Ashley Herriman
NYRA/Aqueduct Racetrack

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It was déjà vu in the $65,000 Broadway Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack Sunday afternoon, with Lights Off Annie leading the field of New York-bred fillies and mares from gate to wire – just like last year.

Breaking sharply from the inside post, the 5-year-old daughter of Freud found herself on an uncontested lead through early fractions of 22.71 and 45.92 and was able to hold off the late-charging Sapphire Sky to win by a half-length.

Her final time for the six furlongs over a muddy track was 1:10.91.

“The important thing was to break well, and then get good position, which we were able to do,” said winning jockey Fernando Jara.  “Around the three-eighths pole I was pretty confident because she had her ears up and pricked, like she was playing around. When I asked her, she responded pretty well. She liked the going out there.”

In 2009, Lights Off Annie found herself five lengths in front at the finish of the Broadway and today’s victory was her first trip back to the winner’s circle since winning the race last year, as well as her first start for new trainer Mike Hushion.

“She was on her game today,” said winning owner Mike Repole.  “She was coming off a good race and she loves the inner track.  I was surprised she was 6-to-1 because the way I looked at the race, she was definitely going to get out in front.  I don’t really think there’s a faster New York-bred filly out there as far as getting out of the gate through the first five furlongs.”

Lights Off Annie – named for Repole’s mother, who always encouraged him to turn the lights off when he left the room as a child – improved her record to 5-0-1 from eight starts with today’s win, and boosted her earnings to $167,671.

Sent off as the fourth choice in the field of six, Lights Off Annie returned $15.60 to her backers in the crowd of 3,297.

Favored Rightly So was third and Sorority Sister, Meese Rocks and Not a Peep completed the order of finish.  By the Light and What a Pear were scratched.

“We’re ecstatic about this one,” Repole said of Lights Off Annie’s winning effort.  “We’ll see how she comes out of it and think about her next start in a couple of weeks.”