| Sunday, January 4, 2015
Paulassilverlining shows determination in Ruthless
By Sean Morris
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Under a patient Irad Ortiz, Jr., Paulassilverlining slipped through on the rail at the head of the lane and kept Noble and a Beauty at bay for the length of the stretch to prevail by a nose in the $100,000 Ruthless on Sunday at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Breaking from post 2, Paulassilverlining sat along the inside in fourth behind the early pace set by 15-1 long shot Darling Sky, who set moderate fractions of 23.60 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 47.95 for the half.
As horses stacked up three-wide exiting the turn, a seam opened at the rail, and Ortiz deftly navigated his mount through the opening, seizing the advantage a few strides thereafter. As Paulassilverlining struck the front, however, Noble and a Beauty promptly engaged her on the outside, and the two continued their tussle all the way to the wire.
"I broke good, and I just followed the instructions given to me by [trainer] Michelle [Nevin], which were to 'stay close and wait to make a run,'" said Ortiz. "The horse in front of me [Darling Sky] tried to get out and I was able to get through."
The win was Paulassilverlining's third through five career starts for Nevin and owner Vincent Scuderi. The bay filly also broke her maiden by a nose and took the Grade 2 Matron at Belmont Park by 1 ¼ lengths.
"[Irad Ortiz, Jr.] gave her an excellent ride," said Nevin. "On the inner track, you can't give up ground, so you can't come out and around and win. He did the right thing, stayed on the rail, and had patience. [And] once it opened up - she's a fighter. She wants to win. She's not very big - she's small, she's stocky, and she's got that little attitude about her. We'd love to try and stretch her out, to see if she can handle it, but right now she seems to have an affinity for sprinting. We'll think things over."
Paulassilverlining returned $4.50 on $2 win wager, and completed the six furlongs in 1:12.84 over a sloppy track. Her bankroll now stands at $283,950.
Noble and a Beauty lost nothing in defeat, having to take the overland route into the stretch and narrowly missing in only her second start. The daughter of Noble Causeway broke her maiden on November 30 at the Big A for trainer Rick Violette and My Meadowview Farm.
The regally bred Dickinson checked in third, followed under the line by Darling Sky and Stormalina.
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