Sean Flanagan sent Kingfisher Farm’s Maya Charli to the lead at the start of the $50,000 Georgia Cup for fillies and mares on Saturday, and they never looked back in scoring an easy seven-length feature of the Atlanta Steeplechase in Kingston, Ga., on Saturday, April 13. Clarke Ohrstrom’s Kisser N Run finished second, and Gregory Hawkins’ The Grey Express was four lengths farther back in third. Flying Friskie finished fourth in a field of seven.
Trained by owner Jack Fisher, who reigned as 2012’s champion trainer, Maya Charli has shown her best while on the lead. She won a maiden claimer on the front end at the Radnor Hunt Races on May 17 and came back in a week to take the Valentine Memorial for fillies and mares after setting all the pace at the Fair Hill Races in Maryland. She subsequently was unplaced in two stakes races for fillies and mares at Saratoga Race Course in August.
Maya Charli, a six-year-old Cozzene mare, ran the Georgia Cup’s two miles in 3:39.20 on firm turf.
Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard and jockey Darren Nagle continued their domination of the spring season with another double, winning a $25,000 Sport of Kings maiden hurdle with Bill Pape’s Martini Brother, and Pape’s Powerofone took a $30,000 optional allowance.