No wind, no rain, no summer storm was stopping Chop Chop from securing a first career stakes victory for herself and her freshman sire (by Quality Road) in the Aristocrat Gaming Juvenile Fillies S. She was also the second winner on the card for City of Light, following in the hoofsteps of impressive graduate Gaslight Dancer.
A stalk-and-pounce winner on debut at Ellis Park Aug. 14, Chop Chop rated kindly from third here and drafted into the turn behind a pair of dueling leaders through :24.11 and :49.99 splits. Shifting out and making a three-wide rally leaving the turn, she locked horns with Towhead as the fillies battled to the wire in the driving rain. Chop Chop was on the winning end of the bob as the pair nine lengths ahead of C C Cruise Control.
“We've always liked her a lot,” Cox said by phone. “We had a lot of confidence in her today. [Jockey] Reylu [Gutierrez] didn't have much experience there, but, hey, it worked out. He had a lot of confidence in the filly. He actually breezed her last week as well and thought that she was set up for a big effort and she gave us one.”
A half to one other to the races, Chop Chop is the first stakes horse for her young dam, a half-sister to GISW, and track-record setter Rail Trip (Jump Start). She has a yearling half-sister by Omaha Beach and a 2022 half-sister by Constitution. She went to Liam's Map for 2023. This is the female family of MGISW Palace Malice (Curlin) and GISP Justin Palace (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).
ARISTOCRAT GAMING JUVENILE FILLIES S., $500,000, Kentucky Downs, 9-3, 2yo, f, 1mT, 1:43.86, yl.
1–CHOP CHOP, 120, f, 2, by City of Light
1st Dam: Grand Sofia, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Sweet Trip, by Carson City
3rd Dam: Stellar Affair, by Skywalker
($230,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Selective, LLC; B-Cobra Farm & MRJ Thoroughbreds (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Reylu Gutierrez. $300,700. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $336,700.
2–Towhead, 118, f, 2, Malibu Moon–Smartly Agree, by Smart Strike. ($100,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Deuce Greathouse; B-DJ Stable, LLC (KY); T-Michael J. Maker. $97,000.
3–C C Cruise Control, 120, f, 2, Cross Traffic–Alpaca Fina, by Big Brown. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-David Menard (KY); T-Kenneth McPeek. $48,500.
Margins: NO, 9, 3/4. Odds: 4.11, 5.61, 7.86.
Also Ran: Knockyoursocksoff, Mustang Lady, Chiquita Mosca, Janis Joplin, Callie's Grit. Scratched: Up to Something.
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