Trainer Rodolphe Brisset has a plan for Tsunebumi and Sekie Yoshihara's homebred Yuugiri and so far, that plan has worked to perfection after she moved to 2 for 2 this season at Oaklawn with a sharp victory in the Carousel Stakes for older females at six furlongs Feb. 25.
Brisset was using the Carousel as Yuugiri's audition for the Madison Stakes (G1) at seven furlongs April 8 at Keeneland. Yuugiri passed the test, earning high marks from Brisset for her push-button style in a 3½-length victory over the speedy Pretty Birdie.
Yuugiri, who was ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., dueled early with Pretty Birdie on the inside, dropped back on the turn, then ranged up on the outside turning for home. Yuugiri drew abreast of Pretty Birdie in midstretch and was pulling away at the finish. Favored Yuugiri covered the distance in 1:10.17 over a sloppy track.
“They ran :44 (for a half-mile) and he decided to take her back a little bit, gave her a breather and she re-engaged,” Brisset said. “We know she knows how to dig in. She won at a mile and a sixteenth. I told him, Ricardo, that it was up to him if he wanted to keep ding-donging all the way around. I would have been OK with that. At some point, somebody's got to give up and she likes a dogfight. She carried her speed going two turns last year, so I think seven furlongs, at some point, is going to be very dangerous for the others because she's got that speed to clear the field and she can dig in going further.”
The Carousel marked Yuugiri's third victory in four career starts at Oaklawn. She won the Fantasy Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles last April and her Dec. 30 allowance comeback sprinting. Yuugiri is 3 for 3 in her career sprinting (all at six furlongs) and will remain around one turn this year, Brisset said, in pursuit of a Grade 1 victory to enhance her broodmare value.
“It (Carousel) just confirmed what we knew,” Brisset said. “Obviously, she's fast enough to sprint six furlongs, but I think seven furlongs can be even better.”
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