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Sesamoid fracture keeps River's Prayer from Eclipse Award

River’s Prayer, who was stabled at the San Luis Rey Downs Thoroughbred Training Center and bred by Vessels Stallion Farm, was nominated for horse racing’s Eclipse Award as the top Female Sprinter of 2007, but the fractured sesamoid bone which kept her out of the Breeders’ Cup likely also cost her the award which went to Maryfield during the January 21 ceremony in Beverly Hills.

“We were a little disappointed. There were a lot of people who were very supportive of her receiving it,” said Paula Capestro, who trained River’s Prayer and was a part-owner of the filly.

“Everything seems to be predicated upon who wins the Breeders’ Cup,” Capestro said. “It appears that whoever wins a Breeders’ Cup race wins the award.”

River’s Prayer was undefeated in five races in 2007. She won the Irish O’Brien Stakes at Santa Anita in March, the Grade III Las Cienegas Handicap at Santa Anita in April, the Great Lady Handicap at Hollywood Park in June, the Grade I Princess Rooney Handicap at Miami’s Calder track July 7, and the Grade III Rancho Bernardo Handicap at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club August 17.

The Princess Rooney Handicap was the first Grade I stakes win for River’s Prayer and had a total purse of $500,000. “She won that against some of the best fillies in the nation, including Maryfield,” Capestro said.

River’s Prayer won the 6 1/2-furlong Rancho Bernardo Handicap with a time of 1:17:85, which set a record for all horses at that distance on Del Mar’s new Polytrack surface. “I think that she looked good coming into the race for the Breeders’ Cup,” Capestro said. “I don’t know if there’s anything this filly could have done better.”

Selection for the Breeders’ Cup races is determined by winnings in graded stakes races during the year. Capestro planned to race River’s Prayer in the six-furlong Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint which took place October 26 at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.

During an October 7 workout at Hollywood Park, River’s Prayer fractured her sesamoid bone. That injury ended her racing career, and she was sold for $1.5 million to Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables. “She is a phenomenal horse and I think she’ll be a phenomenal broodmare as well,” Capestro said.

Over her career River’s Prayer won nine of 16 races and had lifetime earnings of $921,957. “It’s just disappointing to have an injury like that,” Capestro said.

River’s Prayer was foaled on February 26, 2003. Her sire was Devon Lane and her dam was Cozzy Flyer. BC Thoroughbreds purchased River’s Prayer from Vessels Stallion Farm as a yearling for the price of $15,000. Capestro and her husband, Andy, were part of a group who purchased River’s Prayer from BC Thoroughbreds for $250,000; the ownership also included the Dallas-based Martin Racing Stable and the Bantry Farms ownership of Pasadena’s Jim and Michael Ewing.

River’s Prayer won her first two races, both at Hollywood Park in 2005, before finishing second in the ungraded Landaluce Stakes that year in Hollywood Park. She had led for most of the six-furlong Landaluce Stakes before finishing second by three-quarters of a length.

Her first Grade I stakes race was the Del Mar Debutante in 2005, in which she finished third. She then was shipped to Belmont Park for the Grade I Matron stakes race, where she finished fifth.

River’s Prayer ran one more race in 2005 before a nine-month layup. She returned to win the Fleet Treat stakes at Del Mar in July 2006. She also won the Cal Cup Dash in October 2006 at Santa Anita but finished last in both in the Grade I Matriarch Stakes at Hollywood Park in November and the Grade I La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita the following month. The La Brea Stakes turned out to be the final loss for River’s Prayer.

Although River’s Prayer didn’t compete in the critical race, she still earned a nomination for an Eclipse Award. “It’s an honor to be nominated. It truly is,” Capestro said.

The Eclipse Award nomination was the first for Capestro. “The Eclipse Awards were just beautifully done,” she said. “I think it’s a wonderful event.”

Capestro also received moral support at the banquet even though that didn’t translate into the award. “There were a lot of people that were very supportive of the filly,” she said. “They felt that she was the Sprinter of the Year as far as they were concerned.”

Capestro doubts that the muddy conditions of Monmouth Park that weekend would have hindered the chances of River’s Prayer. “She ran over a muddy track at Calder and got across it fine,” Capestro said.

Capestro came to the banquet realizing that Maryfield would likely end up with the award due to her Breeders’ Cup win. “The Eclipse Awards are so predictable,” Capestro said.

Two horses who were sent to San Luis Rey Downs for early training, Aftermarket and Idiot Proof, also received Eclipse Award category nominations.

Capestro added one more stakes win to her barn’s total November 10 when Tissy Fit, a five-year-old gelding, won the Tanforan Stakes at Golden Gate Fields. “We have some good horses coming up,” she said.

Capestro acknowledges that matching the success of River’s Prayer will be difficult. “We were very blessed and fortunate to have that opportunity,” she said.

 

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