Filimbi wins Goldikova Stakes on closing day of Santa Anita fall meet
Filimbi rallied eight horses wide turning for home to win the $200,000 Goldikova Stakes by 1-1/4 lengths Sunday on closing day of the autumn meet at Santa Anita.
Ridden by Joel Rosario, Filimbi ran a mile on the turf in 1:34.13 and paid $5.20, $3.20 and $2.60 as the 8-5 favorite in the field of eight fillies and mares.
Emotional Kitten finished second, but after a steward's inquiry she was disqualified from second to fourth, while I'm Already Sexy, who finished fourth, was DQ'd from fourth to fifth for bumping incidents late in the stretch.
Strathnaver was elevated to second and Wall of Sound was placed third.
Filimbi was last along the rail going into the far turn when she swung out leaving the quarter pole and made her big run.
''She broke well and I could see that everybody else was sending their horse, trying to get a position early, so I just let her stay happy where she was at,'' Rosario said. ''I know she has a good finish so I waited and when I asked her, she was there for me. She responded really well.''
The victory, worth $120,000, increased Filimbi's career earnings to $386,263, with six wins in 13 starts.
Hall of Famer Bob Baffert won three races Sunday to finish with 14 victories, edging Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and Leandro Mora, who had 13 each, for the trainers' title. It was Baffert's 30th such title in Southern California.
Rafael Bejarano won the jockeys' title with 28 victories, six more than runner-up Joe Talamo. It was Bejarano's 20th title in the region.
