GI Breeders' Cup Distaff | Horse Racing Free Tips

Japan’s Marche Lorraine Pulls Off Distaff Shocker

Japan celebrated its first-ever Breeders' Cup victory three races earlier with logical GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf heroine Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), and added a shocking tally in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff as 45-1 Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn})–also trained by Yoshito Yahagi–out-nosed 12-1 Dunbar Road (Quality Road) after the pace completely fell apart. GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Malathaat (Curlin) was third with a less-than-perfect trip, while heavily favored Letruska (Super Saver) never found her rhythm, chasing hot early fractions and backing out of it on the turn to finish second last.

Marche Lorraine won three of eight last term, all at the listed level, and kicked off her 2021 campaign with a pair of scores–in the TCK Jo-o Hai at Ooi in January and the Empress Hai at Kawasaki in March. She was third in Chukyo's G3 Heian S. against males over muddy ground in May, and eighth at 54-1 in the 10-panel Teio Sho June 30, again over a wet track and in open company back at Ooi. The bay entered this off a snug 1 1/4-mile victory in the Breeders' Gold Cup at Mombetsu Aug. 21, but looked a decided outsider on paper, and would've likely been tough for many take at less than 100-1, even with Sunday's TDN already in hand.

Marche Lorraine broke towards the back and was third last into the first turn as Letruska was beaten to the front by rail-drawn GII Zenyatta S. winner Private Mission (Into Mischief). They were clearly moving right along, and the splits were posted as :21.84, :44.97 and 1:09.70, with the crowd letting out audible gasps each time Larry Collmus announced another fraction. Letruska briefly took over entering the home turn, but last year's GI Kentucky Derby heroine Sherdaresthedevil (Daredevil) immediately pounced on her three deep and the closers were winding up to have their say. Marche Lorraine knifed through horses rapidly while joined by Royal Flag (Candy Ride {Arg}) approaching the stretch, and had a slight edge as they straightened. Four foes had legitimate chances to run Marche Lorraine down in the final furlong, but she kept plugging away bravely to just find the line from a lunging Dunbar Rode down inside.

“I didn't know a whole lot about Marche Lorraine,” admitted British champion jockey Oisin Murphy. “Her trainer, Mr. [Yoshito] Yahagi, I ride a lot for in Japan and a fair bit for overseas. I've ridden for him in Dubai and Hong Kong. And he doesn't normally travel unless they have a chance… I tried to ignore her odds and just give her every chance in the run and hopefully she could finish off. And to be honest, we were obviously a hostage to fortune, I sat out the back, and they went quite quick. So we needed them to do that, but it was a brilliant performance.”

The winning conditioner's translator offered: “Traveling with [one filly] from Japan wasn't the ideal plan, and so Marche Lorraine was a good partner for Loves Only You. And Marche Lorraine had three victories over turf in Japan [further back in her form] and Mr. Yahagi was thinking that for horses to be competitive in the dirt in the U.S., need to have some sort of speed, which means like winning turf races in Japan.”

Owner U. Carrot Farm is a syndicate which has campaigned the likes of Group 1 winners Lei Papale (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}). Marche Lorraine has some 400 shareholders and the club syndicates approximately 50-70 horses per year.

It was a frustrating week for top trainer Chad Brown, who had to scratch two of his best Breeders' Cup hopes in Jack Christopher (Munnings) and Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) before taking tough beats in both of the races won by the Japanese fillies.

“I need to watch the replay,” he said of Dunbar's Road's runner-up performance. “It's a tough beat. I thought we got the head bob, there. It's probably the toughest loss I've ever had. It's just a shame because it's two years in a row where she really should have won the Distaff. She got a bad trip last time too [when third]. No one can convince me otherwise. She had some trouble down the backside and she ended up on the inside where I really didn't want her. The track is better outside. It just happened that way. Jose [Ortiz] did the best he could and she gave a valiant effort. I'm really proud of her. It's a shame her career ended this way. I thought she was a deserving winner of this race.”

As for Letruska, who already seemed to have champion older mare honors in the bag before the Distaff, trainer Fausto Gutierrez said, “I think maybe she found the pace too fast. When it's :21 and :44, it's very difficult. When its :21 and :44, it's impossible to run with these fractions.”

Pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. concurred: “They went too fast. They didn't want her to be on the lead. They went after her. She wants to run and I tried to slow her down as much as possible, but it didn't work out.”

Saturday, Del Mar
LONGINES BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF-GI, $1,840,000, Del Mar, 11-6, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:47.67, ft.
1–MARCHE LORRAINE (JPN), 124, m, 5, by Orfevre (Jpn)
               1st Dam: Vite Marcher (Jpn), by French Deputy
               2nd Dam: Kyoei March (Jpn), by Dancing Brave
               3rd Dam: Inter Charmant, by Bravest Roman
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. O-U. Carrot
Farm; B-Northern Farm (JPN); T-Yoshito Yahagi; J-Oisin
Murphy. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: 21-9-2-2, $2,845,677.
*1/2 to Sambre et Meuse (JPN) (Daiwa Major {JPN}),
GSP-Jpn, $732,441; 1/2 to Avenir Marcher (JPN) (Deep
Impact {JPN}), MGSP-Jpn, $671,564. Werk Nick Rating:
A+++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Dunbar Road, 124, m, 5, by Quality Road
               1st Dam: Gift List, by Bernardini
               2nd Dam: Private Gift, by Unbridled
               3rd Dam: Private Status, by Alydar
($350,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Jeffery J.
Drown (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $340,000.
3–Malathaat, 121, f, 3, by Curlin
               1st Dam: Dreaming of Julia (GISW, $874,500), by A.P. Indy
               2nd Dam: Dream Rush, by Wild Rush
               3rd Dam: Turbo Dream, by Unbridled
($1,050,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Shadwell Stable;
B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $180,000.
Margins: NO, HF, HD. Odds: 49.90, 12.30, 3.60.
Also Ran: Clairiere, Royal Flag, Shedaresthedevil, Blue Stripe (Arg), As Time Goes By, Horologist, Letruska, Private Mission.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Marche Lorraine is one of three highest-level winners, 12 graded/group winners and 15 stakes winners for her sire, but the first outside of Japan. Orfevre (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) traveled with his talent as well, taking back-to-back runnings of the G2 Prix Foy in France in 2012 and 2013, only to settle for second in the G1 Prix de 'Arc de Triomphe both terms.

Broodmare sire French Deputy is now responsible for the dams of 15 Grade I/Group 1 winners from Asia, to Europe, to the U.S. and South America.

The dam of seven winners from as many to race, dam Vite Marcher is a daughter of MSW Kyoei March, making her a half to SW/MGSP Triumph March (Jpn) (Jpn) (Special Week {Jpn}). Vite Marcher produced a colt by Real Impact (Jpn) this term.

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Champions Battle in Apple Blossom

Saturday's GI Apple Blossom H. at Oaklawn Park features a clash between champions Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) and Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil).

Named champion 3-year-old filly off a sparkling 2018 campaign, Monomoy Girl returned from a year and a half on the sidelines to win all four starts in 2020, including Churchill's GI La Troienne S. followed by a successful title defense in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland. After realizing $9.5 million from Spendthrift Farm at Fasig-Tipton in November, the 6-year-old mare marked her debut sporting the MyRacehorse silks when taking Oaklawn's GIII Bayakoa S. Feb. 28. The Brad Cox trainee has shown signs of readiness for her step back up to Grade I company with a swift four-furlong breeze in :47.60 at Oaklawn Apr. 11.

Looking to stand in the two-time champion's way is Swiss Skydiver, who enters Saturday's test off a confident victory in the GI Beholder Mile at Santa Anita Mar. 13. Trained by Ken McPeek, the chestnut bagged five graded stakes victories in 2020, highlighted by the GI Alabama S. and the GI Preakness S., when she was seen defeating subsequent sophomore champion colt and Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief). Despite finishing seventh behind Monomoy Girl on Breeders' Cup day, she earned a divisional title for a season that saw her win five of 10 starts while earning over $1.6 million for owner Peter Callaghan. Robbie Albarado, aboard for her three latest starts, returns to the irons Saturday.

Swiss Skydiver arrived at Oaklawn Wednesday afternoon and galloped over a muddy surface after the second renovation break Thursday morning. She has registered three workouts since the Beholder, including a five-furlong move in 1:00.40 at Churchill Downs Apr. 10.

“It's scary,” Albarado said. “She might be better than last year. She's doing so good right now.”

Swiss Skydiver can collect a $60,000 bonus for winning the Apple Blossom for racing Lasix-free.

“She doesn't need it,” McPeek said. “She's never really needed it. We took her off Lasix for her last start because she's going to be running the rest of the year without it, anyway.”

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McPeek Bucks the Trend, Wins the Preakness

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley

Trainer Ken McPeek had set himself up for second guessing when he decided to run Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the GI Preakness S.. Not only would she have to face males, the Preakness would be her ninth race of the year and Pimlico would be the ninth track she has competed at in 2020. With a start in October, she would have raced during every month on the calendar but April.

By modern standards, it has been a bruising schedule and one that few trainers would ever even consider. Most will not push their top horses, preferring a four or five-race campaign with ample time off between races. Had McPeek followed conventional wisdom, after a second-place finish in the Sept. 4 GI Kentucky Oaks, Swiss Skydiver would have “trained up” to the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Instead, McPeek picked the most difficult challenge out there, a start against males in the Preakness, where she was dismissed at 11-1.

But instead of running a tired horse, McPeek brought a battle-tested, sharp and game filly to Pimlico. In a stirring stretch drive, she outfought a GI Kentucky Derby winner in Authentic (Into Mischief) to win by a neck. It was the best race of her career, and also her trainer’s finest moment. McPeek proved that his way works, that horses don’t have to be babied to be successful.

“I do believe that if they’re doing well don’t be scared to run,” McPeek said. “We buy our racehorses to run not to just watch them train. I do think there is some over analysis, where people say, ‘Oh, no, you’re running them back too quickly.’ When I first started training it wasn’t anything to run a horse back in 10 days, two weeks. Now it’s almost as if they write you off if you do that. Four weeks is plenty of time. It’s no problem, especially if a horse is healthy. I have always believed that when you have one that is doing well you shouldn’t hesitate.”

McPeek never took the challenge of running a filly in the $1-million Preakness lightly. On paper, it looked like Swiss Skydiver might be overmatched. She had already faced males once, coming up short in the GII Blue Grass S. She finished second behind Art Collector (Bernardini), who she’d have to face again in the Preakness. And she probably wasn’t at her very best in the Oaks when beaten by long shot Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil).

But the more he thought about it, he couldn’t find a reason not to run. The other options were to face older fillies and mares in a race like the GI Spinster S., try the turf for the first time in the GI Queen Elizabeth II S., race in a GII Black-Eyed Susan S., which has a $250,000 reward or stay on the sidelines until the Breeders’ Cup. The risk of running in the Preakness was higher than it was for the other possible races, but so was the reward.

But if not for a push from his wife, Sherri, he might not have gone in the Preakness.

“I have to give some credit to my wife,” he said. “She said, ‘They’re athletes, she wants to run. Why not do this?'”

Owner Peter Callahan was also on board.

“I could have run her against older fillies or on the grass and she could have certainly won those races,” McPeek said. “But Peter Callahan and I both think big. Peter is as game as Dick Tracy and I am too. We talked about it and I told him I want to run her in the Preakness and he said go for it. Some owners might have over thought it. He just went with the flow on the whole thing all year. We’ve been rewarded, thank goodness.”

He collected his first Triple Crown victory in 2002 when winning the Belmont with Sarava, who looked hopelessly overmatched when facing War Emblem, who was shooting for a Triple Crown sweep for Bob Baffert. Sent off at 70-1, Sarava is the longest priced horse to win a Belmont S.

“I just didn’t know how good he is. You’ve got to throw them in the ring sometimes to find out,” he said after the race.

In some respects, his willingness to take chances hasn’t served him well. Owners flock to the trainers with the highest winning percentages and McPeek isn’t one of them. He is winning at a 17% rate this year, but is only a 15% trainer for his career. He says that owners need to look beyond winning percentages.

“I think trainer winning percentages are ridiculous,” he said. “I am what you could call a progression trainer. I like the first race to be a good race, the second race to be better and the third race to be the best race. If you don’t win first time out you hurt your percentage. You also have to remember how important black-type is. I could run in an allowance race or I could run in a stakes to get black-type and I will take chances in stakes. Black type is especially important with fillies. Black-type is the most important thing in the world to people who breed horses. Long-term success depends on their residual value. Worrying about my win percentage is probably about number nine down on my list of the things I worry about with each horse.”

The Preakness capped off the best two days of McPeek’s career. On Friday, he finished one-two in the GI Darley Alcibiades S. at Keeneland. Simply Ravishing (Laoban) romped and may be tough to beat in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Like Swiss Skydiver, she hardly broke the bank at the sales. She was purchased for $50,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale. That’s $15,000 more than he paid for Swiss Skydiver at the 2018 Keeneland September sale.

McPeek will have one more chance to pick the tougher of two races for Swiss Skydiver. After the win in the Preakness, an argument can be made that she belongs in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic for another chance of beating males. The safer choice would be to go in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff. McPeek said Sunday that he hasn’t made his mind up yet but said he prefers the Classic distance of a mile-and-a-quarter over the Distaff distance of a mile-and-an-eighth. A Classic would win would mean a Horse of the Year title, which might not be the case if she were to win the Distaff. The gunslinger, McPeek may not be able to resist the temptation to run in the Classic.

But no matter which race she runs in, Swiss Skydiver will no doubt show up. She’s been first or second in each of her last six races while facing the best 3-year-old colts and fillies in the sport. Her trainer must be doing something right.

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