Landed shows no sign of rust off the layoff to win Sunday’s Broadway at Aqueduct. Coglianese Photo.
Lael Stable’s Landed returned from a four-month layoff to pick up her third stakes victory in Sunday’s $125,000 Broadway for older New York-bred fillies and mares at Aqueduct.
Employing her successful front-running style under Frankie Pennington, Landed controlled the 7-furlong Broadway from the start and won by a length over the late-running Sweet Brown Sugar. Off since finishing third in an open allowance-optional going 9 furlongs October 23 at Keeneland, the 4-year-old daughter of Omaha Beach won in 1:24.78.
Trainer Wesley Ward prepped Landed for her return at his main Kentucky bases at Keeneland and Turfway Park.
“She’s a win machine, that filly,” Ward said. “She just keeps on winning. She kind of bounces out of there and if we can get there [to the front], then she just keeps running. She’s just a sweetheart of a filly to train. She does everything right and has no issues at all.
“She’s one of those horses that’s right up at the front of the stall ready to go. I had her at Keeneland pointing for this race from her last start and we just gave her some time off – meaning she was still in her stall, just backing off her a little. She was always up at the front of the stall saying, ‘I’m ready to go.’ She’s a really cool horse to be around.”
Sent off as the 5-2 second choice in the field of six behind, Landed and Pennington took control early out of the chute and led Speightful Lily and 2-1 favorite My Magic Wand through the opening quarter-mile in :23.17. Those three maintained that position to the half in :46.59, with Landed up by a half-length over Speightful Lily.
Landed cruised into the stretch, spurted away from those early challengers and opened up by 2 1/2 lengths in midstretch. Multiple stakes winner Sweet Brown Sugar and Lane Luzzi made a run at the leader late but couldn’t make the ground at the finish to be a clear second. Speightful Lily finished another 2 1/4 lengths back in third, followed by Caldwell Luvs Gold, Tough Street and My Magic Wand.
“She broke sharp. She was wanting to go, so I went ahead and let her go,” Pennington said. “It was just a waiting game with her. She ran very big off the layoff.
“She has natural speed, so I wanted to be forward anyways, but it just happened to work out perfectly for me. I can’t ask for anything else. I’ve been watching all day, and speed has been holding, but I’ve seen them come from a little off of it, too, so I saw she could run off the pace, too. She ran good from off of it in her first start, but with her natural speed and when she broke, since I had the opportunity to go on with the lead, I took it.”
Bred by Final Furlong Racing Stable and Maspeth Stable, Landed is a half-sister to New York-bred champion, multiple stakes winner and millionaire Venti Valentine out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Glory Gold. Landed improved to 5-for-8 with the victory and boosted her bankroll to $366,760.
Lael Stable purchased Landed for $500,000 out of the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings, making her the most expensive New York-bred of the sale.
Landed is the seventh foal out of Glory Gold, who was purchased by Final Furlong for $13,000 in foal to Venti Valentine at the 2018 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Glory Gold is also the dam of multiple stakes winner and $516,625-earner Espresso Shot, a $69,000 purchase by Final Furlong Racing out of the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale, and two other winners.
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