Eric Fein's C C's Pal closed into a torrid early pace to win the Grade 2 Honorable Miss by a neck Friday at Saratoga Race Course.
Sent off as the second choice in the field of eight female sprinters, the Alex's Pal mare trained but Richard Dutrow Jr. paid $8.50. She covered the six furlongs on the main track in 1:09.88. Island Bound was second, 2 1/2 lengths in front of Beat the Blues.
The speedy favorite, It's Me Mom, rolled through blistering early fractions of :21.14, :43.78 but paid the price, tiring and finishing seventh.
C C's Pal and jockey Junior Alvarado patiently let the speed go, sat about five lengths off the pace after a half-mile and then made the winning move.
"I wasn't nervous because if she got beat it's OK," Dutrow said, "but she wound up getting there and that's even better."
Dutrow said the quick early pace was ideal.
"I started licking my lips," he said, smiling.
Dutrow figured a tactical approach could bring his 5-year-old mare another graded stake.
"It was awful quick up front," he said. "We wanted to save ground around the turn. We knew we could out-quicken the first two horses on the inside of us. This filly can win on the lead, stalking, coming from off of it. She just fired another bullet, man. What are you going to do?It's beautiful for us."