Deer Valley got a very well-timed ride to pull out a half-length victory in the $60,000 Crank It Up S. Saturday at Monmouth Park.
The 3-year-old filly became Speightstown’s 135th lifetime stakes winner and is one of his 11 stakes winners this year. A top-15 ranked national sire, Speightstown’s runners have earned more than $4 million worldwide in 2017.
Big City Dreamin broke on top in the five-furlong grass sprint, with Deer Valley in hot pursuit in second after a first quarter-mile in :21.19. Big City Dreamin still had the lead in mid-stretch, but Deer Valley had her foe measured, surging by to stop the timer in :56.02. on the firm turf.
“I trust Tom (trainer Proctor) and he told me how good she was doing,” said winning jockey Antonio Gallardo. “The whole thing was easy. The other horse (Big City Dreamin) set the pace and I sat off her. Around the turn, my filly picked it up and she kicked it in for the final eighth. She’s a very talented filly.”
Owned by Glen Hill Farm, Deer Valley is now 3-1-0 in seven starts and has banked $148,345. The winner is out of Cat’s Fair and is a half-sister to Santa Anita Oaks (G1) winner Crisp.
