Kentucky-bred And One More Time found another gear late to narrowly edge Vixen in winning the $500,000 Natalma Stakes (G1) at Woodbine on Saturday, Sept. 14. The Natalma is a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) to be run at Del Mar Nov. 1.
Ridden by Rafael Hernandez for trainer Mark Casse, And One More Time vied between runners down the backstretch. She hounded the pace from the outside, shifted four wide between foes at the furlong pole, and stayed on gamely through the lane. And One More Time inched away late to score by a neck, covering the one mile on turf in 1:33.99 for owner Live Oak Plantation.
“When I asked her down the lane, she didn’t care where she was,” shared Hernandez. “She just does her job, and she doesn’t get intimidated.”
Casse’s assistant trainer Kathryn Sullivan said of And One More Time, “(She has) a lot of heart. We knew from her race at Saratoga we had a special filly. But I think she really proved it today.”
Purchased by Live Oak Plantation for $750,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale, And One More Time was making just her third lifetime start in the Natalma. She broke her maiden at Saratoga in her previous start on Aug. 8. And One More Time is the first Grade 1 winner for her sire Omaha Beach. She is out of the Blame mare Complicated and was bred in Kentucky by William Harrigan and Mike Pietrangelo.