Belle Of Perintown Rallies For Pocahontas Win

Louisville, KY (Nov. 2, 2002) - Belle of Perintown, with Mark Guidry aboard, was trapped behind horses at the top of the stretch before rallying to a three-quarter length victory over Star of Atticus in Saturday's $111,100 Pocahontas Stakes for two-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs.

Owned by Ken Mahler and Jamie Schloss, the win was the second consecutive for the daughter of Dehere as she covered the mile in 1:36.52 to return $18.00, $8.40 and $4.60. Star of Atticus, ridden by Lonnie Meche, held a half-length advantage at the top of the stretch but could not hold on and paid $8.40 and $4.80. Souris, ridden by Corey Lanerie and favored in the field of eight, stalked the early pace and contested the lead in the stretch before finishing another neck back to return $2.80.

Belle of Perintown, coming off a maiden victory at Keeneland on October 6, collected $68,882 to increase her career earnings to $117,487. Trained by Eddie Kenneally, who collected his first-ever Churchill stakes win, Belle of Perintown improved her lifetime record to 2-2-1 in six starts. Her lone off the board finish a 10th came at Churchill in her second career start last July when she bore in and hit the rail.

Youcan'ttakeme rushed to the early advantage as Star of Atticus gave chase with Belle of Perintown settling into fourth for the run down the backstretch. As the field entered the turn, Star of Atticus assumed command with Guidry positioning Belle of Perintown along the rail to make a stretch charge. The rail apparently closed as Belle of Perintown began to move forcing Guidry to swing his mount four-wide to take chase from the outside and wear down Star of Atticus in the final strides.

Post Race Quotes -- 34th Pocahontas Stakes

Mark Guidry, jockey on Belle Of Perintown

Q: You had some traffic concerns when you went inside in upper stretch..

"It looked like the five (Star of Atticus) was going to stay off the fence with (Lonnie) Meche. It looked like she was going to stay in the three-path. So turning for home I had a lot of filly, so I just went ahead. I didn't want to go around Corey Lanerie (Souris), so I just went ahead and tried to go to the inside and they started fanning back down. But I had plenty of time to react to it. It wasn't like they pinched me off real bad."

Q: Is that what you'd call much the best?

"Today she was. She was pulling me all the way around there. I was really worried up the backside because she didn't want to relax. She was just all keyed up to go, go, go. We got a clear run in the last eighth of a mile when we got to the outside and she just kicked on" Q: This filly seems like she's coming around at the right time... "Eddie did a good job with her because she's really a nervous filly. She gets real anxious and today she was on tilt, but he calms her down just enough to get the best out of her. The day she won at Keeneland was an extraordinary race. (Edgar) Prado was on that filly for John Ward (Perfect Story) and she tugged up there and they went by me. But turning for home there was a little seam to the inside and I smooched to her and she was right back in it. She has a lot of heart and determination and that's what is going to win you races."

Eddie Kenneally, trainer of Belle Of Perintown

Q: It took your filly a while to break her maiden, but she's coming around at the right time...

"She was good enough to break her maiden earlier in the year, but she's just been unlucky. She ran into a real good filly when we finished second going a mile at Arlington and prior to that we were second at Arlington to another filly who went on to be stakes-placed. So fortunately it came right on a good day at Keeneland when she finally did break her maiden."

Q: Were you concerned when Mark tried to go inside at the head of the stretch...

"Major...majorly concerned (laughs). I could see he had a lot of horse and she was really starting to run for him at that point, but it turned out that he had no place to go for a moment and he had to check her and she lost her momentum briefly. Honestly, at the sixteenth pole I didn't think we were going to get there, but she's a very game and gutsy filly and she really gutted it out. Guidry rode her perfectly."

Q: This is one step - is the Golden Rod (Grade II, 1 1/16-miles on Nov. 30) next?

"The main thing we've accomplished anyway is that we've won a stake, which is vitally important because she is a very well-bred filly. We'll definitely have to entertain the thought of running in the Golden Rod, for sure. And I think she will stretch out to two turns. I think she will go a mile and a sixteenth. She's very rateable and she settled nicely off the pace today and I think she'll settle going longer just as well. Who knows, I think she may go a mile and a sixteenth."

Q: This is your first stakes win at Churchill Downs. What does that mean to you?

"It means a lot to me to win a stake here at Churchill because I've been stabled here since 1994, when I first started training nine years ago. It's been great. We've won a lot of nice allowance races, but this is my first stakes win at Churchill Downs -- although I have won stakes in the past in Maryland and Chicago. But this is our first win here at Churchill, so it's huge."

Q: You were an assistant trainer to Niall O'Callaghan?

"Correct. We both worked for Tom Skiffington as assistants and then I worked for Niall shortly after he started on his own. It's nice to be here winning a stakes race for sure."

Q: Are you from County Cork (Ireland) like Niall?

"No, certainly not. We're neighboring counties - (I'm from) Waterford. County Waterford, like the crystal."

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