Fast Market Gets Up Late to Win Pebbles Stakes

Jockey Flavien Prat continued his run of success in New York when he completed a sweep of the day's stakes races at Aqueduct Racetrack by piloting Hit The Bid Racing Stable's favored Fast Market to victory in the rescheduled $175,000 Pebbles Stakes (G3T) Nov. 23. Prat announced in September he would ride full-time in New York this winter. He ended up with five wins on Sunday's card and currently holds a sizable lead in the Aqueduct fall meet jockey standings with 31 wins as of the conclusion of racing Sunday. “It’s been a very good week,” said Prat, who also guided Oversubscribed (GB) to capture the $150,000 Forever Together Stakes earlier on the card. “I was riding good horses all week long and they responded properly. It’s been good so far. Hopefully the momentum stays as long as it can.” The Pebbles Stakes saw Fast Market settle near the back of the pack in the 1 1/16-mile race with Love You Anyway leading the way through fractions of :24.28, :49.12, and 1:13.11. Fast Market made her move going wide at the top of the lane, running down the leaders to win by 1 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:43.22. "She's just a very nice filly," winning trainer John Terranova II said. "She finally put it all together her last few starts and it's more of the same. She's just getting better and better. She's a later foal, so she took a little while for us to figure out, but we finally got it all right and she's been real consistent, and we can't wait for next season." Bregman Family Racing's Love You Anyway held on for second with Full of Run Racing Two and Frank Silva's Sweet Treasure getting up for third. "I was traveling good and she gave me a good turn-of-foot," Prat said of Fast Market. "I thought when I got clear that she was going to get there, and then the horse in front (Love You Anyway) kind of shifted out and she looked at her a little bit, but then she regrouped and went on. She's very handy and does everything right." Fast Market broke her maiden in September in her ninth career start and came into the race Sunday off a game effort in the Oct. 18 Sands Point Stakes (G2T), where she finished a neck behind the winner Ready for Candy. "I knew when she walked on the track she was ready," Terranova said. "She's so switched off and kind and classy. She is so nice to be around. She's let us get away with quite a bit—we've sprinted her, done dirt and turf. She did have a few decent races on the dirt and she's a big, strong filly, but she just took a little while for us to figure it all out." Terranova added the filly will more than likely have the winter off and come back for a spring campaign. Fast Market paid $5.08 to win. The 3-year-old daughter of Volatile was bred in Kentucky by Breed First. She was a $210,000 yearling purchase by Elena Racing at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. In 2024, owners Hit The Bid Racing secured the filly for $350,000 at the Ocala Breeders' June 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale.