Pretty Innocent pretty fast in QHRAI SSA Futurity Juvenile at Horseshoe Indianapolis

Pretty Innocent and Alberto Ceron barely made the cut for the Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Stallion Service Auction (SSA) Juvenile Stakes. With the top 10 advancing to the QHRAI SSA Futurity Final, a Restricted Grade 3 race, the next 10 on the list of 80 from the Futurity Trials moved into the $30,000 QHRAI SSA Futurity Juvenile Stakes with Pretty Innocent qualifying in 18th place overall to find a spot among those runners. However, the freshman filly was up for the task as she powered home for the win in the QHRAI SSA Futurity Juvenile Stakes for the win.

A start from the outside post 10 in the field proved to be a blessing. Just to the inside of Pretty Innocent and Ceron was “chaos” out of the gate with five horses involved in bumping and interference. Pretty Innocent was untouched by the incident and had her sights set down the stretch on the finish line. Coup on Fire and Edgar Diaz were holding their own along the inside with Streakinbyetheboys and Jimmy Brooks holding position in the center of the track. In the final strides of the 350-yard dash, Pretty Innocent found another gear and surged to the wire for the win by a neck over Coup on Fire. HH Tessas Beach and Yovani Flores-Munoz moved up for third. Time of the sprint was :18.081.

Pretty Innocent paid $12.40 for the win. The daughter of Hes Innocent is owned by Mark and Rosemary Gorney and trained by Natasha Perez, who retired from riding five years ago and is now adding her name to the record books as a stakes winning trainer. Grant Farms bred and raised the Louisiana bred filly, who was a $25,000 purchase from last fall’s Heritage Place September Yearling Sale.

“She (Pretty Innocent) is the coolest horse and has so much personality,” noted Perez. “Rosemary Gorney and her husband (Mark), this is their first stakes win. They live in Roanoke and they were introduced to me by Tom Wylie (another owner of the Perez Stable).”

It was the second career win in four career starts for Pretty Innocent. She more than doubled her career earnings tally to $29,000 with the win in the QHRAI SSA Futurity Juvenile Stakes.

Ridden by Edgar Diaz, Coup On Fire finished second for owners Keith Bode and R Chavez Racing LLC and trainer Tim Eggleston. The gelding was gaining on winner Pretty Innocent at the wire, finishing a neck back in :18.137. Bred by Keith Bode, Coup On Fire was an $8,100 repurchase at the QHRAI Stallion Service Auction. He is sired by Fly The Coup and out of the Mr Jess Perry mare Kt Perry. He now has a record of 5-0-2-2 with earnings of $16,004 and was a finalist in the Gordon Mobley Futurity earlier this season.

Hh Tessas Beach and jockey Yovani Flores-Munoz finished third for owners Larry Carter and John Myers and trainer Shawna Martin. The gelding turned in an even effort to finish three-quarters of a length behind Coup On Fire in :18.300. A homebred for Carter and Myers, Hh Tessas Beach was a $22,100 repurchase at the QHRAI Stallion Service Auction. He is sired by Escondido Beach and out of the FDD Dynasty mare Contessa. He now has a record of 3-1-1-1 with earnings of $14,590.

Following an inquiry and objection, Beach Struttinblazer was disqualified from fourth and placed 10th for interference shortly after the start. Lb Flash N Fire was also disqualified from seventh and placed eighth for interference at the start. Streakinbyetheboys, Take The Cake, Golden State G, Smokindownthebeach and Jess Is Up completed the order of finish.

The 24th season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse extends through Friday, November 13. For more information on racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis/racing or find details on social media @HSIndyRacing.

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