Robert Scarborough’s 5-year-old mare Mauralakana slipped through a narrow seam between horses to score trainer Christophe Clement a sixth career victory in Saturday’s $100,000 The Very One Handicap (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

The race was originally scheduled to be run at 1 3/8^th miles but rains earlier in the morning left the course ‘yielding’ and necessitated a change in distance to 1 1/8^th miles.

It meant for a blanket finish, with Mauralakana and jockey Rene Douglas sliding past Helen Groves’ Tejida in the final 50 yards to post the victory by a neck in 1:49.94. It was another head to Bee Charmer Inc.’s Herboriste.

Mauralakana is a French-bred daughter of Muhtathir. She was making her first start this year after a sixth-place finish in the Yellow Ribbon (G1) at Santa Anita last Sept. 29. She paid $8.40 as the second-choice in the nine-horse field.

It was the second straight year Clement won the race, after Royal Highness scored in 2007. His previous winners were in 2002 with Moon Queen, 2001 with Innuendo, 1999 with Delilah and 1998 with Shemozzle.

Winning Jockey Quotes

Rene Douglas:

“I wasn’t concerned when I got stuck behind horses.  As a rider you have to be confident.  I just had to ride my race.  When you ride on the grass you have to have patience.  I knew the horse in front of me (Eclisse) would hang, because the form has shown that she does that, so I didn’t want to get stuck behind her.  I knew that the pace was slow but I wasn’t worried because the horse I was on is very good.  It’s very nice getting to ride for Christophe (Clement).”

Winning Trainer Quote

Christophe Clement:

“We got pretty lucky. I had thought that her best distance was a mile-and-a-quarter, so the change in distance was not too big a concern. She’s a good filly. She had a good year last year with (former trainer) Patrick Biancone. She did what good horses do. We will likely look at the Orchid (Handicap (G3), March 30) even though it is at a mile-and-a-half. We don’t have much of a choice right now.”

Fractions: