Decketta Stakes

Sent to post as the 17-10 favorite in a field of nine distaffers, Curls Joyful Wagon responded with a wire-to-wire victory in Saturday's $56,160 Decketta Stakes (G2) at Remington Park.

Curls Joyful Wagon covered 350 yards in :17.292, a clocking aided by a reported 8-mph tail wind, and her winning margin was one length from 2-1 second choice First Time For Wine. John Stinebaugh trained and Ali Rivera rode the homebred 5-year-old PYC Paint Your Wagon mare for owner Martin Stacy of Irving, Texas.

Curls Joyful Wagon was shortening in distance off of her third-place finish, a head behind winner Rockin With Energy, in the January 5, 400-yard Charger Bar Stakes (G1) for fillies and mares at Los Alamitos. The mare was bred in Oklahoma, and she is out of Eye A Spit Curl Girl, a homebred multiple graded stakes winning Spit Curl Jess mare.

"She’s been a good one all along,” said Stinebaugh of Curls Joyful Wagon. “She should have made a lot more money than she has."

Curls Joyful Wagon was winning for the first time in four outs at the 350-yard trip. All told the mare has won eight of her 24 races, and the $34,424 winner's share of the purse from her second stakes victory and first graded stakes score increased her earnings to $386,730. In addition to being a finalist in the 2023 All American Oaks (G1) at Ruidoso Downs, the mare was a finalist in the '22 All American (G1), Rainbow (G1) , and Texas Classic (G1) futurities.

"(Curls Joyful Wagon) is a true professional in every way," said Rivera. "She’s great. Every time I’m on her, she takes me for a ride. I didn’t see anybody around her from 100 yards in."

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