Forgot to Stop

Last Saturday, No Use Denying (Maria's Mon) and Cherokee Queen (Cherokee Run) became stakes-winning mares while winning wire-to-wire in their respective contests.

No Use Denying graduated first. Originally carded for the turf, the John Rooney Memorial Stakes at Delaware was looking as tough as can be. Graded stakes winners and performers filled the $75,000 stakes. No Use Denying was in there fresh off her third level allowance score at Pimlico. Then the rain came. The turf fillies then scratched out like a lineup of Dominoes. With just three remaining when the gates opened, the 4-year-old pulled jockey Joe Rocco Jr. to the front and never looked back. She went on her own down the Delaware Park slop like she was flowing down Kirkwood highway in the flooded streets.

Shortly after, Cherokee Queen's race, the Possibly Perfect was also off the turf. However, this one was still on Arlington's unfazed synthetic surface; the big shooters were still running. On paper, the race had some accomplished fillies, but there was a common feature within the cast of performers. They all wanted no part of the pace. Neither had Cherokee Queen, until Saturday. Jockey Jesse Campbell shot Cherokee Queen out to the lead and wisely dropped the anchor immediately while setting snail-like fractions of 26.2, 52.4 and 1:17.3. The Mack Robinson homebred never looked back and was full of run, running by 5 1/2.

Congratulations to all connections.