In her third race since relocating from England last year, Swettenham Stud's Lady Lara claimed her first graded stakes in the $300,000 Honey Fox March 28 at Gulfstream Park.
The Excellent Art filly, off at 9-2, closed from seventh in the field of nine older fillies and mares to catch Sandiva in the final yards to win by a head, running the mile in 1:34.03 on a turf course rated firm.
The hard-driving closer has placed race she's entered stateside, including a victory in the Pebbles Stakes at Belmont Park in her U.S. debut Oct. 13. Junior Alvarado, who was aboard for the Bill Mott-trained 4-year-old filly in that win, was also in the irons for Saturday's Honey Fox. In between the two wins, the Irish-bred closed from a distant 13th to cross the wire second in the Mrs. Revere at Churchill Downs.
"The first time I rode her at Belmont, she showed a lot of class and I knew she could compete with good fillies here in the United States," Alvarado said of Lady Lara, who won a minor stakes at Newbury in 2014 and placed in four other stakes in England, including group events at Doncaster and York. "Today, she was the main reason for me to come here. We got a good trip, I was saving all the ground I could, and as soon as (I got) to the five-sixteenth (pole), I was ready to make a move and I asked her, and she was there for me."
Lady Lara sat eight lengths back when early pacesetter Istanford ran the first quarter-mile in :23.59 seconds, then moved up four lengths when the leader covered the half in :47.31 seconds. She continued improving after six furlongs in 1:10.60, then surged between Sandiva and third-place finisher Coffee Clique to capture the victory.
Lady Lara paid $11.60, $5.20, and $3.20 across the board for the minor upset. Sandiva, who had a length lead at the top of the stretch when Istanford faded, delivered $3.60 and $2.60. Coffee Clique, favored at 2-1, returned $2.40 to show.
Bred in Ireland by the Shanty Syndicate from Selkirk mare Shanty, Lady Lara increased her career earnings to $458,503 and improved to 4-3-3 from 16 starts.
Baffle Me rallied to take fourth place, followed by Kitty Wine, Marbre Rose, Lori's Store, Party Now, and Istanford.