Beautiful Lover Gets Picture-Perfect Trip Under Rosario To Nab La Prevoyante

Moyglare Stud Farm's Beautiful Lover benefitted from a perfect trip engineered by jockey Joel Rosario in Saturday's Grade 3 La Prevoyante Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. Off as the 4-1 second choice, Beautiful Lover was covered up along the rail early, and guided into the clear in the stretch to run down even-money favorite Always Shopping by a head on the wire. It was the first graded stakes win for the 6-year-old daughter of Arch, who completed 1 1/2 miles over the firm turf course in 2:30.49.

Winning trainer Christophe Clement also saddled the second-place finisher, Sorrel. Always Shopping was beaten a neck in third.

The La Prevoyante for older fillies and mares going 1 1/2 miles on turf was the first of the seven graded stakes on the program of the sixth running of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

“It was a perfect trip,” said Rosario. “Turning for home, I got a chance to come out, and that looks like the winning move right there. It's a very good way to start the day.”

Always Shopping led through opening splits of 24.76 seconds, 50.50 and 1:16.13. Beautiful Love was always near the pace, stayed patient when Scarabea moved up to challenge Always Shopping in the stretch and pounced as the leaders approached the wire.

Bred in Florida by Thomas Coleman, Beautiful Lover is out of the Quiet American mare American Skipper, making her a half-brother to millionaire Zivo. She commanded $475,000 at the 2018 OBS April sale as a 2-year-old. Racing for Paul Pompa and Gary Tolchin under the tutelage of Chad Brown, Beautiful Lover won a listed stakes and was twice graded-placed before she returned to the sales ring for the 2021 Keeneland January sale.

Picked up for $650,000 by Moyglare and sent to Clement's barn, Beautiful Lover won an allowance race and was twice stakes-placed in 2021. The La Prevoyante, her first start of 2022, improves the mare's overall resume to 5-4-2 from 16 starts for earnings of over $440,000.

“We always felt she was good enough to win a graded stakes somewhere,” Clement said. “I'm delighted she's done it now. This is fun, but I won that race in I think my first year or second year (in 1998 with Corretta). She had a dream trip by Joel Rosario, which was great. He was riding the rail all the way.”

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The Determined Horsewoman, The Diva, And A Dream Come True

Five days removed from her biggest horse racing highlight, trainer Laura Krasauskaite channeled her inner Snoop Dogg.

There is no trace of conceit in her voice, nor is there any want of adulation in the aftermath of her milestone moment, the one delivered by Silent Causeway, the filly she also owns, in the stakes race on the penultimate day of the 2021 Woodbine Thoroughbred meet.

“Just like Snoop Dogg talked about on the day he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I'm proud of me,” started Krasauskaite, referencing the rapper, songwriter, actor, businessman and entertainer. “Winning my first stakes race, the La Prevoyante, I am very proud of that accomplishment.”

One the 38-year-old is still trying to wrap her head around.

Purchased at the 2018 CTHS Ontario yearling sale for $4,000 from breeder Michael Deegan and consignor Bernard McCormack, Silent Causeway was testing the stakes ranks for the second time. Last year, she missed by a nose in the Algoma Stakes.

Runner-up finishes, usually requiring a photo finish, were nothing new for the dark bay who gave Krasauskaite her first training win last June.

Ahead of the La Prevoyante, she spent quality time with her filly and offered up encouragement, actions and words she hoped would spur on the four-year-old to victory.

“We ran in the Algoma in 2020 and she just missed winning. With her, it always seems it's almost. That she has the talent, but something was missing. I had to find the solution, to stop missing by a nose or a hair, or a head-bob. I realized that she just wanted more attention from me. We call her 'Diva' for a reason. She's very needy, kind of like, 'Look at me. I'm special. Me, me, me.' So, I said I will give her that attention. I went into the stall, massaging her, rubbing her legs – she doesn't need that, but she likes to be pampered. It's a spa day. For two weeks, I just gave her that attention and put all the focus on her. And I kept telling her a couple of days prior to the race, 'Stretch your neck, stick your tongue out if you have to.'”

As it turned out, she wouldn't need to go the extra mile.

Sent off as the 9-2 third choice in the field of 10 in the race for three-year-old Ontario-sired fillies, Silent Causeway was at the back of the pack into the first turn. After a quarter-mile in the 1 1/16-mile race, she still had nine rivals in front of her.

Summer Sunday, the multiple stakes-winning champion contesting her final race before heading to Ireland to become a broodmare, then struck the front and led the group through a half-mile in :47.72, as Silent Causeway moved into ninth spot.

November Fog, the slight 2-1 choice, engaged Summer Sunday around the turn for home and seized command while jockey Justin Stein, aboard Silent Causeway, had his charge rolling down the lane.

Fourth and gaining at the stretch call, reached in 1:38.59, Silent Causeway went on to notch a two-length victory in a time of 1:45.62.

Flanked by her two daughters, Karoline, 10, and Deolina, 7, at the rail, the trio energetically, enthusiastically and exhaustingly cheered the filly home.

The decibel level grew louder in the final strides to the finish line.“It was awesome,” recalled Krasauskaite. “The girls were screaming louder than me when she was running down the lane. When she switched leads, I knew that it was going to be okay. That's the first thing I was looking at. I said, 'Switch leads, honey!' And she did. She kicked into another gear and this great feeling came over me. To be able to share that moment with my girls, to have them right beside me, it's something I will always remember.”

Convincing herself it actually did happen wasn't anywhere near as easy as Silent Causeway's winning performance.

It took tangible proof of the win for Krasauskaite to, in racing parlance, make it official.

“When she won, I didn't believe it,” she said of the daughter of prominent Ontario sire, Silent Name (JPN). “I was in shock for two days. I wasn't sure it was really real. “I fell asleep at about one o'clock in the morning because I couldn't sleep. When I woke up, I thought to myself, 'Okay, this is a nice dream, but you still have to work, Laura.' It was this confusion and you wonder if it really did happen. And then I saw the trophy that was right beside her picture, and then I realized, 'No, it's not a dream. This is real.'”

Silent Causeway and Justin Stein power down the Woodbine homestretch to capturing the La Prevoyante Stakes.

It was a goal Krasauskaite wanted to achieve the moment she took out her trainer's license four years ago.

She still has the note she penned to herself on that day.

“That's what I wanted the second I held my trainer's license in my hand for the first time. I wrote a note to myself saying that I have to go up. I don't want to stay steady. I want to go places. So, with my goals, I thought that I would start things with winning an Ontario-sired stakes race. I worked hard for that dream. I bought a nice horse for $4,000, and she won by nine lengths for me last year. I knew that I had a nice horse, but I felt that I had to spend time with her, to be patient and give her everything that she needed. She had a good two-year-old season, but when she turned three, everything just came together for her. I had seven people call me after she won that race so easily, and I said no to everyone. I looked at her and I knew that this was my chance.”

A chance she never considered not taking. Just as she did when she made her way to the Woodbine backstretch over 20 years ago.

In 1998, Krasauskaite, along with her family, came to Canada, specifically Etobicoke, Ontario, not far from Woodbine. The young girl who had developed an affinity for horses in her native Lithuania, studying them, riding them and doing some jumping, eventually headed to Woodbine hoping to land a job.

Recollections are many, including the first day she traversed through the expansive Toronto oval backstretch.

“I do remember the first day I went there,” she said with a laugh. “No English. All I knew was, 'Hi, bye, and thank you.'”

Her command of the English language and love of Thoroughbreds grew exponentially.

She was an exercise rider for 20 years for a few trainers, including John McKenzie, and bought her first horse, Sweet Shobiz, for $500. The daughter of Nobiz Like Shobiz finished second for Krasauskaite, which led her to buy a yearling, Vision of Future, in 2016, who would provide her first win as an owner.

Silent Causeway, however, is undoubtedly the star of her barn.

“I bought her blind. I really liked the bloodlines in the catalogue. The mare didn't race, but I really liked Silent Name, so I decided I'd take a chance.”

A low-risk gamble that has paid off handsomely. In 15 career starts, Silent Causeway is 3-5-1, with earnings in excess of $175,000 (CDN).

A horse, just like her trainer, who embodies the spirit of the jockey silks that accompany her every time she races.

The colours, turquoise and white, are partnered with a warrior astride a horse with a sword held aloft.

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“I like turquoise and white because it reminds me of an ocean. When you want to get away and be by the ocean, you see that white sand and blue, blue water that gives you that feeling of calm.”

The image emblazoned on the silks is an homage to her native land.

“The warrior on the horse, with the sword in the air, that's my heritage. That's my people. It is a symbol of strength. We are very stubborn people from Lithuania, and we don't stop working until we achieve what our dreams are. Every time I look at that symbol, it keeps me going.”

And make no mistake, Krasauskaite is just getting started.

Less than 24 hours after the big win, there were moments, even if it was a brief thought, of loftier goals to consider.

There was also a glass, or perhaps two, of celebratory bubbly.

“The first thing I did after the race was call my girlfriends and tell them it was champagne night at my place. So, they all showed up and we had a great night. I called my parents too. My dad screamed very loudly and my mom started crying. It's a great moment, not just for me and for my horse, but for all the people who have supported me, including the people of Nobleton, where I live.

“But now, I'm finally down from cloud nine, and I will turn my focus to next year. We have two months to rest, but there is still a lot of planning. I have two broodmares that I'm planning on breeding and bumping up my bloodlines. Hopefully, we have some babies that can grow up to be stakes winners at Woodbine. One of them, Tell the Duchess, had one of her offspring, Duke of Love, win first-time out for [trainer] Josie Carroll. Hopefully, she can produce many more of those in my stable.”

There are other dreams Krasauskaite will continue to chase, including one of the sport's most high-profile gathering of racing's biggest stars.

“My biggest goal is to have a horse in the Breeders' Cup. I don't care if it takes me two years, three years, four years, five years, maybe even 10 years. I will be there one day. It's my goal and it's my dream. I'm not going to stop until I find that horse who will take me there. I don't want to spin left on the same circle. I want to go outside of that circle, to make Canadians proud, to make Woodbine people proud, to make my family and friends proud.”

The journey to where she finds herself now hasn't been without its hurdles. Yet, even in the lowest of times, Krasauskaite refused to throw in the towel.

“My friend told me, 'Don't quit.' I told her not to worry about that. I'm too stubborn to quit. I will never quit until I achieve what I want. It's in my blood.”

Just like the determined warrior symbolized on her eye-catching racing silks.

“I'll say, like Snoop Dogg said, 'I'm proud of me.' I'm proud of me for not quitting. I went through bad days, stressful days, no money days and I'm proud of me for not stopping, not giving up and thinking positively. I didn't stop and I never will.”

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‘You Always Dream Of Having These Kinds Of Horses’: Simon Readying Summer Sunday For Her Swansong

Summer Sunday has one last journey to take before heading to greener pastures.

Less than a week from now, the striking six-year-old mare will depart the barn of trainer Stuart Simon and head over to the Woodbine paddock for the La Prevoyante Stakes.

The 1 1/16-mile Tapeta race for Ontario-sired fillies and mares, three-year-olds and upwards, will be the swan song for Summer Sunday, the multiple stakes-winning daughter of Silent Name (JPN).

Should she win the $100,000 race, the veteran campaigner would eclipse the $1million mark (CDN) in lifetime earnings for owners Anne and William Scott.

Soon after the race, Summer Sunday will be on her way to Ireland to begin a new life.

“She's going to be a broodmare, and she's going to have a forever home with Mr. Scott's relative in Ireland,” noted Simon. “It's very nice to know that she's going to a place where she'll be well looked after for the rest of her days.”

The reality of the La Prevoyante being her final start has already hit Simon.

“It's going to be emotional…” said the longtime conditioner, his voice trailing off. “We didn't raise her, but we bought her as a yearling, and we tried to keep her safe and looked after her whole life. It's going to be very emotional. She's so special. You always dream of having these kind of horses.”

Her most recent start, the Eternal Search on October 29 at Woodbine, was the ninth career stakes score for Summer Sunday, who sports a record of 11-3-1 from 21-lifetime starts.

Summer Sunday launched her career with a win on July 15, 2017, going on to net the natural hat trick to complete her rookie season with a perfect three-for-three mark, which included victories in the Nandi and Muskoka Stakes.

In 2019, she was named Canada's champion female sprinter.

Simon, who has 838 career wins, continues to marvel at the mare's versatile ways.

“She has won stakes races from five furlongs up to a mile-and-a-sixteenth on all three surfaces at Woodbine. She's won a five-furlong race on the Inner Turf, she's won multiple graded stakes on the main track, and she's won a graded stakes race on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, as well as a two-turn Open stakes race on the synthetic. Not many of the past champions and good horses here have that kind of diversity. Not taking anything away from all of the great horses that have been here, but most of them are really good at one thing, probably, whether it's running short or running long, turf or synthetic.”

Regular rider Rafael Hernandez is equally effusive in his praise of Summer Sunday's ample abilities.

His highest compliment is divided between the conditioner and the dark bay.

“I liked her from the first time I got on her,” said the veteran jockey, who has over 2,800 career wins. “She used to be a filly that was all speed. Every time the gate opened, it was 'go, go, go.' Like every horse, when they grow up, they start to figure it out. They don't have to be on the engine the whole way. They can settle down. She's been doing that for the last couple of years. She can settle off the pace and be able to finish. We can do anything we want with her.”

One race, in particular, stands out for Hernandez.

“I remember – if you speak with Stuart, I think he would agree with me – it was the stakes race (2019 running of the Grade 2 Royal North) when she had never been on the grass before. It was six furlongs on the E.P. Taylor. Stuart told me there weren't races coming up for her, so we had to give it a shot. And it was the most impressive race she had. The E.P. Taylor is very hard to win on. With speed horses, that long stretch, it can really be hard on them. It was an impressive race from her. Stuart is an unbelievable trainer, and he has done a great job with her. On the track, she is so calm and so professional. Stuart has worked hard over the years to get her to settle down, and she has in every way.”

Simon also easily recalled the Royal North performance.

“She was bred for the turf, and she trained like she would like the grass. Just the way it fit into the schedule, we decided to run her in that race. And she came up with such a great effort.”

On a crisp autumn Saturday – the forecast is currently calling for light snow, and a high of 0 degrees Celsius – Summer Sunday will go postward for the 22nd and final time in her career, in search of her 12th win and the $1 million mark in earnings.

The horseman who has campaigned the versatile Ontario-bred hopes she goes out a winner, perhaps channelling the luck of the Irish ahead of her new post-racing life.

If she doesn't happen to cross the wire first, Simon won't hang his head.

He has no reason to.

“I expect her to run well. She's as honest as they come. The mile and a sixteenth doesn't bother me. She's acting more and more as she's gotten older that she wants to run further. I've run her once going two turns, and she won that race. She defeated an open field of horses, including the filly (Souper Escape) that won the Sovereign for top older mare in 2020. She's no one-trick pony, that's for sure.”

Hernandez is hopeful she lives to her name this weekend. Well, sort of.

“The last few times we've been racing in the stakes on Saturdays when most of the stakes she wins are on Sunday, just like her name. But it doesn't matter. Whenever she races, she gives everything she has.”

It's one of many things Simon will miss about Summer Sunday, who was bred by Trinity West Stables Ltd.

That said, he's content to see one of his top stars begin a new chapter in her life.

“It's starting to hit home more and more that this is going to be it. And it's time. I'm glad, and I'm happy for her and very comfortable with the decision to stop on her. She's good right now, but you don't want to push the envelope. You want her to have a good life because she deserves it.”

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Mean Mary Getting ‘Better And Better,’ Takes On New York Stakes At Belmont

Trainer Graham Motion will saddle a pair of graded stakes winners as part of a seven-horse field of older fillies and mares in the Grade 2, $250,000 New York at 1 ¼ miles on Belmont Park's inner turf on Saturday.

The New York is one of four graded stakes on a packed 11-race card, highlighted by the Grade 1, $250,000 Just a Game for fillies and mares going one mile on the Widener turf and also featuring the Grade 2, $150,000 True North, for 4-year-olds and up going 6 ½ furlongs, and the Grade 3, $100,000 Vagrancy for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up contesting at 6 ½ furlongs, also on the main track. First post is 1:15 p.m. Eastern.

Among Motion's trainees is Alex G. Campbell, Jr.'s Mean Mary, who has started her 4-year-old campaign with consecutive graded stakes wins in front-running fashion. The Kentucky homebred went gate-to-wire to win the 1 ½-mile Grade 3 La Prevoyante in January over the Gulfstream Park turf and followed with another winning effort on the course by leading a 12-horse field through every point of call in the 1 3/8-mile Grade 3 Orchid on March 28, registering a personal-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure. She has won her last three starts overall, ranging from 1 1/8 miles to a mile and a half.

“Her career took off in Florida,” Motion said. “We thought from her first race that she was talented and it seems like she's gotten better and better. The first time I ran her in the longer stake, it was more because of the circumstances and lack of options. I just thought it was something she could handle, but clearly it was something she was looking to do.”

A daughter of Scat Daddy, Mean Mary is 4-1-0 in six career starts, with her only off-the-board finish coming in her lone main track start when fifth on debut in September. Once Motion moved her to grass, she has won four of her last five and finished as the runner-up in the other contest, a one-mile allowance at Aqueduct Racetrack, in November.

“She's a filly who had shown some ability in the morning and handled dirt well enough, but it's probably not a surprise that she improved on the grass.”

Luis Saez, aboard for the last three wins, will have the return call from the outside post.

Her stablemate, Andrew Stone's Mrs. Sippy, will be making her first start since running ninth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Santa Anita.

After making her first nine starts in Europe, Mrs. Sippy arrived in the United States last summer, where she promptly won her first appearance for Motion by rallying from last-of-seven to win the 1 3/8-mile Grade 2 Glens Falls by 1 ¾ lengths at Saratoga.

Just five weeks later, Motion ran her back in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont, where she ran second to Sistercharlie. The Breeders' Cup marked her third start in just more than two months, and Motion gave her time off in the Sunshine State to start her 5-year-old year in 2020.

Mrs. Sippy has been training at Fair Hill with Mean Mary, breezing in company on Sunday in going six furlongs in 1:13.00 on the all-weather training track.

“They had their last work together last weekend and she's ready to go,” Motion said. “She wintered down in Florida. We had a couple of minor setbacks. She irritated her eye once and missed a couple of works, so it's taken us a little bit longer but quite frankly, she didn't really miss any opportunities with the whole Covid-19 situation. The timing is pretty good.”

Motion said the rest could be beneficial for later in the year as they attempt to keep the daughter of Blame firing for the biggest races towards the end of the campaign.

“We want to have her fresh for the fall. Last year, the Breeders' Cup came at the end of a long year,” Motion said. “Hopefully, we'll have her fresher for the fall this time around.”

Joel Rosario will have the call from post 6.

Feel Glorious will make her seasonal bow as one of two entrants for trainer Christophe Clement. Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Tango Uniform Racing, the English-bred 4-year-old enters off a win in the 1 1/16-mile Winter Memories in December at Aqueduct and was training in Florida at Payson Park before shipping to Belmont.

Jockey Junior Alvarado, who will be in the irons Saturday from post 2, has been working her in the mornings.

“Feel Glorious has been working well the past few weeks with Junior Alvarado,” Clement said. “There's a small question mark with the distance, but we're going to give it a try.”
R Unicorn Stable's Call Me Love, a fellow English bred, was impressive in her first North American start last out, running second to Rushing Fall in the Grade 3 Beaugay on June 3 at Belmont. The 4-year-old garnered a 99 Beyer for that effort, running at 1 1/16 miles, and will return to the same distance as her last two starts in Italy, posting wins in a Group 2 and Group 3 contest, respectively, last fall.

“She's doing very well,” Clement said. “She looked nice in her American debut and she worked well with Irad [Ortiz, Jr.] on Friday.”

Under Ortiz, Jr., she will depart from post 1.
Trainer Chad Brown will also saddle two contenders. Peter Brant's My Sister Nat ended her 4-year-old year as the runner up in the Grade 3 Long Island in November at Aqueduct in her North American stakes debut. The French-bred half-sister to Sistercharlie drew post 3 with Jose Ortiz.
“She's training well and seems to be improving,” Brown said. “They're much different physically and Sistercharlie has a much bigger turn of foot.”

Wise Racing's Fools Gold will also make her first start of the year, coming off a near eight-month layoff. The 5-year-old Medaglia d'Oro mare won the Grade 3 Waya last August at Saratoga before running out of the money in the Grade 2 Glens Falls and the Zagora.

Jockey Manny Franco, who won the Belmont Stakes aboard Tiz the Law las week, has the call from post 4.

“This filly I wanted to bring back in an easier spot but the change of schedules because of the virus, it never happened,” Brown said. “I think she's training well enough. She'll move forward exiting this race.”
Valiance, trained by Todd Pletcher, won her first three starts before an 11-month layoff. In her return, she ran third in the Power Break on May 16 at Gulfstream. Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will pick up the mount for the first time, with the duo leaving from post 5.

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