breeders' cup filly and mare sprint | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ce Ce, Smooth Like Strait Work Ahead Of Breeders’ Cup Tries

Two of trainer Michael McCarthy's major Breeders' Cup candidates, multiple Grade 1 winner Ce Ce and Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile winner Smooth Like Strait, moved closer to their goals Friday with four-furlong workouts at Sana Anita Park in Arcadia Calif., Ce Ce timed in :47.80 and Smooth Like Strait in :47.40.

They are being pointed to the Filly & Mare Sprint and the Mile, respectively.

“They'll have two more breezes before the Breeders' Cup,” McCarthy said. “We're on course.”

McCarthy plans to retain their regular riders, Victor Espinoza and Umberto Rispoli, for the Breeders' Cup races.

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Ce Ce Cuts Back to Earn Breeders’ Cup Berth

Southern California-based Ce Ce ventured all the way to Florida to stamp her ticket to the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint back at Del Mar. A winner of both the GI Beholder Mile and GI Apple Blossom H. last term, the homebred went winless for the rest of the season, including when fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff Nov. 7. She cut back and gained some confidence with an Apr. 17 optional claiming win going this distance at Santa Anita, but could only manage fourth–again around two turns–in that venue's GII Santa Maria S. May 22.

Unhurried in midpack between rivals early, the chestnut split foes to make a move inside of slow-starting favorite Estilo Talentoso as they stacked up four across the track. Ce Ce leveled off well after switching leads, and cruised away convincingly from there.

“She's pretty impressive. She loves this track, it's a little different than what she's been running at,” winning rider Victor Espinoza said. “Today, she ran her race. They were rolling, the ones in front of me. I know they're going to get tired turning for home, so I just gave her enough time to split the horses.”

Trainer Michael McCarthy has had past success shipping to Gulfstream–he took the 2019 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. with City of Light (Quality Road), and was third in that event this year with Independence Hall (Constitution).

“I thought we were in a good spot,” McCarthy said from Los Alamitos. “I was hoping to have a bit of a target to run at. I told Victor not to get in a hurry and not rush her out of there and ride her where she was comfortable. We were hoping for a nice stalking trip, and that we did. Around the turn it looked like we had plenty of run. It was just a matter of trying to get outside and finding our best stride, and we did that today.”

He continued, “I thought she was overlooked last year. She won two Grade I races back-to-back. After that we just couldn't find a track that was suitable for her. She was running on tracks in California that were a little bit deep and a little bit loose. She wants one that is a bit firmer and faster, and we found that today.”

McCarthy said he'd map out a plan for his charge after getting her back to California and seeing how she exits Saturday's effort.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
PRINCESS ROONEY INVITATIONAL S.-GII, $350,000, Gulfstream, 7-3, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 1:21.94, ft.
1–CE CE, 126, m, 5, by Elusive Quality
                1st Dam: Miss Houdini (GISW, $187,600), by Belong to Me
                2nd Dam: Magical Maiden, by Lord Avie
                3rd Dam: Gils Magic, by Magesterial
O/B-Bo Hirsch LLC (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy; J-Victor
Espinoza. $197,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 13-6-1-2,
$1,113,100. *1/2 to Papa Clem (Smart Strike), MGSW & GISP,
$1,121,190. Werk Nick Rating: C+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Estilo Talentoso, 122, f, 4, Maclean's Music–Bazinga Baby, by
Afleet Alex. ($77,000 Ylg '18 FTKOCT; $95,000 RNA 2yo '19
OBSAPR; $15,000 2yo '19 OBSOPN). O-Medallion Racing, Barry
Fowler, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Little Red Feather Racing &
BlackRidge Stables LLC; B-Mile High Bloodstock LLC (KY);
T-Juan Arriagada. $64,000.
3–Sound Machine, 120, f, 4, Into Mischief–Ava Pie, by Distorted
Humor. ($500,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-e Five Racing
Thoroughbreds; B-Farm III Enterprises (FL); T-Saffie A. Joseph,
Jr. $34,500.
Margins: 3 1/4, HD, 3HF. Odds: 2.70, 1.20, 22.10.
Also Ran: Hallawallah, Pacific Gale, Laura's Light, Heiressall, Thissmytime. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Ce Ce is one of 56 graded winners for the late Elusive Quality, and one of 28 graded winners (seven Grade I) for Belong to Me as a broodmare sire. She is one of three highest-level winners by sons of Gone West out of Belong to Me mares–the other two, Jersey Town and Mozu Superflare, are both by Speightstown.

Ce Ce's dam Miss Houdini was also a Bo Hirsch homebred, and annexed the 2002 GI Del Mar Debutante before later producing GII Arkansas Derby and GII San Fernando S. winner Papa Clem. Her 2-year-old colt now named Native Thunder (American Pharoah) was a $200,000 KEESEP buy by Lazy F Ranch. Miss Houdini was subsequently barren to Street Sense and last visited Midnight Lute, though a 2021 foal has not yet been registered.

Second dam Magical Maiden was just a $26,000 2-year-old purchase by Hirsch's father Clement and would go on to take a pair of Grade I races and earn more than $900,000 before being sold for $400,000.

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Gamine Sets Track Record In Breeders’ Cup Filly And Mare Sprint

A roller-coaster season for Gamine hit its highest point yet on Saturday when the filly set a new Keeneland track record for seven furlongs in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

The 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief went against the playbook on Saturday, leaving the gate quickly, but allowing Serengeti Empress to assume the lead early on. For the first time in Gamine's six career starts, she did not have the lead after the opening quarter-mile or half-mile, which Serengeti Empress clocked in :21.77 seconds and :44.27 seconds respectively.

Gamine sat on Serengeti Empress' outside hip through the turn, got within a half-length at the quarter pole, and drew even with the leader with three-sixteenths remaining. Serengeti Empress, making her final career start, fought valiantly, but jockey John Velazquez found another gear aboard Gamine, and the filly carried on through the stretch with minimal serious urging.

Gamine crossed the wire effortlessly, 6 1/4 lengths ahead of a fading Serengeti Empress, who held on to second by a nose over Bell's The One. The winner paid $4.20 to win as a heavy favorite.

The winning time for the seven-furlong race was 1:20.20 over a fast Keeneland main track, eclipsing the mark of 1:21.32 set by Taris when she won the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes on Oct. 18, 2014.

Gamine marked the the 17th Breeders' Cup victory for Velazquez. She was 16th for trainer Bob Baffert. The filly races for Denmark-born owner Michael Lund Petersen, who bought her for $1.8 million at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale.

Though her campaign has been highly successful in 2020 – the Filly and Mare Sprint was her third Grade 1 victory this season – it has also been bogged in controversy, following a pair of positive drug tests.

Gamine was disqualified from an Oaklawn Park optional claiming race on May 20 – a race she won by a neck – after testing positive for lidocaine, a substance used by veterinarians during lameness examinations to “block” or numb a horse's limbs. It's also commonly found in ointments and analgesic treatments and patches to alleviate pain in humans. Baffert's attorney argued that the presence of the substance in tests was caused by a patch worn by a member of the trainer's staff suffering back pain. Baffert trainee Charlatan, the winner of the G1 Arkansas Derby on the same day, also forfeited his victory for a lidocaine positive.

In September, Gamine tested positive for betamethasone, a corticosteroid, following the G1 Kentucky Oaks, where she finished third. A ruling has not yet been made, pending the result of a split sample.

Bred in Kentucky by Grace Thoroughbred Holdings, Gamine is out of the stakes-placed Kafwain mare Peggy Jane.

To view the race's full chart, click here.

Winning trainer Bob Baffert (Gamine) – “That's the baddest b**** in the land right there! I knew (Serengeti Empress) was going to go and I told Johnny if you get separation to get to the outside. She is doing as well as she did when she won the Acorn. She is just brilliant. She is the fastest filly going one turn I've ever trained. I wanted it bad for her. What she's gone through. She deserved it. Of all my races, this meant the most to me.”

Winning jockey John Velazquez (Gamine) – “We knew that other horse would come out running, but I didn't want to give it up too easy. I wanted to make him [Luis Saez] work a little harder. Once he passed me, I came off the rail and even then I didn't get want to give it to him that easy either. I made sure I put a little pressure on because I know that filly is really tough on the lead. I made sure I was close to him. When I asked my filly, she was there for me.”

Second-place trainer Tom Amoss (Serengeti Empress) – “We just got outrun. There's no secret to it. We just got flat outrun. Gamine turned in a spectacular performance, but I'm still so very proud of my filly. Being second-best today is no disgrace, not by a longshot. My girl was a winner a long time ago before this race.”

Second-place jockey Luis Saez (Serengeti Empress) – “I had a pretty good trip. I put her on the lead and she was pretty comfortable. When the other filly came to her she fought, but the winner is a very good filly.”

Third-place trainer Neil Pessin (Bell's the One) – “They didn't go, that was the problem. Gamine took off Serengeti which was a smart thing to do on her part. It was a slow pace for this type of race, the way the track is playing today. But my filly ran her eyeballs out. Very proud of her. Another jump and she would have been second.”

Third-place jockey Corey Lanerie (Bell's the One) – “She ran great. I actually thought I was second. Hat's off to the winner. She beat us today fair and square. My filly showed up like she always does, and she gave me everything she had. I was a little wider than I wanted, but I knew I couldn't get stopped. If I have to check any, my chances were done. So, I put her out in the clear, and we were coming but just weren't good enough today.”

Fourth-place trainer Greg Foley (Sconsin) – “She's a good filly and running against the best in the world. It is a shame she got beat a half-length for second. I thought we were going to be second and then we got zapped for third the last jump. Serengeti Empress got to laying on us a little bit while our filly was running up the fence. She got a good ride and it was just a shame we weren't second or third. The fractions set up great for us (with the leaders) going fast which we figured they would. She ran her race and I am proud of her.”

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Filly & Mare Sprint: Come Dancing Ready For Her ‘Swan Song’

Blue Devil Racing Stable's Come Dancing, a five-time graded stakes winner, on Sunday breezed three-eighths of a mile in :36 and galloped out a half-mile in :48 on a fast track at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., in her final work prior to a second run in the $1-million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) on Saturday.

“The clockers got her in all 12s (seconds),” trainer Carlos Martin said of the breeze, which had been scheduled for Monday. “I looked at the weather forecast and it is supposed to be 24 (degrees) in the morning and feel like 18, so the track may be frozen. I didn't want to get caught Tuesday or Wednesday not having been able to breeze.”

Come Dancing ran sixth in last year's Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita, where she did not have a work over the track prior to the race.

“She came in there with the last group of horses from New York,” Martin said. “This is going to be her swan song, and we wanted to bring her in so she could get used to the weather here.”

Come Dancing has raced four times this year and comes into the Breeders' Cup off a victory in the Honorable Miss (G2) at Saratoga Sept. 6.

“With the uncertainty of the racing calendar because of the pandemic, we put her in a tough spot when we sent her to Oaklawn Park early for a two-turn Grade 1 race (the Apple Blossom),” Martin said. “The Vagrancy (G3 in which she was second) I thought was decent and the Ballerina (G1 in which she was fourth) was not bad. She had a tough trip in that one and people were writing her off, but I knew different.

“In the Honorable Miss, Irad (Ortiz Jr.) rode her and loved her. If Come Dancing wants to fire her 'A' race, I think she is as good as any horse in the country.”

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