Mocha Express Fourth

Horse racing

Littlebitlively held off 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet down the stretch Sunday to win the $250,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park for the second straight year.

Mocha Express, trained by Cheney High grad Tim Harder, ran an even fourth for Spokane owners Roger and Orene Harder and Mary Dodd. A 5-year-old, Mocha Express earned $13,500 to push his lifetime earnings to more than $571,000.

Carrying high weight of 123 pounds, seven more than Littlebitlively, Mocha Express broke fifth in the field of eight, moved to fourth at the half-mile mark but was unable to close.

Littlebitlively set the pace, was caught by 2-5 favorite Real Quiet at the head of the stretch but battled back under Carlos Gonzales to win by a neck.

It was the shortest race for Real Quiet, who has never won at a distance of less than 1-1/16 miles.

Julie Krone, who retired after the day’s racing, finished third on Allen’s Oop. Krone, the winningest female jockey and the only one to take a Triple Crown race, went out with three winners. That gave her 3,546 in 18 years.

The 35-year-old Krone rode in 20,475 races. Her biggest victory came in the 1993 Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair. She ranked 16th on the career earnings list with more than $81 million.

Krone said she’ll ride jumper horses and “sleep in for about two years.”

Lexington Stakes

Charismatic blew by Yankee Victor in the final furlong and solidified a Kentucky Derby trip by winning the $325,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes in Lexington, Ky.

Charismatic was third behind Yankee Victor and pacesetter Texas Glitter around the second turn. Charismatic surged past Yankee Victor, drawing away for a 2-1/2-length victory in the last major Kentucky Derby prep race.

Charismatic, a 12-1 shot, ran the 1-1/16 miles in a stakes-record 1:41.06.