Lilly finished 6th in the $12,500 optional claiming, five furlong turf race last night.

She broke well and Betty Jo Williams was able to keep her off the early pace and settle behind a wall of early speed.  She angled out through the turn for home and had a straight shot for her to come home if she was good enough, but, unfortunately, she was not against this group.

Lilly fought all the way through and she battled to the wire.  The final margin of defeat was only 2 3/4 lengths.  Both were impressive.  I liked the way horse and rider tried hard to beat the 9 but missed by a nose.  The difference between fifth and sixth is about $700.  While that amount makes no difference to the jock, it’s nice that she was trying hard to the end to get it for us.

Nevada will make sure that she came out of the race okay and we’ll look to the last two days of the meet and see if we can get her in one more time.  We’ll be back in the claiming ranks again, hoping for a $7500-$10,000 non-winners of two races lifetime.  If she runs back to today, I think we could stand a chance at picking up one more win photo before the season ends!