TAMPA BAY, Florida (CMC);
JAMAICAN KIRK Ziadie is holding a narrow lead in the trainers' standings at Tampa Bay Downs after scoring one win on Friday afternoon's programme.
Ziadie's four-year-old filly Loves to Peak delivered a strong finishing burst to land the US$13,000 sixth race under jockey Jordan Charkoudian as the hot 7-to-5 favourite.
Charkoudian roused the filly approaching the first turn and although the front-running Straight Glitter (7-2) and Aliflash (7-1) gave resilient efforts in the last two furlongs, Loves to Peak was best at the finish with a determined run five wide in the six furlong sprint.
The winning time was one minute 12.32 seconds for owner Minnella Martin, giving Ziadie his 11th win of the season.
Straight Glitter held on for second, three-quarters-of-a-length behind, with Aliflash a further 1-1/2 lengths back in third.
Ronald Allen (10) and Gerald Bennett (9) are closest in the standings to Ziadie, who is the son of the Florida Hall of Fame trainer Ralph Ziadie.
The win by Loves to Peak was the eighth of the current meet for jockey Charkoudian, who is seventh in the championship table that has José Lezcano (26) as the runaway leader.
Lezcano is 14 wins ahead of joint second-placed TD Houghton and Juan Umana on 12 each.
Jamaican Winston Thompson, who landed a four-timer last week Saturday afternoon, is currently 13th with six wins.
