Ron Correll
Senior columnist

ARCADIA, Calif., — Maram needed a photo, but she prevailed over a fast-closing Heart Shaped to win the one-mile Juvenile Fillies Turf on Saturday at Santa Anita Park. The 2-year-old daughter of Sahm was sitting in midpack early as Laragh was showing the way through the first quarter in :22.53 seconds over a firm turf course.

Laragh had company from Renda and C Karma, but she opened her margin to two lengths when she hit the half-mile mark in :45.82 seconds. She still was having her way at the three-eighths pole in 1:10.10, but Renda and C Karma were closing in.

Maram improved her position rounding the second turn and flew by the leaders at the top of the stretch. But she wasn’t home free and Heart Shaped was mounting a charge down the center of the track.

Jockey Jose Lezcano was all over Maram urging her to the finish. John Murtagh had Heart Shaped in high gear, but Maram found the wire and stopped the timer in 1:35.15, less than a head in front. Laragh hung on for third and Saucey Evening closed up late to grab fourth.

Lezcano was confident during the race. “She broke good. I put her right inside. I had to wait a little bit, when I got out, I said, ‘I got a good chance in the race.’ She came running, she kicked. When I asked her, I saw the other horse (Heart Shaped), and I said, ‘I got it.’

“It was my first ride in the Breeders’ Cup. I’m only four years in this country. It’s good for me to win a Breeders’ Cup. It’s unbelievable.”

Trainer Chad Brown was on another planet after the race. “It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe it. My grandfather passed last Tuesday and they told me they were going to lay him to rest today. And I couldn’t be there, and I knew it meant we were going to win. She didn’t get the respect she deserved because I ran her for a tag the first time. But it really doesn’t matter; the numbers said she was good enough. The two guys I worked for (Shug McGaughey and Bobby Frankel) told me she belonged, and I think she belonged, and she did.

 “I didn’t know about the Europeans. But after working for the guys I worked for, I was around so many good horses that I knew what they looked like. So when I got one or two good ones in the barn, I started to match them up against horses I had been around, and she matched up against some good 2-year-old grass fillies Bob (Frankel) used to have, so I put her in that category and I trained her like that.”

Murtagh couldn’t complain about the race. “I had a good trip. I followed the winner all the way around. When she (Maram) made her run, so did I. But it took my filly a few strides to find her best. When she did, she was really rolling. One more bounce and we were there.”

Trainer Aidan O’Brien was pleased with second. “She ran a great race, absolutely. We always thought she was a nice filly. I thought Johnny gave her a brilliant ride. She was closing all the time and she’s a filly who has only been running five and six furlongs. She’s a filly to look forward to next year now with this race.”

Edgar Prado, who was on Laragh, couldn’t get his filly to settle early. “I wished I could have gotten her to go a little slower for the first half, but she was keen today.  She was on the bit all the way.  I wished I could have nursed her along a little better, but she was too good to go.”

Laragh’s trainer John Terranova agreed with Prado. “Up the backstretch, she had a little trouble settling and relaxing. She was coming back in just 15 days and had been a little sharp. She’s kind of tough to handle when she doesn’t relax. But she’s a nice filly, and she’ll learn. We’ll probably freshen her a little for next season. She’s a nice big-framed filly, and we’ll let her fill out and come back as a 3-year-old.”