Cee's Elegance & Valiant Wonder: California Gold Rush II

Sporting the same sire, owner, trainer and jockey combination as Breeders' Cup Champion Tiznow, 4-year-old Cee's Elegance went out and captured the Lakeview Thoroughbred Farm Stakes for her initial stakes win and looked every bit a champion while doing so.

Campaigned by the family of the late Cecilia Straub-Rubens, who bred this filly and Tiznow from Cee's Tizzy's (Harris Farms) 1997 foal crop, Cee's Elegance had "broken" her maiden via disqualification and had, therefore, never won a race on her own. The Jay Robbins trainee quickly set that record right with a gutsy one-length win over The Heebster in a time of 1:45 1/5 for 1 1/16 miles. The victory represented win number 7,001 for jockey Chris McCarron, who scored his milestone 7,000th aboard Spinelessjellyfish in the Khaled Stakes earlier on the Gold Rush card.

The Lakeview is the gray filly's latest stakes win so far, but she ran third behind another Cee's Tizzy filly, Cee Dreams, in the E. B. Johnston Stakes at Fairplex Park and placed in two optional claimers.

It had already been a busy year for Valiant Wonder when he faced nine opponents in the Merial Stakes on Gold Rush Day last year. Bred by Ron Gomez, the 4-year-old had started 2001 with two impressive wins and was claimed on both occasions. He found a home in Bill Spawr's red-hot barn in the latter, but was coming into the $70,000 Merial Stakes with three unplaced finishes.

Both he and Romanceishope were coming to Gold Rush Day from the same April 8 allowance race at Santa Anita. Romanceishope had won that contest and would also add the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes. Valiant Wonder was coming into his race off a fourth-place effort, but would redeem himself under Laffit Pincay Jr.

He had the lead from the break in the 1 1/16-mile contest and was hardly challenged thereafter, crossing the line 5 1/2 lengths in front of Cowboy Ballad in 1:43 flat.

Waingarth, the third-place finisher, went on to capture the Real Good Deal Stakes against Cal-breds at Del Mar. Valiant Wonder wound up back in claiming races and was tagged for a third time by Warren Stute for Francis Kellstrom. He finished the year at Bay Meadows.