Meneses learns a lesson with Amber Princess: put her on the lead

In her first nine career starts in Florida dating back to October, Amber Princess had just a single “1” listed on any of her past performance lines. The daughter of Amira’s Prince was first by a head at Gulfstream West after an initial quarter run in a snail’s pace :25.17 in start No. 2 in November. However, by the time they dawdled to the half, the 2-year-old filly bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon had already dropped back to third.

In those nine starts, the best Amber Princess could muster up was three fourth-place finishes.

But a funny thing happened at Gulfstream Park yesterday in Amber Princesses’ 10th try. Marco Meneses, who had been aboard the filly more than once previously, actually took her to the lead – and she stayed there – at odds of 36-1. As the saying goes, “Amber Princess made every pole a winning one,” rating well along the inside and breaking her maiden by one-half length in 1:39.52 for the mile.

Amber Princess became winner No. 8 for Amira’s Prince this year despite the stallion having just 16 runners thus far. She lit up the tote board at $75.60, collected a check for $9,000 and added to the unbelievable string of breeders’ awards earned by the Barbazons in the past three weeks.