(Stilettos steps in and out to win the Ellis Park Debutante Stakes on Sunday / All photos by Holly M. Smith)

From Ellis Park Media Team / Kevin Kerstein:

TEXAS-BORN STILETTOS WIN IN A NEW CLASS THE DEBUTANT RACE GAME AT ELLIS PARK

Collinsworth Thoroughbred Run’s Texas-bred Stilettos strutted down the home stretch to win by 1 ½ lengths in the seventh Ellis Park Debutante, presented by the Hudson Family, on Sunday. The race carries a purse of $129,505.

Trained by Bret CalhounTwo-year-old Stilettos impressed on her debut at Lone Star, winning by 16 ¾ lengths. After that start, Stilettos was taken to Calhoun’s base in Kentucky to prepare for debut at Ellis Park. She was ridden on Sunday by Brian Hernandez Jr. and the duo completed the seven furlong distance in 1:25.14.

After a sharp start, Stilettos took an early lead, where they Rich city girlthrough a quarter mile in :22.65 and a half mile in :45.51. In the home stretch, Stilettos began to pull away from Rich City Girl under the confident urging of Hernandez.

“She won in her debut in Texas and that was so impressive,” Hernandez said. “You don’t see a horse that wins by 16 lengths and doesn’t have talent. My mare did everything so easily on the turn. I watched Rich City Girl on our inside and she didn’t move as smoothly on the turn. My mare got a little nervous on the home stretch, but that’s probably because it was only her second time racing. But she did it all on her own.”

Stilettos earned $8.10, $3.54 and $3.26 for her victory in the Ellis Park Debutante, finishing 2-1 runner-up to 9-5 Rich City Girl.

“This mare has shown pretty well in the mornings in Texas,” Calhoun said. “The Collingsworths are from Texas and we decided to debut her at Lone Star. You never really know who they’re going to beat in these races, but since she’s been in Kentucky she’s gotten bigger and stronger. I told Brian she doesn’t have a lot of experience, but she’s worked quite a bit in company in the mornings. She took off like a rocket and we weren’t planning on leading. After she started so fast, Brian got her there and it really worked out. I can’t imagine why she can’t run as much in the future. She doesn’t seem to have a lot of distance limitations at this stage.”

Adeera came in third, 8 ½ lengths behind, followed by Baytown butterfly, Into the golden street, Run, Camila Run, American women And Woman Worldwide.