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Into Mischief’s Gamine Gallops Again in Test

Michael Lund Petersen’s ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Gamine (Into Mischief) turned in her second jaw-dropping performance in a row as she dominated Saturday’s GI Longines Test S., covering seven furlongs at Saratoga in a blazing 1:20.83. That time matched the stakes record set by Lady Tak in 2003, and was significantly faster than the 1:21.63 last year’s GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Serengeti Empress (Alternation) went in the GI Ballerina S. for older fillies a few races earlier. Kept well off the rail with formidable foe and chief market rival Venetian Harbor (Munnings) hard held while applying the pressure through splits of :22.70 and :45.14, last year’s $1.8-million Fasig-Tipton Midlantic topper shook loose at the top of the lane and cantered home under a hands-and-heels ride to cruise under the line seven lengths in front, as easily as her 3-10 odds suggested she might. Venetian Harbor was a clear-cut second best with late-running Up in Smoke (The Big Beast) filling out the trifecta.

Saturday, Saratoga
LONGINES TEST S.-GI, $291,000, Saratoga, 8-8, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:20.83, ft.
1–GAMINE, 123, f, 3, by Into Mischief
               1st Dam: Peggy Jane (SP, $102,050), by Kafwain
2nd Dam: Seattle Splash, by Chief Seattle
3rd Dam: Grand Splash, by Bucksplasher
‘TDN Rising Star‘ ($220,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP; $1,800,000 2yo
’19 EASMAY). O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Grace
Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-John R.
Velazquez. $165,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $363,000.
Werk Nick Rating: A++.
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Venetian Harbor, 121, f, 3, by Munnings
                1st Dam: Sounds of the City, by Street Cry (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Welcome Home, by Dixieland Band
                3rd Dam: Safe Return, by Mr. Prospector
($110,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP; $205,000 RNA 2yo ’19 OBSAPR).
O-Ciaglia Racing LLC, Highland Yard LLC, River Oak Farm &
Dominic Savides; B-Colts Neck Stables LLC (KY); T-Richard
Baltas. $60,000.
3–Up in Smoke, 129, f, 3, by The Big Beast
                1st Dam: Therese, by Exchange Rate
                2nd Dam: Proud Ciel, by Septieme Ciel
                3rd Dam: Proud Encore, by Tri Jet
($45,000 Ylg ’18 OBSOCT; $230,000 2yo ’19 EASMAY). O-Black
Type Thoroughbreds & R. A. Hill Stable; B-John D Rio & Carole
A Rio (FL); T-George Weaver. $36,000.
Margins: 7, 6HF, 7. Odds: 0.30, 3.00, 16.50.
Also Ran: Perfect Alibi, Mrs. Danvers. Scratched: Wicked Whisper. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

“Obviously, she’s very good,” said Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez, who also piloted Gamine in the Acorn. “You love to be on these kinds of horses. I have to thank [trainer] Bob [Baffert] and the owners for the opportunity. Bob said she breaks well and to kind of let her do her thing. If another horse wants to go too fast, we just let her sit second and she’ll be fine sitting second. But she broke so good and the other horse kind of stayed right next to me and didn’t press the pace very much, so I just kind of let her do what she wanted to do the first quarter-mile. Once we got to the turn, I let her get into the turn and she got really comfortable and really smooth and got away from the other horse and kept going. Very nice.”

Gamine brought a record price at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale last term off a bullet :10 flat breeze, but missed some time in the summer of her juvenile season before getting back to working in late November. She debuted a 6 1/4-length winner sprinting at Santa Anita Mar. 7, and crossed the line a neck to the good of eventual GI Central Bank Ashland S. heroine Speech (Mr Speaker) in a two-turn Oaklawn optional claimer May 2, only to be later disqualified from purse money for a Lidocaine positive. The bay could not have been more dominant in the GI Longines Acorn S. over a one-turn mile at Belmont June 20, running up the score to 18 3/4 lengths while earning a 110 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She’s rising straight to the top,” said assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes. “For what she’s accomplished so far for such a lightly raced filly, we look forward to stretching her out and see what comes of that.”

Gamine is expected to take on a strong field in next month’s nine-furlong GI Kentucky Oaks.

Pedigree Notes:
Spendthrift stalwart Into Mischief is the leading general sire in North America this year, and was represented earlier in the day Saturday by impressive debuting juvenile Mutasaabeq, who garnered the ‘TDN Rising Star‘ distinction.

Gamine’s New York-bred dam Peggy Jane was a $200,000 OBSAPR ’11 juvenile buy and was stakes-placed going an extended mile on the Aqueduct inner track. Peggy Jane’s now 2-year-old colt Splashtown (Speightstown) was a $300,000 Fasig-Tipton October purchase by Starlight and recorded his first published breeze at Pimlico Saturday morning (4f, :52.80, 9/9).

Gamine has a yearling half-sister by Ghostzapper and a foal half-brother by Kantharos. Peggy Jane was bred back to Into Mischief for 2021.

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Desormeaux: Horse That ‘Changed My Life’ Continues To Pay Dividends

My Girl Red, who cruised to a 4 3/4-length victory in Friday's Grade 2, $150,000 Sorrento Stakes, is a daughter of 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red. Both were/are trained by Keith Desormeaux.

“Texas Red changed my life,” Desormeaux said after the Sorrento. “Texas Red was the culmination of a lifetime of telling myself, and other people, that you don't have to pay boxcar prices (for horses) to win major races.

“I'll always be appreciative of that, and it's icing on the cake to have the same ownership group breed this kind of mare in his first group. Hopefully, it's onwards and upwards for him.”

In making it 2-for-2 for her career, favored My Girl Red ($3.80), was in control virtually from the start without much encouragement and was merely taking stock of her surroundings during the final sixteenth of a mile.

“She's always shown that she has a lot of class and she has the physical attributes that I look for in a good horse,” Desormeaux said. “For her to win first time out is the (epitome) of class. It shows that you don't have to work forty-five and change in the morning to show that kind of speed in the afternoon.”

Like father, like daughter? Not around the barn.

“Texas Red didn't want you to touch him. He's was pretty ornery,” Desormeaux said. “He wasn't a lovable type. This filly really seems to like to be around people. None of those ornery traits for her.”

Asked if the Grade I, Del Mar Debutante (September 6) was next, Desormeaux didn't hesitate. “Oh, of course,” he said.

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Oh, Brother! American Sailor Awarded Troy Stakes Win Via Disqualification

Raj Jagnanan's American Sailor was elevated to first following the disqualification of Imprimis in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Troy, a 5 ½-furlong sprint on the Mellon turf course at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Breeze Easy's Imprimis, trained by Joe Orseno and piloted by Jose Ortiz, rallied to the lead down the lane but not before lugging in on Shekky Shebaz, guided by his brother, Irad Ortiz, Jr., who was forced to check.

Imprimis crossed the wire 2 1/4-lengths lengths in front of the pacesetting American Sailor, who was a head better than Shekky Shebaz in third. Following a stewards inquiry, Imprimis was disqualified and placed third behind Shekky Shebaz.

“When I hit him the first time, that's when he switched leads and I think that's when I bothered the other horse,” said Ortiz. “It looked like [Imprimis] was the best horse but probably did cost the other horse [Shekky Shebaz] a position.”

American Sailor, with Tyler Gaffalione up, set a swift early tempo of 21.92 seconds and a half-mile in 44.01 with Shekky Shebaz following his early foot. Imprimis settled in third position and began his move into the turn racing outside of horses.

American Sailor maintained a precarious lead at the head of the lane but Imprimis and Shekky Shebaz loomed large. Shekky Shebaz, stopped briefly by Imprimis, re-rallied late in the lane to challenge American Sailor for place.

Rounding out the order of finish were Chewing Gum, Pulsate, Lonhtwist, and the slow starting Pure Sensation.

The victory marked the first stakes win for an emotional trainer Wayne Potts as well as a first win at the Spa from four attempts for the veteran conditioner.

“I'm speechless. This is my first graded win,” said Potts. “My clients have stood behind me through the years with claimers and this is where we're at.”

An 8-year-old son of City Zip, American Sailor arrived at the Troy from a runner-up effort to Archidust in the Wolf Hill on July 18 at Monmouth Park and was making just his third start of the campaign.

“We gave him the winter off this year and I had him for about three years and he really needed a break. He really deserved it,” said Potts. “He doesn't owe us anything, so we decided to give him a break this year and give him some time off instead of shipping him to Sam Houston for the Turf Sprint. He came back at Laurel and ran a fantastic race in his first race back and then he ran in the Wolf Hill, where he got beat by a nice horse for [Hall of Famer Steve] Asmussen. He came out of it well and so I was confident when I brought him up here.”

Gaffalione said he was happy to end up in the winner's circle regardless of the circumstances.

“I don't want to take anything away from my horse, he put in a huge effort today,” said Gaffalione. “I'm thrilled for the owners to come up here and win a nice race like this. It's not the way you want to get it done, but he put in a big effort and he's definitely deserving.”

American Sailor became a stakes winner in the 2016 Bucharest Turf Sprint at Sam Houston for former trainer Joe Sharp and made the grade by capturing the Troy in just his third graded attempt in 45 career starts.

Bred in Kentucky by KatieRich Farms, American Sailor banked $110,000 in victory while improving his record to 15-9-3. He paid $16.80 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing returns Sunday at Saratoga with a 10-race card featuring the $85,000 Alydar in Race 9 and a mandatory payout in the Empire 6. First post is 1:10 p.m.

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Serengeti Empress Shows The Way In ‘Win And You’re In’ Ballerina

Despite breaking a step slowly from the inside post position, Joel Politi's Serengeti Empress, quickly moved to the front under Luis Saez and never looked back, winning the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Saturday.

The second choice in the wagering at 3-1, the Tom Amoss-trained 4-year-old filly by Alternation defeated 5-2 favorite Bellafina by about a length, covering seven furlongs in 1:21.63 after setting sizzling fractions of :21.75, :43.74 and 1:08.32. Victim of Love finished third, with 2019 Ballerina winner Come Dancing fourth and Mexican star Letruska fifth in the field of seven fillies and mares, 4 and up.

“This is a win and you're in for the Breeders' Cup. Can't wait,” said Tom Amoss, who trains the 2019 Kentucky Oaks winner, in reference to the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series that will give Serengeti Empress and automatic, fees-paid berth in the Filly & Mare Sprint, to be run at Keeneland on Nov. 7.

Serengeti Empress was winning for the seventh time in 17 career starts. The Ballerina was her second victory of 2020, the filly having won the G2 Azeri at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn on a sloppy track earlier this year.

After breaking fastest, Letruska battled with Serengeti Empress in the long run down the backstretch and around the turn, with Cookie Dough third and Bellafina fourth and to the outside.

Into the stretch, Letruska began to fade, but Victim of Love came up the rail to challenge and Bellafina applied pressure to Serengeti Empress' right flank. Just when it appeared those two might have a chance to take over, Serengeti Empress spurted clear under an aggressive hand ride from Saez in the final sixteenth.

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