Welcome back, Abby Fuller!
Abigail Fuller hinted back in May, after riding in the second annual Lady Legends for the Cure on Preakness Eve at Pimlico, that she was itching to be in the saddle once again. “It was cool, but it was over so fast,” Fuller said after finishing second aboard Stone in Love in a special race that brought together eight retired female jockeys to raise awareness and money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure fight against breast cancer.
Just over three months later, Fuller rode again, this time against the regular Calder jockey colony aboard A.J.'s Hot Mambo, a 3-year-old filly bred and owned by her father, Peter Fuller. Father and daughter most famously teamed up 26 years ago with Eclipse Award winner and Hall of Famer Mom's Command, a Top Command filly owned and bred by Peter Fuller and ridden to victories in the New York Filly Triple Crown by Abby Fuller.
A.J.'s Hot Mambo did one better than Fuller's runner-up effort in the Lady Legends for the Cure ride, coming from off the pace to win the $40,000 maiden claiming event by 1 3/4 lengths. Trained by Ron Gaffney, the daughter of Black Mambo – a half sister to Peter Fuller's multiple stakes-winning filly Trip for A.J. – was sent off at odds of 11-to-1.
Fuller, 52, was greeted by a host of friends and family in the Calder winner's circle. It was her first victory since retiring in 2002. Welcome back, Abby.
