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Classic Performance by Classic Ramona in Richmond
Classic Ramona and jockey Emanuel Cosme recorded a slight upset in the 10th running of the $70,000 Richmond Stakes Saturday, Sept. 19. The duo outlasted a late charge by race favorite Brean Can, who finished second in the 2008 edition of the Richmond, to win the one and one-sixteenth mile event by one length.
Cosme was alert early and got Classic Ramona out to an early lead, sitting comfortable through the first turn of the event. Brean Can, guided by Rodney Prescott, sat closely in stalking position the entire route, just waiting for Classic Ramona to lose momentum. However, Classic Ramona never showed any signs of weakening.
In the stretch, Brean Can came up beside Classic Ramona for a head to head battle to the wire. But Classic Ramona would not relinquish her lead, getting the best of Brean Can in the final strides to win her second race over Hoosier Park’s oval. Racey Gracey and Alberto Pusac came up for third.
“She (Classic Ramona) slowed down a little bit on the backside,” said Cosme. “When she got passed by the other horse (Brean Can), that’s when she picked it up. She didn’t switch leads until late in the stretch, but she raced really good all the way through the wire. It’s a nice opportunity to ride a filly like this.”
Classic Ramona won her second race of 2009 in six starts for trainer David Paulus. She was making her first start since July at Indiana Downs.
Owned and bred by Larry Dean of southern Indiana, Classic Ramona now has more than $120,000 in career earnings. The other Hoosier Park win for the four-year-old daughter of Crown Ambassador was taken as a two-year-old in the $45,000 Indiana Stallion Stakes.
Dean is no stranger to the winner’s circle at Hoosier Park. The longtime owner and breeder in the state also experienced success with Ramona’s Rose, Classic Ramona’s mother. Ramona’s Rose won the $100,000 Miss Indiana in 2000. Paulus also trained Ramona’s Rose.
