It was an international double for SPUN TO RUN on Sunday when Straca won at Aqueduct and Henningsen won on debut in Japan.
Straca lined up for her third start later in the day at Aqueduct when going one mile on the dirt in a Maiden Special Weight for trainer David Duggan.
The filly was never far from the lead, shadowing the longtime leaders when racing just a length off a duel between the two front runners. Luis Rivera let her observe the battle until the quarter pole when he started encouraging her to do more.
Her jockey piloted her four wide coming into the stretch and by the furlong pole, Straca was in charge. She wasn’t going to slow down from there, pulling away to a 6 ¼ length win at the line. The third-place runner was well behind the runner-up when finishing 11 ¼ lengths behind Straca.
A $165,000 2-year-old purchase at OBS April this year by Clear Stars Stable, they are joined in her racing ownership by Mitre Box Stable and Big Toe Stables.
The Pioneer Ventures-bred is out of A Cut Ahead, who has produced four winners from five to race. The mare is a half-sister to the Grade III winner Bryan’s Jewel and to two stakes producers. They are out of a half-sister to champion Left Bank with the family also including Grade 1 winner Lucifer’s Stone.
Henningsen was the first of the duo to visit the winner’s circle with a victory in a seven-furlong race at Ohi in Japan.
Bred by Chad Frederick and Phoenix Farms and Racing, Henningsen is out of the Malibu Moon mare Malibu Mudslide. This is the third winner from three to race out of the two-time winner, who is a granddaughter of Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed Colonial Minstrel.