The 70th Running of Vanity Handicap (GI) - $250,000 Guaranteed

Defeated by Switch in their only previous encounter at Hollywood Park in the 2010 Hollywood Oaks, Blind Luck turned the tables Saturday, winning the $250,000 Vanity Handicap by a half-length.
Last with less than an eighth of a mile to run in the Grade I, Blind Luck outkicked Switch and four other females for her second win in a row under jockey Garrett Gomez.
The 4-year-old Pollard's Vision filly out of the Best of Luck mare Lucky One had to overcome a stumbling beginning to win the La Troienne May 6 at Churchill Downs.
In her return to California, Blind Luck had to rally despite a very slow early pace. Swung to the outside early in the stretch, the chestnut was able to get up in a race where all were basically equal across the track approaching the wire.
Owned by Peter Abruzzo, John Carver, Mark DeDomenico LLC and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, Blind Luck, the 9-5 second choice, completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.89. Due to the pedestrian fractions set by American Lady (25.52, 50.24 and 1:14.56 for six furlongs), the final time figured to suffer.
It was the slowest of 60 Vanity renewals at nine furlongs, but there was nothing slow about the final eighth of a mile turned in by the winner. It was in the vicinity of 11.40 seconds.
Spotting Switch three pounds (123-120), Blind Luck, the race highweight, won for the 11th time in 20 starts. The sixth Grade I success of her career lifted her bankroll to $2,829,520. Blind Luck paid $5.60, $2.80 and $2.20. It was the first time she wasn't the favorite since she won the Alabama by a neck as the 9-5 second choice last Aug. 21 at Saratoga.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Vanity Handicap
• Hollywood Park
• Blind Luck
• Garrett Gomez
• Jerry Hollendorfer

[kedez2012]

Congrats to this classy filly! Can't wait to see her take on Havre de Grace. Those two are really the only contenders for HOY, in my opinion. Everyone else is lackluster

[WOOKSTER8]

Blind Luck is simply all class! 18/20 of her starts have been Graded Races, she has NEVER been off the board, 20 starts, 11 wins, 7 seconds, 2 third, earning's just short of $3 million. She is my pick for HOY, after she beats HDG next month at Delaware Park, she will take on the boys at Saratoga (I hope!). Simply amazing...

[AnimalAnimeLover8]

Awesome race!!!

[d9y8l7a6n5]

I'd also love to see Blind Luck take on the boys down the road somewhere. I have a feeling she'd show them a thing or two, especially given how inconsistent the boys have been this year, Blind Luck would be my top pick against the boys. I hope they consider that sometime down the road, perhaps later this year.

[d9y8l7a6n5]

What a race! All of them were in it through the lane. But another fabulous run by Blind Luck. She is definitely back to top form, and this shows she may be a bit better, at least more mature than last year. These were almost identical fractions to the Hollywood Oaks last year where she came up short, not this time. And Gomez hand rode her through the lane, still passing em all. Now she'll be much more even, form-wise, with Havre De Grace when they meet at Delaware.

[MrZenyatta]

Nice run by Blind Luck. She didn't have a favorable pace scenario but got it done anyway. Switch never really got a chance to run her race but was still right there. St. Trinians has never been quite the same since her loss in this race last year.