Photo: Photo of Santa Anita/Benoit
Firenze Flavor The victory came with a three-way photo finish on Sunday. Honeymoon Stakes And Santa Anita.
Riding on the Drayden Van Dyke, Firenze Flavor made the stakes debut of trainer Patrick Gallagher in the 1 1/8 mile turf event for the 3-year-old Phillies.
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Firenze Flavor (7-1) beat runner-up Miso Phansy (5-1) with the nose with his favorite jungle piece 6-5.
The three horses were virtually unable to separate on a $10,000 honeymoon stakes (G3) wire @SantaNitaparkhowever, the photo showed the Firenze flavor ($17.40) above! This is the first grade victory of 3yo Filly @lanesendfarms‘Liam’s Map. Patrick Gallagher Train, @draydenv above. pic.twitter.com/e6sco1myb
– Fanduel Racing (@fanduel_racing) May 18, 2025
Pacesetter Jungle Peace went 3-3 in the US for trainer Phil D’Amato, but never raced for two turns. She went to the lead as expected, setting a fraction of 23.84, 48.10, 1:11.72 for 6 furlongs.
The Jungle Piece continued to show a path to stretching, maintaining a 1 1/2 length advantage at the eighth pole achieved at 1:37.08. However, she couldn’t hold back a pair of closers.
Firenze Flavor raced in parallel while directly outside with Miso Phansy, using one final surge near the wire to get upset.
“I think we should come more for her, but we need to go to Lenscrafter first,” Gallagher said. “I thought she ended up in third place.”
Firenze Flavor, homebreed for ODA Racing and Us Equine, won by an hour of 1:49.91.
For Van Dyke, who returned full-time to Santa Anita last month, it was his first time riding on his Florence flavour.
“My main thing was getting along with her,” Van Dyke said. “She likes to throw her head when I saw it from previous races and watch her in the morning. If you’re fighting her, she likes to throw it down, so I was trying to get along with her as much as I could.
“I was a little worried. She was trying to kick for me and avoid (taste o fansy) inside me.
Firenze Flavor broke the maiden on the second start on January 20th, bringing it to a mile on Santa Anita lawn. She then ran the Clanker on February 11th when she last finished with the first level allowance on a mile of the Turf. However, last time on April 25, she rebounded well when she rallied into a half-length victory to clear her first-level allowance conditions on a mile on the grass.
“We’ve always loved fillies,” Gallagher said.
Firenze Flavor paid $17.40, $5.80 and $3.60. Taste o Fansy, which Hector Bellios rode for trainer Leonard Powell, returned $4.80 and $3.20. Jungle Piece, jockey Umberto Rispoli, who won Saturday’s Preakness, paid $2.40 for trainer Fild Damato.
