Peppers Pride, trained by Joel Marr, extended her unbeaten winning streak to 15 races with a 1 1/4-length victory in the $100,000 Sydney Valentini Handicap at Sunland Park Racetrack, on Sunday.
Ridden by Carlos Madeira, Peppers Pride wore down her rivals and powered through the stretch of the one mile feature for New Mexico-bred fillies and mares. Carrying high weight of 125 pounds, the 5-year-old Desert God daughter stalked her opponents around the first turn and made her move in the final quarter mile. Her winner’s take of $60,000 went to owner Joseph Allen of Abilene, Texas.
With lifetime earnings of more than $816,000 from a perfect 15-race career, Peppers Pride has moved to within one victory of the all-time Thoroughbred record of 16 consecutive wins held by Cigar, Citation, Mister Frisky (Puerto Rico and North America) and Hallowed Dreams, and her next race is certain to attract national attention.
Got Country Grip broke an all-time Quarter and Paint horse record for consecutive wins from starts with his 15th victory last November, in the G1 Olympia Joe Paint & Appaloosa Handicap at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie. Quarter racing’s Josie’s Bar, Destiny Drummer and Pies Royal Request had previously earned 14 wins in a row but lost in their fifteenth start.