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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