Starlet Winner Eda Third G1 Winner of Year For Munnings
Munnings’ incredible year continued on Saturday when his talented juvenile daughter Eda (2f Munnings x Show Me, by Lemon Drop Kid) became his third Grade I winner of the year with a victory in the Starlet Stakes for Baoma Corp.
Stretching to 1 1/16 miles for the first time was a question mark for the Nathan McCauley-bred but Eda proved to be up for the task.
The juvenile shot out of the gate with her sprinter speed putting her just behind her stablemate in the early running. Under Juan Hernandez, Eda took a small lead down the backstretch when her cruising speed proved to be faster than the pace being set. The question of her stamina came as she raced around the turn and she left all in suspense when she let stakes placed Tonito’s grab a brief lead.
Eda wasn’t done yet and dug in to take back her advantage in the late stretch with Tonito’s fading away near the line. The stakes winning Cairo Memories came charging late but that one wasn’t enough for Eda, who won by half a length.
Trained by Bob Baffert, Eda is now the winner of four of her six starts – three of those victories coming in stakes – with a second in the Grade II Sorrento Stakes as well.
Always in demand, Eda was purchased for $240,000 at the Keeneland September Sales by Quarter Pole Enterprises from Paramount Sales’ consignment. She then went through the ring earlier this year at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds, where Donato Lanni purchased her from Eddie Woods for $550,000.
Eda is the first named foal for the winning Lemon Drop Kid mare Show Me, who is a half-sister to Grade III winner Aegean and stakes winner Light Bringer. The family also includes Grade II winner No Advantage and Grade III winner Sky Terrace.
Show Me returned to Munnings this year for a full sibling to Eda.
Now the sire of five Grade I winners, Munnings has seen two of those come from his current 2-year-old crop with Jack Christopher winning the Grade I Champagne Stakes in October. Eda is the 23rd graded stakes winner for her sire, who has nearly 9% stakes winners and 93 stakes performers.