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Thursday Racing Insights: Godolphin Debuts Well-Bred Tapit Colt at Belmont

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6th-BEL, $90K, MSW, 3yo/up, 7f, 3:37 p.m.

Owner/Breeder Godolphin debuts 3-year-old homebred SHREVEPORT in this elongated sprint at Belmont Thursday. The son of leading sire Tapit is out of the MGISW Seventh Street (Street Cry {Ire}) who took both the GI Apple Blossom H. and the GI Go for Wand H., making him a full-brother to GII Demoiselle S. winner and GI Ketel One Ballerina H. runner-up Lake Avenue. Trainer Bill Mott has prepared the gray colt for debut with a pair of Payson Park bullets last month, working four furlongs from the gate Apr. 4 in :49 (1/18) and five furlongs Apr. 11 in 1:01 1/5 (1/4). Jose Lezcano picks up the ride.

One gate to the outside is Mugged (Street Sense) for owner Centennial Farm and trainer James Jerkins. Purchased for $140,000 from the Fasig-Tipton Select Sale, this colt is out of a half-sister to GSW Proceed Bee (Bernstein).

Most intriguing of the non-firsters is Breakwater (Flatter). A son of GSW Quiet Harbor (Silver Deputy), he is from the immediate family of MGSW and sire Ironicus (Distored Humor). Trainer Shug McGaughey unveiled this colt for owner/breeder Janney Stuart III with a third-place effort Apr. 3 at Gulfstream. TJCIS PPs

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Bella Sofia Takes On Elders in Gallant Bloom

The once-defeated 3-year-old filly Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot) looms a short-priced favorite facing four older females in Sunday's GII Gallant Bloom H. at Belmont Park.

A smashing 11 1/4-length winner of a local six-furlong maiden May 6, the $20,000 OBS June graduate yielded late to be second to then-unbeaten Australasia (Sky Kingdom) in the June 6 Jersey Girl S. The dark bay returned to winning ways, scoring by 6 1/2 length in a first-level allowance over this surface July 11 and came from just off a moderate tempo to dust her peers by 4 1/4 lengths in the GI Longines Test S. at Saratoga Aug. 7.

“The Test was a huge, huge win for us, because we don't have these kinds of horses in the barn,” said trainer Rudy Rodriguez. “To win a Grade I at Saratoga, especially a prestigious race like the Test, everything was amazing. We're still dreaming.”

The progressive Lake Avenue (Tapit) hopes to end an unlucky streak of seconditis while giving her younger rival two pounds Sunday afternoon. The 2019 GII Demoiselle S. heroine, the daughter of dual Grade I winner Seventh Street (Street Cry {Ire}) took out the one-mile Heavenly Prize Invitational S. earlier this year, but has rounded out the exacta in the GIII Bed O'Roses S., the GII Honorable Miss S. and the GI Ballerina H. in her three most recent starts.

Don't Call Me Mary (El Padrino) handed Chub Wagon (Hey Chub) her first career defeat in the Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial S. at Parx Aug. 23, a performance that looks a bit better within the context of Chub Wagon's bounce-back victory in Saturday's Roamin Rachel S. on the Pennsylvania Derby undercard in suburban Philly.

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Gamine Easy Victor In Ballerina, Earns Spot In BC Filly & Mare Sprint

In the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Gamine sprinted to her fifth G1 victory, taking the lead early in the seven-furlong stakes and holding off late challenges from Ce Ce and Lake Avenue to earn a spot in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

A last-out winner in the Grade 2 Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos, the Bob Baffert-trained 4-year-old filly came into the Ballerina as the prohibitive favorite off of four consecutive victories dating back to her win in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. in early November. Breaking from post one, the daughter of leading North American sire Into Mischief went to the lead as expected, with Estilo Talentoso in second. After a first quarter in :23.20 and a half-mile in :45.60, Gamine and John Velazquez held a three-length lead into the far turn, with Estilo Talentoso still in second and Lake Avenue third.

Into the stretch, with Lake Avenue on the rail and Ce Ce to her outside, Gamine maintained her front-running status, holding off the two closers by a length and three-quarters at the wire. The time for the seven-furlong Ballerina was 1:21.61. Lake Avenue was second, Ce Ce third, with Sconsin, Estilo Talentoso, Truth Hurts, and Casual round out the order of finish.

Find this race's chart here.

The G1 Ballerina is a Win and You're In event for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. The winner of Win and You're In events earn a fees-paid guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the corresponding Breeders' Cup race.

Gamine paid $2.70, $2.30, and $2.10. Lake Avenue paid $7.10 and $3.70. Ce Ce paid $2.80.

“We were down in the one-hole, so you have to break and go from there. She handled the gate well, broke well and Johnny [Velazquez] put her in the race,” Baffert assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes said after the race. “The 23 [second quarter-mile] felt pretty comfortable, 45 was pretty comfortable. [They were gaining on her] slightly, but once Johnny got her to switch leads, I wasn't really concerned. They were moving but we were still running.”

“She just kind of waited and then by the quarter pole, I asked her for what she needed to do, and she got it done,” Velazquez told the NYRA Press office. “I didn't think there was much speed in the race. She's a nice horse to relax. If they went fast, she was going to go fast. If they went slow, she was going to go slow, so that's what I like about her. When she's in the lead, she's in control of herself.”

Bred by Grace Thoroughbred Holdings, Gamine is out of the Kafwain mare Peggy Jane. Consigned by Bobby Dodd, she was purchased by owner Michael Lund Peterson at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic Two-Year-Olds InTraining Sale for $1.8 million. Her win in the G1 Ballerina is her fourth victory in four starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of nine wins in 10 starts and $1,681,500 in career earnings.

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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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