The filly that captured top honors at Del Mar in 2022 returns Opening Weekend, trying something new for the first time. And Tell Me Nolies, who was named top 2-year-old filly at the summer meet last year, returns to the seaside oval in the G2 San Clemente Saturday. It's the first graded stake of the meet, a one mile test on the grass for 3-year-old fillies.
And Tell Me Nolies broke her maiden at Del Mar last August and parlayed that into a breakout win in the G1 Debutante. She followed that with another impressive victory in the G1 Chandelier at Santa Anita, punching her ticket to the Breeders' Cup. The daughter of Arrogate ran eighth in the Juvenile Fillies.
She returned as a 3-year-old with runner-up finishes in the G3 Santa Ysabel and the G2 Santa Anita Oaks earning her a shot at the Kentucky Oaks. But the day before the race, she tossed her exercise rider and galloped through the stable area. She was unharmed and eventually made the race, but ran 12th.
And Tell Me Nolies returned to Southern California only to put in a head-scratching seventh in the G2 Summertime Oaks.
“She didn't run her race,” Miller says. “We don't know why. We gave her a little break after and she's doing very well. She worked really good the other day.”
He's referring to a 5-furlong work in 1:00.00 at San Luis Rey Downs last Saturday, third best out of 42 works at that distance that day. This will be her first stab at running on the grass.
“All the races here are really turf,” Miller explains when asked why he chose to switch surfaces. “They don't have any big 3-year old dirt races at Del Mar so your choice is to either run against older horses or try the grass. Her pedigree says she might handle the turf. Arrogate is by Unbridled Song and they like the grass.”
“We'll see what happens,” he continues. “If it goes well we'll look to the Del Mar Oaks and, if not, maybe the Torrey Pines.”
She'll have some stiff competition in the San Clemente starting with a pair of runners from the Philip D'Amato barn. Paris Secret won the G3 Providencia at Santa Anita in April before finishing third last out in the G3 Honeymoon behind Selenaia and Broadway Girls.
“That last race I threw her in there kind of happenstance,” D'Amato says. “I was going to wait for the San Clemente and I thought maybe I'd run her one more time. You can blame the trainer for that one.”
D'Amato has put the blinkers on Paris Secret and believes she's ready to run a big race. His other entry, Comanche Country is looking to rebound back into form. She won three straight races last year including the $100,000 Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar in September. The daughter of Highland Reel tried the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and finished seventh. She came back as a 3-year-old and ran second in the China Doll at Santa Anita but finished out of the money in her last two starts, both graded stakes.
“She was a little bit farther back than I liked,” D'Amato says of her last race in the Summertime Oaks. “She didn't show the interest she showed me as a 2-year-old so we added blinkers and I think she'll be more forwardly placed this time.”
Ancient Peace is trained by John Sadler. She was runner-up in the Summertime Oaks to Window Shopping. She broke her maiden at Santa Anita in December at the San Clemente distance and followed that with a six length victory in an off-the-turf entry level allowance.
Trainer Doug O'Neill brings Broadway Girls into the San Clemente off a runner-up finish in the Honeymoon, her best finish in five starts as a 3-year-old. The daughter of Army Mule broke her maiden and won the $100,000 Blue Norther as a 2-year-old.
Chismosa returns to Del Mar where she won twice during the summer meet last year. The Cal-bred daughter of Clubhouse Ride won the CTBA Stakes and the Generous Portion for trainer Rafael DeLeon. Most recently she finished second to the highly regarded Eda in the Great Lady M at Los Alamitos.
The 56th G2 San Clemente will go off as the ninth of 11 races Saturday. Estimated post time is 6 p.m.
Here's the field from the rail out with the jockeys: Flying Connection (Rene Diaz, 20-1); Ancient Piece (Tiago Pereira, 20-1); Anisette (Umberto Rispoli, 4-1); Delight (Joe Bravo, 5-1); And Tell Me Nolies (Antonio Fresu, 15-1); Spicybug (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1); Infinite Diamond (scratched); Paris Secret (Edwin Maldonado, 6-1); Ocean Club (Drayden Van Dyke, 15-1); Olivia Twist (Kyle Frey, 50-1); Wed (Juan Hernandez, 6-1); Comanche Country (Ramon Vasquez, 6-1); Fast And Shiny (Abel Cedillo, 20-1); The Wild Grazer (Hector Berrios, 15-1)and Broadway Girls (Giovanni Franco, 10-1). AE: Justique (Antonio Fresu, 5-1).
The post ‘Her Pedigree Says She Might Handle The Turf’: Grade 1 Winner On Dirt, And Tell Me Nolies Tries Grass In San Clemente appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
