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

Grade 1 Winner Bellafina Out Of Breeders’ Cup, To Be Bred To Uncle Mo In 2021

Multiple Grade 1 winner Bellafina was scheduled to have a farewell start in the upcoming Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland, but trainer Simon Callaghan told the Daily Racing Form that it would not come to be, owing to a “minor issue.”

The 4-year-old daughter of Quality Road will instead prepare for her first mating in 2021 with champion Uncle Mo, a resident of Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., who has rapidly become one of North America's top commercial sires.

Owned by Kaleem Shah and the Coolmore partnership, Bellafina has won seven of 18 career starts for earnings of $1,617,975. She was one of the top juvenile fillies of 2018, notching victories in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante Stakes and G1 Chandelier Stakes, as well as the G2 Sorrento Stakes.

Bellafina then won her first three starts as a 3-year-old, taking the G2 Santa Ynez Stakes, G2 Las Virgenes Stakes, and G1 Santa Anita Oaks. Later that year, she finished second in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

The filly's 4-year-old campaign included a victory in the G3 Desert Stormer Stakes, and runner-up efforts in the G1 Ballerina Stakes and G2 Great Lady M Stakes.

Uncle Mo, a 12-year-old son of Indian Charlie, stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud for an advertised fee of $175,000.

His initial crop of runners helped him set the record for progeny earnings by a freshman sire in 2015, led by Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and champion Nyquist. The same horse won the following year's Kentucky Derby. Since then, Uncle Mo has established himself as one of the breed's most reliable sources for high-level runners and high-dollar auction horses.

The standout SoCal filly Bellafina won't run in the @BreedersCup Filly-Mare Sprint and has been retired, per @simon_callaghan. “Minor issue” precluded her from one final start. G1-winning earner of $1.6M goes to Uncle Mo early next year.

— Marty McGee (@DRFMcGee) October 28, 2020

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Pessin: Derby City City Distaff Winner Bell’s The One Likely To Train Up To Filly & Mare Sprint

Lothenbach Stables' classy sprinter Bell's the One, the narrow victor of the $500,000 Derby City Distaff (Grade 1) at Churchill Downs on Sept. 5, will search for Breeders' Cup glory in the $1-million Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) on Nov. 7, according to trainer Neil Pessin.

Bell's the One, ridden by Corey Lanerie, stormed from off the pace to defeat 2019 Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Serengeti Empress by a scant nose on the wire of the Derby City Distaff. The victory vaulted the Majesticperfection filly to one of the top contenders for the season-ending championship event at Keeneland.

“This filly amazes us every time because how hard she tries,” Pessin said. “It was an unbelievable stretch drive in the (Derby City Distaff) with a very classy filly in Serengeti Empress. It was a great horse race.”

Pessin reported Bell's the One is likely to bypass Keeneland's local prep for the Filly & Mare Sprint, the $200,000 Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) on Oct. 3, and will train up to the Breeders' Cup.

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Serengeti Empress Shows The Way In ‘Win And You’re In’ Ballerina

Despite breaking a step slowly from the inside post position, Joel Politi's Serengeti Empress, quickly moved to the front under Luis Saez and never looked back, winning the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Saturday.

The second choice in the wagering at 3-1, the Tom Amoss-trained 4-year-old filly by Alternation defeated 5-2 favorite Bellafina by about a length, covering seven furlongs in 1:21.63 after setting sizzling fractions of :21.75, :43.74 and 1:08.32. Victim of Love finished third, with 2019 Ballerina winner Come Dancing fourth and Mexican star Letruska fifth in the field of seven fillies and mares, 4 and up.

“This is a win and you're in for the Breeders' Cup. Can't wait,” said Tom Amoss, who trains the 2019 Kentucky Oaks winner, in reference to the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series that will give Serengeti Empress and automatic, fees-paid berth in the Filly & Mare Sprint, to be run at Keeneland on Nov. 7.

Serengeti Empress was winning for the seventh time in 17 career starts. The Ballerina was her second victory of 2020, the filly having won the G2 Azeri at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn on a sloppy track earlier this year.

After breaking fastest, Letruska battled with Serengeti Empress in the long run down the backstretch and around the turn, with Cookie Dough third and Bellafina fourth and to the outside.

Into the stretch, Letruska began to fade, but Victim of Love came up the rail to challenge and Bellafina applied pressure to Serengeti Empress' right flank. Just when it appeared those two might have a chance to take over, Serengeti Empress spurted clear under an aggressive hand ride from Saez in the final sixteenth.

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