My Jopia takes Statue of Liberty by a nose, giving Utopia second stakes winner

by Sarah Mace

My Jopia, a 3-year-old daughter of Utopia owned and bred by Robert D. Rosenthal and Bernice Waldbaum, gave her sire his second progeny stakes winner on Thursday when she survived a late challenge by Manero to win the Statue of Liberty division of the New York Stallion Stakes series by a nose at Saratoga Race Course.

A winner last out in her turf debut for trainer Dominick Schettino, a six-furlong entry-level state-bred allowance on April 29, My Jopia needed to prove on Thursday she successfully could go a route of ground in the one-mile Statue of Liberty, having tried to go long twice before on dirt without hitting the board. The chestnut filly went to the gate in the capable hands of Ramon Dominguez, aboard when she broke her maiden at Aqueduct last November and looking for his fourth winner on Thursday’s card.

Just before the start, the complexion of the race changed when favorite I Bet Toni Knows (Sunriver) was scratched after acting up at the gate, removing one of the key closers in a speed-filled contest that looked to set up nicely for a late runner.

Out of post four in good order, My Jopia, a stalker type, set up comfortably in second by the time the field entered the clubhouse turn, tracking 22-1 longshot Take It Inside. The pair raced one-two through three-quarters of a mile in 23.85, 48.21 and 1:12.66 over a “firm” turf course slightly softened up by a rainstorm earlier on the card.

Just before the quarter pole, My Jopia drew even with the leader, took charge around the furlong marker and kept to her task, just holding off a pair of strong finishers to her outside: Manero (Disco Rico), who missed the decision by a nose and Hlao Roo (Utopia), who finished a neck behind to get the show. The final time for the mile was 1:36.88.

After his fourth victory of the day, jockey Ramon Dominguez said, “I had a really great trip. I didn’t know how much speed was going to develop; on paper there was potential for a lot of speed. I just let her come away from there and she was comfortable laying second. Turning for home there was a little give in the ground from the rain. It seemed that she was getting tired, but she kept on fighting to the end.”

Winning trainer Dominick Schettino said of her time between starts, “She needed time for little problems. Nothing major, and we started pointing her to this race.”

As to the additional real estate, Schettino said, “[The mile distance] didn’t bother me. The [dam] only ran a couple times but she went long, and the grandmother went long.” He also noted that, weather-permitting, My Jopia would stay on grass in the future.

My Jopia (8-3-1-1), whose first stakes victory brings her earnings to $133,697, is one of five winners out of My Jodi Lynn (Defensive Play) bred by Robert D. Rosenthal, Ira Waldbaum, George Rosenthal and Laure Connelly. Her most accomplished sibling is J L Bernstein, by Bernstein, who won six times (twice on turf) and earned $181,926.

My Jopia’s sire, Japanese-bred Utopia, a three-time Grade 1 winner and Forty Niner’s all time leading money earner ($4,913,585), is currently New York’s leading second crop sire and twelfth in the national rankings. The 12-year-old chestnut stands at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds LLC[2] for $2,500.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2012/08/09/my-jopia-statue-of-liberty/

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