Happy Mesa became Sky Mesa’s eighth stakes winner of 2016 when the 2-year-old filly came from last to first in the Laurel Park stretch to score by 2 1/4-lengths in the $75,000 Selima S.
The 2-year-old filly was in the back of the eight-horse field until the top of the stretch, when Sheldon Russell swung her extremely wide, where she gobbled up the ground with incredible swiftness, rolling by the field to stop the timer in 1:02.22 for the 5 1/2-furlongs on the firm turf.
“I worked her several times on the grass and she looked like a little different horse on the turf than she was on the dirt,” said trainer Hamilton Smith. “The owners and I would both have rather had an allowance race first, but we didn’t have any coming up so we just took a shot.”
Happy Mesa, who broke her maiden first out Aug. 14 at Laurel, is now 2-for-2 and has earned $63,810 for owners Jerry Romans, Charlie Spiring and Zoom and Fish Stable.
