Multiple stakes winner Bella Vita (Bayern) was second behind champion Gamine (Into Mischief) in the July 5 GII Great Lady M S. at Los Alamitos and comes into the Keeneland January sale off a runner-up effort in the Dec. 4 GIII Go For Wand H. for owner Kaleem Shah and trainer Simon Callaghan. Her 2021 campaign also included wins in the Betty Grable S. at Del Mar in November and in the Spring Fever S. at Santa Anita in February.

“Obviously you have to make a profit in this business, that was one of the driving points to put her in the sale, but I am not driven to sell her,” Shah said of Bella Vita's engagement next Tuesday at Keeneland. “If she brings a fair price, we will sell her and wish the new connections well.”

Bella Vita, who has hit the board in 11 of 14 starts with four wins and earnings of $396,722, is consigned as hip 462 with Eaton Sales.

A $400,000 OBS April purchase in 2019, the 5-year-old is out of the unraced Queenie Cat (Storm Cat), who is half-sister to champion Vindication (Seattle Slew) and to graded winner Scipion (A.P. Indy).

“Her mamma was a very expensive mare, a $1.7-million [2005 Keeneland September] yearling, and in the second and third dams there is a champion and lots of graded stakes winners,” Shah said. “She has a strong, deep female family and that will be attractive to buyers. It looks like the market has been strong and this mare should be very attractive to people who want to race and then to breed her at some point.”

Trainer and co-owner James Chapman was able to acquire Saucy Lady T (Tonalist) for just $5,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The filly was third in three graded events at Saratoga last summer and has earned $146,500 to date. She will head through the Keeneland January sales ring  next Tuesday from the Stuart Morris consignment as hip 848.

“She was in the November sale and she had dinged her eye, so we scratched her,” Chapman said of the decision to offer the now 3-year-old in the January sale.

Saucy Lady T is out of graded placed Fila Primera (War Front) and her third dam is Promenade Colony (Pleasant Colony), who produced graded winner Promenade Girl. It is the family of Cavorting and her daughter Clairiere.

“She was a big, stretchy, good-looking filly. She looked like what I would buy,” Chapman said of his bargain yearling purchase. “I don't know why she cost that really. She was maybe a little bigger and clumsier looking than most of them. She wasn't something to flip back as a 2-year-old, so you lost all those guys, and Tonalist was cold at the time, so you lost those guys.”

Saucy Lady T broke her maiden by five lengths going five furlongs at Belmont Apr. 25 and then went on to finish third in the July 15 GIII Schuylerville S., Aug. 8 GII Adirondack S., and again in the Sept. 5 GI Spinaway S.

“She shouldn't have even run at two. She was bred to run long,” Chapman said of those early efforts. “I let them do it as long as they'll do it without being asked and she kept doing it. So she was in my first group to run. I had 50 of them that year and she was the best of the class.”

Saucy Lady T has been off since finishing fifth in the GI Frizette S. last October.

“I've had her with me at Belmont,” Chapman said. “I just gave her some time off because we didn't take her to the Breeders' Cup. She needed a break, so I could have a fresh horse for her 3-year-old year.”

Chapman expects potential buyers will have plenty to look forward to this year with the filly.

“She'll be a very nice 3-year-old,” he said. “She still has her non-winners of two condition and then it's up to them what they want to do with her.”

Should Saucy Lady T fail to meet her reserve, Chapman already has a plan mapped out for the filly.

“If I were still to have her, she would run in an a-other-than and then she would run in the filly stakes at Turfway, the Bourbonette, and then she would go in the Ashland and the Kentucky Oaks. And that's what she will do if they don't pay for her.”

Stakes-winning Miss Bigly (Gemologist), coming off a pair of third-place efforts against graded company in California, is consigned to the January sale as hip 221 with Taylor Made Sales Agency, but the 5-year-old mare's participation in Monday's first  session of the auction will be determined Saturday in Arkansas when she goes postward in the Pippin S. at Oaklawn Park.

“The outcome of that race will determine whether she is in the sale or an out,” co-owner Mark Martinez of Agave Racing Stable said.

Agave Racing acquired Miss Bigly privately in 2020 and the mare has hit the board in nine of 10 starts for the partnership of Agave and Rockin Robin.

“We always felt like we could go to California and potentially run her in a graded stakes race and get her decorated up with a 'G' or two and we were able to accomplish that,” Martinez said. “You can see we ran her at probably five or six different tracks over a six-month period, so she logged more frequent miles than I did. But she answered the bell. We've run her 10 times and in every dirt race she's run for us, she's hit the board.”

Miss Bigly won the Tranquility Lake S. at Del Mar in August before third-place efforts in the Oct. 3 GII Zenyatta S. at Santa Anita and in the Nov. 29 GIII Chilukki S. at Churchill Downs Nov. 20.

“We had her in the November sale just to keep our options open,” Martinez said. “She ran well in those two graded stakes races, so we opted to move her to January. If she keeps running well, we will keep campaigning her and getting her decorated up, if we can. We will shift her to next November and if something were to happen, hypothetically, in March, we would consider putting her in foal and selling her in foal instead of selling her open in November if we elect to campaign her. We are just keeping options open more than anything.”

Miss Bigly is out of Miss Puzzle (Aus) (Citidancer) and she is a half-sister to Grade I winner Fashion Plate (Old Fashioned), a pedigree and a physical that should appeal to buyers.

“The buyers would be interested in her because she is a big, good-looking 16.1 every bit of physical, attractive filly and she has a rich bottom side pedigree,” he said.

Miss Bigly is 5-2 on the morning line for Saturday's one-mile Pippin S. for trainer Phil D'Amato.

“You like to sell them at five, but she isn't a graded stakes winner, so our thought is, if she can win a graded stakes, she would be worth more at six as a graded stakes winner than she is at five without winning a graded stakes,” Martinez explained.

Other Book 1 racing or broodmare prospects who enter the Keeneland January with graded placings in 2021 include Ego Trip (Ire) (No Nay Never) (hip 113), who was third in the GII Lake Placid S. at Saratoga in August. The 4-year-old is consigned by Hunter Valley Farm.

Portal Creek (Shanghai Bobby) (hip 271), a 6-year-old consigned by Elite, was second in the GIII Distaff H. at Aqueduct in April. Elite also consigns the 4-year-old Flown (Kitten's Joy) (hip 417), who was third in the GIII Regret S. and GIII Pucker Up S. last summer.

The 6-year-old On Deck (First Samurai), consigned by Taylor Made as hip 430B, was runner-up in the Oct. 3 GIII Chillingworth S., while Honor Way (Caleb's Posse) (hip 581), consigned by Paramount Sales, was second behind Paris Lights (Curlin) and Portal Creek in the GIII Distaff.

The Keeneland January sale begins Monday and continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

The post Fillies Bring the Graded Type to Keeneland January appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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A wire-to-wire winner of the Go for Wand, Lady Rocket set quick fractions with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard, coasting through an opening quarter in :23.22 and a half-mile in :46.54. Geared down in the final sixteenth, Lady Rocket crossed the wire nine lengths the better of Bella Vita in second, stopping the clock in 1:36.52. She earned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure for her impressive effort.

Racing at a mile for the first time in the Go for Wand, going longer was a question for the 4-year-old filly, who had to dig down and fend off a late bid from Glass Ceiling to win her division of the seven-furlong Pumpkin Pie at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., by a neck in her last start.

With her hard-earned Pumpkin Pie victory in mind, Fletcher, who co-owns the daughter of Tale of the Cat with Ten Strike Racing, said he watched the Go for Wand with bated breath.

“I was really nervous because of the mile,” Fletcher said. “Her best distance was seven furlongs coming into this race and that was a really close race. We were scared to death of the mile. When she won as well as she did, we were shocked and surprised. I'm very pleased with how she ran. We watched it on the TV dumbfounded.”

With her first graded stakes victory now on her resume, Lady Rocket will be given time off to prepare for her 2022 campaign. Both Fletcher and trainer Brad Cox hope her performance Saturday is the start of a successful journey to Grade 1 glory.

“She'll be at Belmont for a bit before getting some time off,” Fletcher said. “Brad [Cox] said he thinks she needs a little break; she's been racing once a month for a while. She'll be on the farm for two or three months and then we'll point her to a Grade 1. She's becoming a lot stronger and is finding a new gear. I think she could even go beyond a mile now seeing how well she handled it.”

Along with Lady Rocket, Fletcher also owns multiple graded stakes winner Frank's Rockette and G3 winner Candy Man Rocket, who are both stabled with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Frank's Rockette, who finished third in the listed Dream Supreme at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., in her last start on November 13, has now joined Mott's Florida string of horses after spending the fall in Kentucky.

“She was training at Churchill and is in Florida right now,” Fletcher said of the Into Mischief mare. “We'll point her to a nice race there. She came out of her last race well.”

Candy Man Rocket made an appearance on the road to the Kentucky Derby this spring when he won the G3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs in Tampa, Fla., and finished off the board in the G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct.

Away from the races since a runner-up effort in the six-furlong Gold Fever at Belmont in May, the 3-year-old son of Candy Ride is working his way back to a campaign that will see him sprinting going forward.

“He's down at Payson Park (in Indiantown, Fla.) right now working on getting his feet a little better,” Fletcher said. “We found out in his last race that he didn't want to go long. He ran a great race at six furlongs and got caught at the wire. We think he'll be hard to beat at the sprint distance. He'll come back in a race down in Florida; we aren't sure where yet.”

As for next year's Kentucky Derby hopefuls, Fletcher shared his excitement for recent maiden special weight winner Rocket Dawg, who was a debut winner going seven furlongs at Churchill on November 19 by 5 ½ lengths. After flashing his talent in his debut, a step up to graded stakes company could be in the Classic Empire colt's future.

“He was very impressive in that debut. He's got a ton of potential and we're excited about him,” Fletcher said. “We'll run him back in an allowance and if he can hold the form from his maiden win in allowance company, we'll point him to the Southwest at Oaklawn. We think he'll do well.”

Rocket One, another impressive maiden winner for Fletcher this fall, will be returning to turf after giving the dirt a try with a pair of sixth-place finishes in the G2 Castle and Key Bourbon at Churchill on October 10 and an optional claimer in his most recent start on November 27.

A 1 ½ length winner of a maiden special weight at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., in his third career start, Fletcher said switching back to the turf makes the most sense for the 2-year-old Into Mischief colt.

“He's down at Payson Park right now and we'll get him back on the grass at Gulfstream Park this winter,” Fletcher said. “He showed us his potential and talent in that turf maiden and we know that's where he wants to be. I would like to have dirt horses since I prefer to run at Oaklawn, but I also want to win. So we'll get him where he needs to be to win.”

J L's Rockette, who finished seventh in the G2 Adirondack at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and ninth in the Ainsworth at Kentucky Downs in her last start on September 12, will be turned out and freshened for a few months before making her return to the races.

The post Lady Rocket Gets Freshening After Go For Wand Win Saturday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In the Cal-bred only stakes, Big Sweep got out to an early lead, with Fi Fi Pharoah and favorite Bella Vita pressing the pace. Through early fractions of :23.20 for the first quarter and :46.17 for the half-mile, Big Sweep maintained a short lead, as Bella Vita moved up to second approaching the far turn.

Bella Vita and jockey Flavien Prat pulled even with Big Sweep on the turn, taking over the lead as the field entered the stretch. At the wire, Bella Vita was 1 1/2 lengths to the good, with Warren's Showtime making her bad late to take second over Big Sweep.

The final time for the seven furlongs was 1:22.23. Find this race's chart here.

Bella Vita paid $3.20, $2.20, and $2.10. Warren's Showtime paid $3.00 and $2.20. Big Sweep paid $2.40.

“We had a good trip. I got a good spot and we were able to move when it was right. She ran well and we finished up well,” Prat said after the race.

“Nice bookends to the weekend. (Callaghan-trained Astronomer was a $62.60 winner in Friday's $150,000 Qatar Golden Mile). The two horses ran well. This looked like a good opportunity (for Bella Vita) back on dirt. She's definitely a dirt filly. We tried turf last time because it was a restricted Cal-bred race but she shows she's a decent dirt filly and this was a good spot for her,” Simon Callaghan told the Del Mar press office after the Betty Grable.

Bred in California by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings Inc., Bella Vita is by Bayern out of the Storm Cat mare Queenie Cat. Trained by Simon Callaghan, the 4-year-old filly is owned by Kaleem Shah Inc. Bella Vita was consigned by Harris Training Center and sold to KSI for $400,000 at the April 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sale Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds In Training. With her win in the Betty Grable, the filly has three wins in nine starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of 13-4-5-1 and career earnings of $346,722.

The post Bella Vita Gets Easy Win In Betty Grable At Del Mar appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Breaking like a rocket from her outside post position, Leggs Galore opened up a four- length cushion after the first quarter mile and it was readily apparent no one was capable of pressuring her, thus assuring the brilliantly fast grey her second consecutive stakes win over the course in what may've been her best effort to date.

“This race, she really started to remind me of Enola Gray (a California-bred gray that was a multiple stakes winner on turf and a winner of the 2017 Irish O'Brien) the way she won today,” said D'Amato, who notched his meet-leading 10th stakes victory.  “I gave Ricky the option.  I just told him to play the break, if they wanted to come get her she could rate, she's done it before, but I mean she broke like a rocket and there was no looking back.”

A handy winner of the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint on Jan. 16, Leggs Galore was off as the 6-5 favorite in a field of seven older fillies and mares bred or sired in California and she paid $4.60, $2.60 and $2.20.

“She's just so special, she's so fast and talented,” said Gonzalez, who has now ridden her to four consecutive wins.  “Phil said she's rated before, so I had options but the way she broke there was only one way, just keep going.  She was so relaxed, she was looking around, her ears were pricked, just having fun out there.  I was just a happy passenger.”

Out of the Indian Charlie mare Cashing Tickets, Leggs Galore is now unbeaten in five turf starts from seven overall races.  With today's winner's share of $60,000, she increased her earnings to $262,208.

In what amounted to a separate race, Bella Vita, who was third around the turn, drove up the rail in a solid effort for second money, finishing 2 ¼ lengths in front of Sadie Bluegrass.  The second choice at 8-5 with Flavien Prat, Bella Vita paid $2.60 and $2.20.

A non-threatening second into and around the turn, Sadie Bluegrass held third by a head over Nardini.  Based at Golden Gate Fields, Sadie Bluegrass was ridden by Brayan Pena and paid $3.40 to show while off at 5-1.

The Irish O'Brien gave Gonzalez a riding double and D'Amato picked up his 21st overall win, putting him third in the standings, one behind Bob Baffert and Peter Miller.

Fractions on the race were 21.94, 44.37 and 56.08.

The Irish O'Brien is part of the lucrative Golden State Series.  Sponsored by the CTBA, the Golden State Series is for eligible California-bred or sired horses.

The post Shades Of Enola Gray: Leggs Galore Speeds To Irish O’Brien Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Breaking alertly from her outside post position, Bella Vita looked to be in control the entire trip, as she sat a measured fourth, about two lengths off the lead 3 ½ furlongs from home.  With Square Peggy rushing up on her outside, Bella Vita shifted out and in an eye-catching move, collared her rival approaching the quarter pole and drew off to win in-hand with her ears pricked.

“One thing about this filly, she's very tractable,” said Callaghan.  “(Prat) said she's very push button.  You can put her wherever you want, and I think when you have that tactical speed but you relax, it's nice for the jockeys so they can put her wherever she wants (to be).”

A close second in the six-furlong Evening Jewel Stakes May 16, Bella Vita was pounded down to 1-5 and paid $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10.

“Bayern certainly brings back lots of memories and this filly, she was bred by John Sikura and I'm so happy for John,” said Shah, who ponied up $400,000 to purchase Bella Vita out of a 2-year-olds in training sale in April of 2019.  “I hope that this filly, along with many other progenies of Bayern, go on to bigger and better things.”

A runaway 5 ½-furlong turf maiden winner in her second start on Feb. 16, 2020, Bella Vita, who is out of the Storm Cat mare Queenie Cat, is now 5-2-2-1 and with the winner's share of $60,000, increased her earnings to $146,996.

Ridden by Alexis Centeno for Doug O'Neill, She's a Dime was second best, finishing 1 ¾ lengths in front of longshot Dr Wysong.  Off at 8-1, She's a Dime paid $4.40 and $2.80.

Off at 22-1, Dr Wysong rallied wideout under Abel Cedillo and paid $4.40 to show while finishing 1 ½ lengths in front of Cassie Belle.

Fractions on the race were 22.70, 45.91 and 57.95.

Sponsored by the CTBA, the Spring Fever is part of the CTBA's Golden State Series, for eligible California-bred or sired runners.

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