Juddmonte Farms’ homebred INTERCONTINENTAL (GB) (Danehill) circled the field
three wide turning for home and cruised home a facile 1 1/4-length winner of the
Royal Heroine S. (G3) at Hollywood Park on Sunday. Sitting at the rear early in
the one-mile turf race beneath Jerry Bailey, the five-year-old lass commenced
her run after passing a half-mile and proved much the best, keeping a game Ticker
Tape (GB) (Royal Applause [GB]) at bay throughout the stretch. The time for the
mile was 1:34 1/5 and the 3-5 favorite returned $3.20, $2.20 and $2.10 for
trainer Bobby Frankel.
Ticker Tape saved ground early along the rail, dipped out turning for home
and never threatened the winner. She gave back $3.40 and $2.10 while ending the
$5.70 exacta ($1) at 6-1. Pacesetter Navaja (NZ) (Daggers Dawn) held well to
garner show honors, another 1 1/4 lengths back, at odds of 21-1. Show was worth
$2.10 and the trifecta paid $27.50 ($1). Sweet Charm (Ire) (Green Desert)
completed the superfecta at 3-1, which was good for $49.70 ($1), and was
followed by Pickle (GB) (Piccolo). Irgunette (Aus) (Irgun), Valentine Dancer (In
Excess [Ire]), Fencelineneighbor (Wild Rush) and Mea Domina (Dance Brightly),
who got a quarter crack on her hind foot, were all withdrawn.
Intercontinental surpassed the $1 million mark ($1,085,263) in earnings
following the score, and moved her mark to an impressive 18-10-3-3. The
five-year-old annexed her only previous start over this lawn, the Matriarch S.
(G1), and also captured the last two runnings of the Jenny Wiley S. (G3) in
addition to the 2004 Just a Game Breeders’ Cup H. (G2).
The winner was bred in Great Britain and is out of the highly productive
stakes-winning broodmare Hasili (Kahyasi). That mare has produced, in
succession, Group 2 hero and highweight Dansili (GB) (Danehill), champion Banks
Hill (GB) (Danehill), multiple Grade 1 heroine Heat Haze (GB) (Green Desert),
Intercontinental and Group 2 hero Cacique (Danehill).