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Gamine Waltzes into Ballerina

Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine (Into Mischief), last year's Eclipse champion female sprinter, aims for her fifth straight victory in the GI Ketel One Ballerina S.–a Win and You're In event for the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint–at Saratoga Saturday. Gamine capped her championship campaign with a 6 1/4-length romp in last year's F/M Sprint and she has been largely unchallenged in three starts so far this term. The bay filly opened 2021 with a five-length score in the Apr. 4 GIII Las Flores S. and added the May 1 GI Derby City Distaff S. at Churchill before a 10-length victory in the July 5 GII Great Lady M S. last time out.

“She's filled out and she looks good and she's been working well, so we wouldn't send her unless we thought she was doing really well,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “We're excited about it. She always runs well when she goes back East. She likes the Eastern tracks.”

Gamine, a 'TDN Rising Star,' is a perfect three-for-three at the Ballerina's seven-furlong distance and romped home a seven-length winner of last year's GI Test S. in her only previous start at Saratoga.

“She's just brilliant, just a brilliant filly,” Baffert said. “She's fun to watch and people like watching her run. Fans love those kinds of horses, and they count on them.”

Also invading from the West Coast for the Ballerina is Bo Hirsch's Ce Ce (Elusive Quality). Fifth in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, the 5-year-old mare opened 2021 with an optional-claimer win going seven furlongs at Santa Anita in April. She bobbled at the break before tiring to fourth in the 1 1/16-mile GII Santa Maria S. May 22 and cut back and returned to the winner's circle with a 3 1/4-length win over Estilo Talentoso (Maclean's Music) in the July 3 GII Princess Rooney S. last time out.

“She came out of her race in Florida in good order and has trained forwardly,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “This is a race we've had on her calendar for a while.”

Ce Ce won last year's GI Beholder Mile and GI Apple Blossom H. and will be chasing a third Grade I tally Saturday. She comes into the race off a bullet five-furlong drill in :59 flat (1/73) at Del Mar Aug. 20.

“She's always been good. She's caught a couple of racetracks that weren't to her liking, but she's been very good this year,” McCarthy said. “She's wonderful. She is just a treat to train. She enjoys her job and is very classy around the barn. We're very lucky to have one like her. It's a big thrill.”

Godolphin's Lake Avenue (Tapit), winner of the 2019 GII Demoiselle S., narrowly missed out on a second graded victory in both her most recent starts. She lost by a neck when second behind Estilo Talentoso in the June 4 GIII Bed o'Roses S. and was second again by that same margin behind Bell's the One (Majesticperfection) in the July 28 GII Honorable Miss S. last time out.

“She had a good trip the last couple of times. She did get beat both times, but not by much,” trainer Bill Mott said. “Hopefully, she'll put in that same type of effort again this weekend. We're going into a very tough spot, but we want to give her an opportunity in another Grade I. None of these Grade I races on Saturday are easy. They're all tough.”

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‘Extra Special For Our Whole Family’: Foley Chasing First Grade 1 Win With Sconsin

Trainer Greg Foley has no doubt that Lloyd Madison Farms' homebred Sconsin, who is named for the owners' home state of Wisconsin, is ready for her close-up. What he's not so sure about is how the 4-year-old filly will appreciate the Saratoga setting.

When Sconsin lines up in the gate for the $500,000, Grade 1 Ketel One Ballerina, which is a “Win and You're In” event for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, against six other top-flight filly and mare sprinters it will be her first race at Saratoga.

“Some horses like it and some don't. That's my main worry of any,” said Foley. “But she's doing great, and she looks really, really good. Whether she handles the track is the main concern. That's what you hear about all the time, whether a horse will handle the racetrack or not. Hopefully, she'll like it.”

Another concern is the presence of Gamine, the reigning champion Female Sprinter, 2020 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner, and four-time Grade 1 winner who's only defeat in nine starts came in last year's Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. The winner of the Grade 1 Longines Test here last year is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

“This is definitely a tough race, especially with the champion in there,” Foley said in referring to Gamine.

Gamine is blessed with blistering speed, which she uses to her full advantage. Foley expects nothing less in the Ballerina.

“I see one with a lot of pace, and that's Gamine. Other than her I don't see any pace. She's definitely the speed. I was hoping to see a little more speed entered in here to go with her early. I don't know that there is,” he explained. “We're not going to change our game plan too much. We're going to sit and finish, and if we can't get to her, we can't. We're not going to send her away from there trying to go with Gamine. That would be ridiculous on our part. We're sure not going to get anything that way. Hopefully, somebody else can go with her and help us out. We'll see what happens.”

Sconsin, by Include out of the Tiznow mare Sconnie, performs best when rating off the pace. She employed that running style when second to Gamine in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs in May and when second to the Grade 1 winning Bell's the One in the Roxelana Stakes on that same track in her last out in June. Sconsin, the winner of the Grade 2 Eight Belles last year, also at Churchill Downs, was fourth in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

“She's a good filly. She's run with the best and run well with them. We beat Bell's the One [winner of the Grade 2 Honorable Miss at the Spa July 28] in a prior race at Churchill and she came back and beat us, and that filly is an awful good filly and she showed you all here that last month,” said Foley. “She's been training great, and really, she could not be doing any better. She looks great and she is ready to go. I'd be surprised if she doesn't run a good race. It will take a good race [against this group] but I think she's sitting on one.”

Sconsin signaled her readiness on August 21 when she fired a bullet four furlongs breeze in :47 flat at Ellis Park in Kentucky. The work was the fleetest of 62 horses going the same distance that morning.

“I've had her at Ellis, just kind of baby-sitting her down there this summer with this race in mind the whole time. I'm trying to win a Grade 1 with her. She's won a Grade 2 and she deserves this chance,” said Foley.

Not only would a Ballerina victory be the first top level score for Sconsin, it would be the first as well for Foley, who has made 8,730 starts for 1,446 wins through August 26, according to Equibase. Moreover, winning a Grade 1 race at a NYRA track would neutralize some sibling rivalry as his sister, Vickie Foley, won the lone Grade 1 race of her long career with Hog Creek Hustle in the 2019 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park.

“Winning a Grade 1 at Saratoga, wouldn't that be something?” said Foley, who is especially close with Vickie and shares barns with her at the Kentucky tracks. “It would definitely be something extra special for our whole family.”

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Champion Gamine Returns In ‘Win And You’re In’ Ballerina At The Spa

Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine, the Eclipse Award-winning female sprinter of 2020, will get another chance to flash her championship form over a track she dominated last summer when she heads a field of seven in Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Ketel One Ballerina at Saratoga Race Course.

The 43rd running of the seven-furlong Ballerina for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up is one of seven graded-stakes, six of them Grade 1, worth $4.6 million in purses on a blockbuster program highlighted by the 152nd renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers. It is also a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

Gamine, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, was a runaway winner of last year's Filly & Mare Sprint, two starts after a front-running seven-length romp in the Grade 1 Longines Test at Saratoga, her only previous local appearance.

“She's filled out and she looks good and she's been working well, so we wouldn't send her unless we thought she was doing really well,” Baffert said. “We're excited about it. She always runs well when she goes back East. She likes the Eastern tracks.”

Gamine, a 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief, showed that not only in the seven-furlong Test but also the one-mile Longines Acorn last June at Belmont Park, her first race outside of California, which she won by 18 ¾ lengths in 1:32.55, shaving more than a second off the previous stakes record of 1:34.05.

“She's just a brilliant filly. It's fun watching her run. The owner loves watching her run. We're looking forward to it, but you still need to break well and you still need racing luck. Everything's got to go right,” Baffert said.

Gamine has won each of her three starts this year, starting with the Grade 3 Las Flores April 4 at Santa Anita, contested at six furlongs, and adding her fourth career Grade 1 triumph in the seven-furlong Derby City Distaff May 1 at Churchill Downs. She rolled by 10 lengths in the Grade 2 Great Lady M July 5 at Los Alamitos under regular rider and Hall of Famer John Velazquez.

“That's Gamine. That's her. He was trying to slow her down,” Baffert said. “When she runs, she always runs with her head cocked in the stretch. It's weird. She never does that in the mornings, and I asked Johnny why she does that. He said maybe because she's going so fast. Eventually I'd like to stretch her out. I still think I can stretch her out. I think if we could slow her down a little bit she'd stretch out. When I did stretch her out the two times there, it was the wrong time to try her long. But I think as they get older they can do it.”

Velazquez returns to ride for the eighth straight race from post position 1. Baffert previously won the Ballerina with Marley's Freedom in 2018.

“She's just brilliant, just a brilliant filly,” Baffert said. “She's fun to watch and people like watching her run. Fans love those kinds of horses, and they count on them.”

Also in from the West Coast is Bo Hirsch's 5-year-old homebred mare Ce Ce, who also shipped cross-country for her last start, the Grade 2 Princess Rooney July 3 at Gulfstream Park, beating runner-up and fellow Ballerina entrant Estilo Talentoso by 3 ¼ lengths, with Victor Espinoza up, for her third career graded-stakes victory and first at seven furlongs.

“I thought the racetrack would be to her liking down there. Victor gave her a great ride, and we got a wonderful setup,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “She came out of her race in Florida in good order and has trained forwardly. This is a race we've had on her calendar for a while.”

Ce Ce captured back-to-back Grade 1 stakes last spring in the Beholder Mile at Santa Anita and 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park. She stayed at that distance and was third in the Grade 2 Santa Maria and Grade 1 Clement Hirsch before cutting back for the Derby City Distaff, where she ran fourth. Ce Ce wrapped up 2020 finishing fifth behind Monomoy Girl in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff.

This year, Ce Ce opened her campaign with an optional claiming win sprinting seven furlongs April 17 and was fourth after bobbling at the break in the Grade 2 Santa Maria behind As Time Goes By, who is being pointed to Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Personal Ensign at Saratoga.

Hall of Famer Espinoza will climb back aboard from outermost post position 7.

Godolphin homebred Lake Avenue is chasing her second career graded-stakes victory and first in a Grade 1 after running second by a neck in each of her last two starts – the Grade 3 Bed o' Roses June 4 at Belmont Park and Grade 2 Honorable Miss July 28 at Saratoga.

Winner of the Grade 2 Demoiselle to cap her juvenile campaign in December 2019, Lake Avenue had successive wins to open 2021, taking an optional claimer February 3 at Gulfstream and the one-mile Heavenly Prize March 6 at Aqueduct.

“She had a good trip the last couple of times. She did get beat both times, but not by much,” Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “Hopefully, she'll put in that same type of effort again this weekend. We're going into a very tough spot, but we want to give her an opportunity in another Grade 1. None of these Grade 1 races on Saturday are easy. They're all tough.”

Junior Alvarado gets the assignment on Lake Avenue from post position 2. Mott won the Ballerina with Dream Supreme in 2000.

Medallion Racing, Barry Fowler, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Little Red Feather Racing and BlackRidge Stables' Estilo Talentoso made her graded-stakes debut in February, running second behind 47-1 long shot Hibiscus Punch in the Grade 3 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie at Laurel Park. From there she dead-heated for second in the Grade 1 Madison and was third, beaten 2 ½ lengths by Gamine, in the Derby City Distaff before beating Lake Avenue in the Bed o' Roses prior to her Princess Rooney run. Jose Ortiz rides from post position 6.

Lloyd Madison Farms IV homebred Sconsin won the Grade 3 Winning Colors sprinting six furlongs May 22 and most recently was second as the favorite to subsequent Honorable Miss winner Bell's the One in the 6 ½-furlong Roxelana June 12, both races coming at Churchill. Trained by Greg Foley, she will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. from post position 5.

Completing the field are Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. and Stretch Run Ventures' Casual [post 3, Ricardo Santana, Jr.], third last out in the seven-furlong Shine Again August 4 at Saratoga for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen; and Chad Summers and J Stables' Truth Hurts [post 4, Joel Rosario], fourth in the Honorable Miss.

The Ballerina is slated as Race 7 on the 13-race card. First post is 11:35 a.m. Eastern. For the third consecutive year, FOX will air the Runhappy Travers as the centerpiece of a 90-minute telecast beginning at 5 p.m. The networks of FOX and FOX Sports will air 7.5 total hours of live racing and analysis on Runhappy Travers Day, with coverage scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on FS1. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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Malathaat Becomes Fourth Female To Be Ranked In NTRA’s Top Thoroughbred Poll

Korea Racing Authority's 5-year-old Knicks Go kept his No. 1 rating in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll for the third straight week, while the 3-year-old filly Malathaat, winner of the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes, moved into eighth place. Malathaat joined Letruska, Gamine and Shedaresthedevil as the fourth female star in the top 10.

Knicks Go, trained by Brad Cox, received 30 first-place votes and 359 points. A winner three times in five starts this year, Knicks Go captured the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap, and scored a dominant, front-running victory in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 7.

Places two through seven in the poll remained unchanged. St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska is in second place with five first-place votes and 320 points. Letruska has won four races this year for trainer Fausto Gutierrez, including the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park and the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs.

Godolphin's 3-year-old Essential Quality, who won the July 31 Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, remained in third place with one first-place vote and 271 points. Also trained by Cox, Essential Quality, who captured the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 5, is expected to start in this Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, winner of the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs and second in the Whitney, is in fourth place. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Maxfield has 237 points.

Klaravich Stables' 4-year-old gelding Domestic Spending, the only turf horse in the top 10, is in fifth place with one first-place vote and 156 points. Second in the Grade 1 Mr. D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 14, Domestic Spending, trained by Chad Brown, finished in a dead heat for first in the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, and won the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park.

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State, winner of four races in 2021 including the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park, remained in sixth place with 135 points.

Michael Lund Petersen's 4-year-old Gamine, the 2020 champion female sprinter, is in seventh place with 90 points. Unbeaten in three starts this year for trainer Bob Baffert, Gamine is slated to run in this Saturday's Grade 1 Ketel One Ballerina at Saratoga.

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat, a determined 1 ½-length winner in the Alabama, jumped from 20th to eighth place this week with 85 points. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Malathaat has won three races in four starts this year, highlighted by two other the Grade 1 victories in the Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland and the Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. Her lone defeat was a second-place finish by a head in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks to Maracuja at Saratoga on July 24. A daughter of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, Malathaat finished fifth in the final NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll in June.

Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss's Hot Rod Charlie dropped one spot to ninth place with 65 points. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, crossed the wire first in the Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Stakes on July 17 but was disqualified and placed seventh due to interference.

Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing and Big Aut Farms' 4-year-old filly Shedaresthedevil is in 10th place. Also trained by Cox, Shedaresthedevil has won three of four starts this year, including the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 1.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through Nov. 6.

The full results for the NTRA Thoroughbred Polls can be found on the NTRA website at: https://www.ntra.com/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-august-16-2021/

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