Two-year-old MISSION OF JOY (ON) scored the first win of the 2022-2023 season for our Tampa Bay Downs barn today, breaking her maiden in her second start.

Ten fillies ran a mile on the turf in the maiden special weight event. Ridden by Antonio Gallardo, Mission of Joy (ON) stalked the pace in third throughout, gained ground in the stretch and went on to pull away to a four-length win.

The chestnut daughter of Kitten’s Joy was bred in Canada by perennial leading breeders Sam-Son Farm. She is out of the Smart Strike mare Smart Mission. She was purchased as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale in 2021 by Ryan Zabrowski, and runs for Ryan and Dan Zabrowski’s RyZan Sun Racing LLC. Congratulations to them on their filly’s first win!