Shes the Cause upsets in City of Anderson Stakes

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Sept. 11, 2019) – Shes the Cause and Santo Sanjur were on a mission Wednesday, Sept. 11, running down their opponents in the stretch to capture the title in the 19th running of the $100,000 City of Anderson Stakes at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino.

A full field of two-year-old Indiana bred fillies entered the gate for the City of Anderson and heavily favored Release the Heat and jockey Rodney Prescott left the extreme outside with a burst of speed to get the first call. Lucky Fever and Eddie Perez showed early speed along the inside with Betcha and Jose Riquelme between the top two. Lucky Fever took over on the front heading to the first quarter, allowing Release the Heat to settle in nicely behind in second.

Around the turn, Lady Ally and Fernando De La Cruz began to make their move three-wide toward the leaders and they were primed to take over the top spot. In the lane, Lady Ally battled with Betcha to her inside for the lead and eventually got the edge, but it was a fast closing Shes the Cause on the outside that had the best stride at the wire, grabbing the win by a head in a time of 1:14.10. Lady Ally finished second over Mintchocolatechip and Malcom Franklin, who closed well for third.

“This was my first time aboard this filly (Shes the Cause),” said Sanjur. “In her first start, she got in trouble along the rail and still ran well. She is a really classy filly and is better off the pace. Today, I just stayed behind the speed and when I tipped her out, she hit another gear.”

Shes the Cause was an upset winner, paying $31.60, $10.60 and $7.60 across the board. The freshman daughter of Creative Cause broke her maiden in the effort for owner-breeder Ron Saunders of Avon, Ind. She boosted her career bankroll to more than $80,000 with the stakes win for trainer Antonio Duran.

“We have always loved her, even as a baby,” said Saunders, a lifelong owner who is a retired union electrician. “She’s always been high energy, but we thought she would be a good filly for us.”

Shes the Cause got a late start to her racing career. Her first start was in mid-August, an impressive second place finish.

“This filly (Shes the Cause) is very special,” said Duran. “We have had a hard time with her mentally, but we knew she had speed and knew she was going to be a good one, so we were very patient with her. We’ve spent a lot of time with her to get her ready to race.”