FIRST SAMURAI’s Winning Romance added a second stakes victory to her record on Sunday when the 4-year-old won the Shantel Lanerie Memorial Stakes at the Fair Grounds.
The one-mile dirt race saw Deshawn Parker settle Winning Romance less than a length behind Spirited Beauty. She didn’t let up the pressure on the leader all the way around with the third-place horse running just a length behind the duo.
Racing down the backstretch four wide, Winning Romance moved in a path around the turn as she poured the pressure on even more as she challenged for the lead. Spirited Beauty gave in at that point and Winning Romance spent the stretch without a worry of being caught as she motored off to win by four lengths at the line.
A homebred for Allied Racing Stable, Winning Romance is trained by Bret Calhoun and has placed in the top three in 10 of 14 starts for $217,446 in earnings.
Winning Romance is one of two stakes performers for the FLATTER mare Lipstick Junky, who is a two-time winning daughter of stakes winner In Rome.
FIRST SAMURAI bred to FLATTER mares is quickly proving to be a successful cross with five winners from six to race, led by Winning Romance. Only one of those five winners has less than two wins with the two-time winner being a 3-year-old filly.