Modarosa made her Stakes debut a winning one when she rallied from off the pace to win the Lyphard Stakes by two-and-three-quarter lengths on the turf at Penn National on Friday, 29 May.
Based at Keeneland this spring, the five-year-old mare by Palace Malice has become a solid open-company allowance contender since returning from a long hiatus in November. Trainer Riley Mott shipped her up and down the East Coast over the winter, leading to victories at Gulfstream Park and Aqueduct. She finally struck gold in the Lyphard, a mile-and-a-sixteenth turf contest restricted to Pennsylvania-bred runners.
Seven state-bred fillies and mares squared off in the race. The field was strung out from the beginning, leaving three rivals with legitimate winning chances by the time they entered the far turn.
Nature’s Candy, a game front-runner, completed the opening quarter-mile in :22.86 and half-mile in :46.35, cruising with Candy Reward just behind her. Xmas in Cairo, a 55-1 longshot, briefly chased in third before fading, allowing Modarosa and to inherit the place from a stalking position.
Candy Reward had the first chance at tackling the leader at the top of the stretch, but Nature’s Candy and jockey Andy Hernandez repelled her bid and kicked clear. With most of the field more than six lengths behind, Nature's Candy appeared to be home free, but Modarosa had not yet fired in earnest from third.
When jockey Manny Franco asked his mare for more, she responded instantly, rallying on the outside and easily powering past in the final furlong.
Bred in Pennsylvania by Blackstone Farm LLC, Modarosa is out of Essential Rose, an unraced daughter of Bernardini and is a half sister to multiple Graded Stakes winner Roses For Debra (Liam’s Map), and to Stakes winners Rose’s Vision (Artie Schiller) and Rosie’s Alibi (Justify).
Palace Malice won the G1 Belmont Stakes by over three lengths and the G1 Metropolitan Handicap at four. He is the sire of 17 Stakes winners to date, including Palacein and the four-time G1-winner, Jantar Mantar.
