Indy Princess Koko was the worst . . . and then she was first

The explosion heard after the seventh race became official at Thistledown yesterday occurred just after Indy Princess Koko’s win price appeared on the tote board – $102.60.

The 5-year-old daughter of Amira’s Prince had just completed a monster stretch run, the kind that usually elicits what most track announcers like to call “from last to first.” Thistledown’s veteran race caller, Matt Hooks, dubbed it “from worst to first.”

Indy Princess Koko broke from the No. 1 post with Luis Rivera in the $16,000 claimer at six furlongs, and eased back to ninth in the nine-horse field. On the turn, she was a good 10 lengths from the leaders, when Rivera swung her five or six wide and she closed like an express train in mid-track, getting up to win by half a length in 1:12.26.

The mare bred by Jeannine Strauss McGinn earned a check for $10,800, increasing her career total to $51,122 on a record of 5-2-5 in 22 starts. It was her first victory of 2022 in five tries.