Just like the fine wine she is named for, Clairiere gets better with age.
The Stonestreet Stables homebred Clairiere, whom Barbara Banke named after the lush pinot noir produced at one of the 40 wineries she owns in the Jackson Family Wines portfolio, on Saturday won the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps for the second straight year with a courageous late rally to get up just in time.
“We've been very blessed to have her and have had extraordinary fillies and mares like [Champions] Rachel Alexandra, Untapable and Midnight Bisou over the years, but you cannot compare racehorses because what defines them is how they step up to their competition and who they are on the racetrack,” Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen said of the 5-year-old mare. “The uniqueness about Clairiere is her pedigree. For her to win the Ogden Phipps two years in a row, and that being a race that her mother Cavorting won [2016], wow. The uniqueness of that speaks volumes.”
Clairiere is by Curlin, whom Asmussen trained to back-to-back Horse of the Year Honors in 2007-08.
“What Curlin represents in horse racing, the durability and the excellence is unmatched. It's impossible for me to put into words what Curlin means to me,” he said. “It's all in the family, absolutely. It makes it that much more special.”
Asmussen said the long-term goal is to bring Clairiere back to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff in November at Santa Anita, which she qualified for with the Phipps win through the “Win and You're In” Challenge series, in hopes of improving upon her third-place finish behind eventual Champion Older Dirt Female Malathaat last year.
The mid-range goal is the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign on August 25 at Saratoga, a race in which she ran fifth to Malathaat last year.
The short-term plan has yet to be formulated.
“I would expect her to have another run before the Personal Ensign. I will discuss it with Barbara and the whole Stonestreet team once we get her moved to Saratoga and into her regular training regimen we will make that decision,” said Asmussen, who reported that the mare was came back from her race in fine form.
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