With his oldest Australian progeny just two year-olds, there is much to look forward to with Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (USA) as his Northern Hemisphere runners that have just turned four keep delivering the goods.
Ending last season with a Grade I placing, talented four year-old mare mare Merneith started this one with a Grade II win in Saturday’s Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita.
The daughter of American Pharoah showed early speed under Edwin Maldonaldo to go straight to the lead in the seven furlong dirt race and kept up a good gallop, defying all challengers to win by two and a quarter lengths in a field full of graded stakes performers, including multiple Grade 1 winners.
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It was the fourth win and second Black Type success for the Bob Baffert trained Merneith, who has finished top three in nine of her 10 starts for HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud.
“She looks like American Pharoah to me, when she came in, she looked almost like a spitting image of him, Baffert said.
“I’m glad they are starting to run now. To me it means more to American Pharoah than anything else but the ownership, the prince in Dubai, I was telling him how high I was on this filly. Today is the day she finally showed what she has and that was a pretty tough field of horses that she beat. To win one-two-three, it was nice cheering down the lane.”
Bred by China Horse Club, the filly was sold for $350,000 at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale as a weanling to Gary Contessa from Hunter Valley Farm’s consignment. She returned to the sales as a 2-year-old, where she brought $600,000 from Narvick International on behalf of her racing owner from De Meric Sales.
One of 14 stakes-winners worldwide for American Pharpah, Merneith is one of two winners out of stakes winner Flattermewithroses, a granddaughter of multiple graded stakes winner Fluttery Danseur.
