Matera scores first stakes win in Hulman George Memorial

Story by Jennie Rees, Eclipse Award Winning Turf Writer

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Wednesday, July 7, 2021) — Matera’s three-quarters of a length victory over Microcap in Wednesday’s $85,000 Mari Hulman George Stakes at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino was worth far more than the 4-year-old filly’s $50,490 payday.

That’s because it was Matera’s first stakes victory, a huge accomplishment to go with her super-charged pedigree: a daughter of world-renowned stallion Tapit and out of the very good racemare Miss Macy Sue who already has produced Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Liam’s Map, graded-stakes winner and the exciting young stallion Not This Time. Those bloodlines and her looks led Matera to be a $1.4 million yearling purchase, but her racing career has been checkered with starts and stops.

“It was a victory to have run third here,” said Brad Cox, who trains Matera for Carlos Heller-Solari’s Don Alberto Stable. “Obviously she accomplished much more. Getting a victory was huge for Don Alberto. I’d like to thank them for the opportunity with her. We’re 2-for 2 with this nice filly with obviously a huge pedigree.”

Cox is Matera’s fourth trainer after the filly raced sparingly in California at ages 2 and 3. She won an Oaklawn Park allowance race in her first start for Cox on March 31. For her career, Matera is 3-0-1 in only six lifetime starts, running three times at 2, once at 3 and now twice at 4. She now has made $152,530.

Matera settled into fourth under jockey Florent Geroux and wore down Microcap in the stretch, covering 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.29, finishing the last sixteenth of a mile in a good 6:08 seconds. She paid $4.20 to win as the 6-5 favorite.

“She fought hard,” Cox said. “She hadn’t had a run in a while, so it was a little bit of a concern that she might get tired late. But she dug in; showed a lot of fight today.”Matera

“That was not easy,” agreed Geroux. “Not worried, but she was coming off a layoff. It was her first time in a stakes. She’s jumping up in condition. There were things against her. But she had the class. Very pleased how hard she worked for it. She’s a very well-bred filly so a win or place in this kind of race for this type of filly is extremely important. So I’m very glad it worked out for her and for the owners.”

Jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. had Microcap in closest pursuit to early pacesetter Juliana, taking a clear lead at the quarter pole only to be caught approaching the wire. It was another three-quarters of a length back to Fire Coral, followed by Gran Baby, Juliana and Final Cut.

“I thought she ran a winning race,” said trainer Grant Forster, who claimed Microcap out of a $20,000 maiden-claiming race last November at Churchill Downs. “We’re very proud of her. She’s improving with leaps and bounds and got beat by a nice filly. Got her first black type today. So, she accomplished a lot and kind of proved hopefully that she’s moving into this caliber of filly.

“She did a lot of the hard work early on between horses, and that 46-and-4 was pretty solid for a half here. No, we’re thrilled with her.”

Matera and Microcap could meet again in Ellis Park’s $125,000 Groupie Doll Stakes on Aug. 15.

The Mari-Hulman George Memorial Stakes is named in honor of former chairman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hulman-George loved horses and maintained a breeding and racing operation from her home in Terre Haute until her death. Family members were trackside to deliver the trophy to the winning connections of Matera, including son, Tony George, and longtime friend Guy Trolinger, who served as trainer on many of her horses.

Photos by Coady Photography