Thomas Brockley and Daryn Bedinotti's 2-year-old filly Brocknardini, who impressed earning her first stakes victory in Saturday's $150,000 Selima at Laurel Park, will be pointed to a potential start in the Breeders' Cup, trainer George Weaver said.
Brocknardini rolled to a popular 2¼-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Selima for juvenile fillies, which in 2019 produced subsequent Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner Sharing, who went on to win the Edgewood (G2) and Tepin in 2020 and retire a millionaire.
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf will be run Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.
“I'll run her in the Breeders' Cup, if she can get in,” Weaver said of Brocknardini. “I don't know if she'll get in, but if she were to draw in I'll run her. Why not? There's a lot to gain and not a lot to lose.”
Under a patient ride in her third start and first under jockey Joe Rocco Jr., Brocknardini rated two wide while racing in fifth behind dirt stakes winner Carmelina, who was making her turf debut. Rocco tipped Brocknardini further out to launch her bid, surged to the lead in midstretch, and drew off under a hand ride to win in 1:47.45 over a turf course rated good.
It was reminiscent of Brocknardini's Aug. 16 debut going the same distance at Saratoga, where she took a commanding lead at the top of the stretch and cruised home a 4¾-length winner against fellow New York-breds. The effort earned her a trip to Woodbine for the one-mile Natalma (G1) Sept. 16, only to encounter a nightmarish trip after a belated start.
“I was glad to see her get back to what we thought first time out,” the New York-based Weaver said. “She showed promise the first time out at Saratoga, then went over to Woodbine and didn't really adjust well to the one turn.
“I know [Saturday's] race was a little easier, but she just didn't run her race at Woodbine,” he added. “It was great to see her come back, and I thought she won pretty stylishly.”
Brocknardini's victory continued to stellar year for Weaver, now 16-for-44 with 2-year-olds including 13-for-30 on the grass. Tops among them are three-time stakes winner No Nay Mets and Crimson Advocate, winner of the Queen Mary (G2) in June at Royal Ascot.
By Palace Malice out of the Bernardini mare Broad Stripes, Brocknardini fetched $35,000 during Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in training at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium May 22.
Weaver was proud of the effort put forth by Brocknardini, who had all of her timed breezes at Saratoga and was coming back just 14 days following the Natalma.
“It's like a stock price. After she ran at Woodbine her stock went down, so we had to try to do something to get it back up,” Weaver said. “She delivered for us.”
Trainer Arnaud Delacour indicated following Saturday's $150,000 Laurel Futurity that Mark Grier's Air Recruit is also likely to be pointed to California for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) Nov. 3 following his 5½-length victory.
It was the first stakes win for Air Recruit, who stretched out around two turns for the first time after capturing his Aug. 5 unveiling by 1 ¼ lengths and running third behind No Nay Mets in the Sept. 9 Rosie's, both sprinting 5 ½ furlongs at Colonial Downs.
Both Shards and Cigale, who respectively ran second and third to Air Recruit in the maiden special weight, came back to win their next starts.
“You always wonder about the quality of the horses you beat when you break your maiden because there's a lot of 2-year-olds in North America,” Delacour said. “You always retrospectively find out what you have, as far as form, two or three months down the road. But it's obviously solid, which is great.”
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