MAIDENS JUSTICE WINS LOST IN THE FOG STAKES
Maidens Justice, a maiden trained by Gil Matos, justified Matos’ faith in him by winning the $75,000 Lost in the Fog Stakes Sunday.
Ridden by Juan Ochoa, Maidens Justice squeezed between two horses (A K Racer and Conclusive) at the top of the stretch and went on to win the five-furlong race for
2-year-olds by 1 1/4 lengths in 58.71 seconds. Lightning Diablo took second by 1 1/4 lengths over Seismometer.
The stewards conducted an inquiry into the stretch run since Maidens Justice and Conclusive bumped twice in the lane. The stewards made no change in the order of finish, however, since tiring pacesetter A K Racer came in on Maidens Justice and caused the bumping.
“This horse doesn’t have any quit in him,” said Matos of Maidens Justice. “He’ll run through a fence. It looked like there was a lot of speed in the race so we took a shot and he got there.”
When asked about the inquiry, the portly Matos said, “For a fat man, that’s not good. It almost gave me a heart attack.”
Maidens Justice, who finished second in his first two starts, paid $24.00 after breaking his maiden in the Lost in the Fog. Owned by M. A. Douzos and Sandra Matos, Maidens Justice earned $45,000.