nicely into the turn,” winning rider Dylan Davis said “I was just a little worried about some closers. She picked up great down the stretch and with [Exogen] coming up the rail I had to keep her on it, keep her focused and she was able to get there.”
Just Read It, owned by Ken Russell, Brown Road Racing and Raymond Handal, is 2-0-0 in four starts and has earned $104,450. She was bred in Kentucky by Erv Woolsey and Ralph Kinder.
Constitution currently leads the Third-Crop Sire list in several categories, including black type horses, graded stakes horses, Grade 1 horses and winners.
