Bucchero fillies combine for healthy exacta at Horseshoe

It’s the season of Pleasant Acres exactas, and the latest one occurred at Horsehoe Indianapolis in a $38,000 allowance race at a mile and a sixteenth.

Barb’s Vortex went wire-to-wire under Fernando De La Cruz, scoring by six lengths for her second victory in a row. The Indiana-bred Bucchero filly owned and bred by Brian and Aaron Reed and Keith Wexler, earned a check for $22,800 and paid $20.40 as the first half of the exacta. Sharon’s Grey Hope, another daughter of Bucchero, came from behind with a strong run down the inside in the stretch and got up for second at the wire by a neck, collecting a check for $7,600.

The $2 exacta paid a healthy $108.

At Gulfstream Park, Neolithic has unveiled a promising candidate for the TDN “rising star” designation – the 2-year-old filly Great Venezuela. After finishing second and first in her first two tries, and receiving a ’93’ Equibase speed figure for the victory, she came back for her third foray and scored a 5 1/4-length victory in a $51,000 allowance optional claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs over the Tapeta course under Leonel Reyes.

Great Venezuela earned $31,300 for the most recent score, raising her total to $60,900 for owner/breeder Orlyana Farm. She sat a stalking second in the two path until they hit the top of the stretch, where she drew off with ease in 1:03.95.