Rhosa The Warrior gives trainer Anthony Smith second winner for the season
RHOSA The Warrior won the second event on the nine-race card on Saturday, January 20, 2024, extending trainer Anthony Smith’s perfect start to the 2024 racing season with two wins from two starts.
Rhosa The Warrior’s triumph came in the $750,000 Restricted Allowance IV for native-bred five-year-olds and upward (non-winners of three) and imported five-year-olds and upward (non-winners of two) over 5½ furlongs (1,100m).
With Dane Dawkins in the irons aboard
Rhosa The Warrior the five-year-old bay mare broke off well at the start of the race in second position behind the speedy
Sugar Daddy (Samantha Fletcher). Dawkins held
Rhosa The Warrior back a bit and allowed
Tapit Good (Natalie Berger) to go in chase of
Sugar Daddy going into the half-mile (800m) turn.
Hugging the inside rails and cutting the turn coming into the race,
Rhosa The Warrior found racing room in deep stretch and produced a strong run to beat rivals by 3½ lengths at the wire.
Sugar Daddy was second and
Storm A Come (Prince Holder) finished third. The winning time was recorded at 1:09.2 (23.3 x 47.2).
This triumph was notable because Dawkins was riding
Rhosa The Warrior for the third time and he had won on all three occasions aboard the
Soul Warrior offspring.