Sweet Repent gets up in Stage Door Betty

Sweet Repent (left) just got up to deny the pacesetter Amazing (Jim Lisa Photos/Calder Race Course) Buongiorno A Tutti Stable’s SWEET REPENT (Repent) continued her flair for the dramatic with a nose decision in Saturday’s $100,000 Stage Door Betty H. (G3) at Calder, extending her win streak to four with her first graded victory. Two of those wins came by a nose, and Saturday’s thrilling conclusion was a heartbreaker for the supporters of Amazing (Greatness), who established soft early fractions in :24 1/5, :49 4/5 and 1:14 4/5 on a clear lead and looked difficult to beat when passing the mile mark with a 2 1/2-length advantage in 1:40. Sweet Repent, who stalked in second or third most of the way with jockey Manoel Cruz, rallied determinedly to catch her rival in the shadow of the wire, completing 1 1/16 miles over the fast track in 1:46 4/5. “I definitely wasn’t sure she could get there with the way that horse (Amazing) was going so well on the lead, but she did,” trainer David Braddy said. “This was definitely the best field of horses she’s beaten so far and winning a graded stakes certainly takes her to another level. The plan now is to run her in the (January 30) Sunshine Millions (Distaff at Gulfstream Park) and then give her a little break.”

“We were sitting in the perfect spot and had the perfect trip today and it’s
a good thing we did, because the horse that was on the lead (Amazing) ran a huge
race as well,” Cruz commented.” “When I asked my filly to run, she responded
right away and was running like she was going to go right by the leader. Then
the other filly just started to break away from us again and I had to work
pretty hard with my filly to get the job done.”

Favored at even-money in the 12-horse field, Sweet Repent paid $4, $2.80 and
$2.60. Amazing, who was overlooked at 20-1 from post 11, gave back $13.40 and
$8.20 and capped the $80 exacta. It was 3 1/2 lengths back to the 14-1 Aurora
Lights (Pulpit), who returned $6.60. The trifecta totaled $923.60, and the
2-12-1-3 superfecta, with 7-2 second choice Morena (Per) (Privately Held)
another 1 1/4 lengths back in fourth, was worth $5,851.40. Miss Singhsix (Ire)
(Singspiel [Ire]), Lomaki (A.P. Indy), Sweetsourthernqueen (Sweetsouthernsaint),
Even Road (Stephen Got Even), Cat Can Do (Adcat), Kiddari (Smarty Jones) and
Nicksappealinglady (Successful Appeal) came next under the finish line. Flying
Dixie (Dixieland Band) was eased in the final eighth of a mile, while Jessica is Back
(Put It Back) and Hopeful Image (Gulch) were both scratched.

After launching her current win streak with a victory over allowance/optional
claiming rivals on August 8, Sweet Repent captured the Judy’s Red Shoes S. and
Elmer Heubeck Distaff H. The three-year-old filly has also placed in two other
stakes races. Bred in Florida by Nikki and Roger Schick, the dark bay lass has
now earned $299,190 from a 12-6-2-1 line. She’s out of the winning Formal Dinner
mare Sweetbabe, who is also the dam of a yearling filly by With Distinction and
a 2009 colt by City Place, and is from the female family of multiple Grade 3
hero Halo’s Image (Halo).