Under a heady ride from John Velazquez, Summer Applause cleared off in the final furlong to win the $150,000 Allaire Dupont Distaff (G3) by a widening two lengths on Saturday at Pimlico (VIDEO).
The win was the third graded stakes victory for the 4-year-old daughter of Harlan’s Holiday, who has now earned $587,406. Summer Applause was bred by Greenwood Lodge and is co-owned with her breeder by Gillian Campbell, Dan Clark and Greg Skoda.
Summer Applause is the leading earner for Harlan’s Holiday this year. The WinStar stallion has now eclipsed the $2.5 million progeny earnings in 2013, putting him in the top 15 on the General Sire List.
Summer Applause was second in the three path about a length behind Daydreamin Gracie’s very slow early fractions of :25.77 for the quarter and :51.42 for the half mile. Moon Philly took over the lead with three furlongs to go, then Summer Applause evened up with that one about three-sixteenths from the wire, ultimately forging ahead inside the final eighth to claim the top prize. The winner covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.54 after the slow early pace.
“She ran great. She was spotting everyone six pounds; I was worried about that when I was handicapping the race the last couple days,” said trainer Chad Brown. “To really pull away like that and to run such a strong race against some nice fillies, giving weight, I’m really proud of her. We didn’t know what the pace was going to be, so I left it up to Johnny.”
Summer Applause also has wins in the Top Flight H. (G2) and Rachel Alexandra S. (G3) on her resume; she is 5-2-0 in 11 starts. Greenwood bred her from the unraced Royal Academy mare Summer Exhibition, who is a half-sister to the multiple graded stakes winning millionaire Recoup the Cash.
