(July 10, 2004)- Berdelia closed determinedly down the middle of the track to take Saturday’s $125,000 fillies division of the Texas Stallion Stakes at Lone Star Park, completing a double of the meeting’s two juvenile filly stakes. The victory sets the stage for leading trainer Steve Asmussen to make history on Sunday’s closing day program, when a win by one of his four entrants in the Texas Stallion colts and geldings division would give him a clean sweep of the Spring Thoroughbred Season’s four 2-year-old stakes and set a new mark for overall stakes wins at one meeting with nine.

Berdelia, who went off as the slight 2-1 favorite, was ridden along two lengths behind the early pace of :21 3/5 for a quarter-mile set by Magnolia Belle. Coming into the stretch, Berdelia, last month’s Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Futurity winner, began to rally three-wide and had the leaders in her sights.

“They were going pretty good up front and we got to follow along there in about fifth or sixth, said Berdelia’s jockey Casey Lambert. “About the quarter-pole we angled out to the outside of them and she just kicked right on by.”

Rockin’ Kate, the 2-1 second choice, took the lead turning for home and looked to have a big shot at her first stakes win. She never kicked home in the stretch, however, and faded to finish fifth.

“I thought we were going to go by,” jockey Jeremy Beasley said. “I still think I had a lot of horse left at the end, but she just folded. I think it had a lot to do with the delay before the race and the horse getting loose. It just got her a little too wound up and she just got overheated. You can throw that race out.”

The Texas Stallion Stakes was delayed seven minutes after jockey Rita Helton opted not to ride longshot Super Expectations, who was subsequently scratched. The delay was also cited by trainer Bret Calhoun, whose filly Rockin Regent inched to the lead with a furlong to run but couldn’t hold off the winner.

“The delay at the gate hurt us, I’m sure,” Calhoun said. “Our filly used herself pretty good behind the gate. She’s a very nice filly, very game. She ran all she could run, she just used herself up a little bit behind the gate. It took some of her finish away from her.”

Rockin Regent finished ¾-lengths behind the winner. It was another length back to third-place filly Timber Jones, also trained by Asmussen. The order was completed by Teree’s Sister, Rockin’ Kate, Cents Who, Magnolia Belle and Magic Uno, who got loose before the race and was caught at the top of the seven-furlong chute.

Berdelia ran the 5 ½ furlongs over a “fast” track in 1:04.70, best of three runnings at the distance. The Wild Zone filly, owned by Ro Parra of Austin, paid $6.20 to win for a $2 wager. Berdelia is a virtual lock to be named Champion 2-Year-Old Filly when Lone Star Park announces its seasonal champions on Sunday.

“She’s not very big, but she has a lot of fight in her,” Lambert said of Berdelia. “She just keeps coming and coming and coming. That’s how it worked the last time and again today. She just wears them down and she’s still running at the end.”