Oaks Trail: Clairiere’s Half-Sister La Crete A Tepid Favorite In Silverbulletday

Off an easy win in her career debut at Churchill Downs on Nov. 20, Stonestreet Stables' La Crete has been installed as the 2-1 morning line against five rivals for Saturday's $150,000 Silverbulletday for 3-year-old fillies to be run over 1 mile 70 yards at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La. The top four finishers will earn Kentucky Oaks qualifying points (10-4-2-1).

By Medaglia d'Oro, La Crete is a half-sister to Clairiere. The winner of last year's Rachel Alexandra (G2) presented by Fasig-Tipton, she has banked over $1.2 million in her career.

“Different filly, out of the great Cavorting,” said trainer Steve Asmussen, who has won the Silverbulletday four times. “She is not as mature at the same age as Clairiere, mentally or physically.”

Unlike her more accomplished sibling who has done most of her work from off the pace, La Crete went straight to the lead in her November 20 maiden breaker at Churchill, and she was never menaced in that 2 ¼ length triumph.

“I was very impressed with her first race,” Asmussen said. “She would have benefitted from having a first-level allowance race, but due to lack of entries that option was not available to her. She's trained nicely at the Fair Grounds.”

From post two, La Crete will get the riding services of Joel Rosario.

Off a maiden win and a fourth in the Tempted Stakes at Belmont, Westerberg Limited, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's Sweet as Pie invades from her home base at Palm Beach Downs in Florida to contest the Silverbulletday for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“We tried to get her into an allowance race at Gulfstream that didn't go,” Pletcher explained. “We were looking around for opportunities to stretch her out around two turns to continue her development. This race was kind of a short field, but there are some pretty high-quality fillies in there so we will get a gauge of where we are at.”

The daughter of Tapit will break from post four with Florent Geroux aboard as the 5-2 co-second choice.

“She's a little bit lazy in the mornings,” Pletcher said. “We thought she'd run decently first time out, but she actually ran a little better than we thought she would. The Tempted was an okay race for us, but horses who ran in there have turned out to do pretty well, including Nest, who won the Demoiselle. The two turns should serve us well. I do like that physically she's doing what you like to see this time of year. A little bigger and stronger. She seems to be taking her training well and we think she has another move forward in her.”

Columbine Stables' Fannie and Freddie swings back off a recent second behind the undefeated North County in the Untapable Stakes for trainer Al Stall, Jr. The daughter of Malibu Moon won her two-turn debut in the start prior, and she looked home free in the stretch of her stakes debut, only to be run down late.

“That was a really weird weekend for us,” Stall recalled. “We had a few horses turning for home who looked like they were just galloping along and they kind of got run over. We were scratching our head thinking maybe it was just a lack of experience. I don't go that fast with my 2-year-olds, so this time of year we are playing a little bit of catch-up.”

Seventh and ninth sprinting at Saratoga then Keeneland in the first two starts of her career, Fannie and Freddie has really stepped forward since being stretched out.

“She's always been a nice-looking filly, but she's been a little tough in the mental department.” Stall admitted. “She gives me a little trouble saddling. We've been schooling her and she'll go to the paddock again this week. She always breezed like she's somebody, and it seems like the two turns may have been the trick for her.”

With Colby Hernandez back aboard, Fanny and Freddie will break from the rail as the 5-2 co-second choice.

“She'll just come out of there and play it off the break until the quarter-pole, see where she is at from there,” Stall said when asked about the preferred trip. “She can be a little nimble about things, but we really like the way she's doing. Colby (jockey Hernandez) doesn't say a whole lot, but the most positive comment he gave me the whole weekend was after her breeze.”

Nelson McMakin and Aaron Kennedy's Bernabreezy makes her stakes debut in career start number three off an eye-popping local maiden win over 1 1/16 miles for trainer Matt Shirer.

“She's doing awesome,” Shirer said. “There's not a whole lot of pace in that race, so she may have to be a little closer, but I don't want to take anything away from the way she finishes. That last race, she finished really well down the lane. That's kind of how she trains in the mornings. She picks out a target in front of her and goes out and catches those other horses. I think she'll run a big race for us.

In both of her career starts, the daughter of Bernardini has spotted the field lengths with poor breaks.

“We've done a little bit of work with her at the gate,” Shirer said. “She will go stand in there a couple days before the race. She's come out quick from there in the mornings before, it just seems like for some reason in her two races she hesitated a little bit. I'm not too worried about it.”

For the 36-year-old Shirer, the winner of 112 career races (22 percent), Bernabreezy represents an opportunity to compete on the big stage with a young, promising horse that he has developed.

“It's exciting but we've got a lot of races to go before she puts herself in that conversation,” Shirer said. “It's exciting to see what she's capable of. I'm pretty high on her, and I'm usually pretty realistic about the horses I have in the barn and what they are capable of and this filly is as good as I've ever had. Even thinking back to some of the fillies I've worked with as an assistant to (Ken) McPeek, I can't think of a whole lot of them that gallop out the way she does in her breezes. As the races get a little bit longer, she should continue to improve.”

The remainder of the field with post position, jockey/trainer and morning line odds is as follows: Built Wright Stables' Miss Chamita (post three, John McKee/Norm Cash, 15-1 ML), a $50,000 claim who has one win from nine career starts and Don't' Tell My Wife Stables and Keith Desormeaux's supplementary entry Candy Raid (post six, Jose Riquelme/Keith Desormeaux, 15-1 ML). — Kristufek

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Following Sea Earns 100 Beyer Speed Figure For Vosburgh, Mind Control To Start In BC Dirt Mile

Spendthrift Farm's homebred Following Sea matched a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure for his impressive gate-to-wire score in Saturday's $250,000 Grade 2 Vosburgh at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Piloted by Joel Rosario from the outermost post 4 in the six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up, Following Sea broke alertly and established command through splits of :22.59 and a half-mile in :45.24 on the fast main track.

Confidently handled throughout, Following Sea drew off to a 4 3/4-length score over multiple graded stakes winning millionaire Firenze Fire in a final time of 1:09.20.

The victory provided a “Win and You're In” berth to the $2 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint on Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., and also secured Following Sea's sire Runhappy his first graded stakes winner.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said he was pleased with the confident score by the lightly-raced sophomore.

“I wasn't 100 percent sure how the pace scenario was going to unfold,” Pletcher said. “We had the benefit of drawing an outside post, so we didn't have to make any strong commitment one way or the other. When he broke as well as he did, Joel asked him to go and he made the lead pretty effortlessly. I felt pretty confident at that point that he'd run well. He's come out of the race really well.”

Following Sea garnered a 100 Beyer in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance sprint against older company on June 3 in his first start for Pletcher. The talented bay was elevated to second in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Haskell in July at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., before turning back to seven furlongs and finishing third in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 28 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Pletcher said Following Sea could stretch out again in future engagements.

“He's a very talented horse and trains very impressively. He's also galloped out in a fashion that would indicate he might want to run longer at some point,” Pletcher said. “He's very fast and his two wins for us at Belmont were pretty impressive. It seemed like he had a lot left in the tank yesterday. He's a leggy colt, so I think he could continue to improve.”

Pletcher said no decision has been made as of yet regarding a start in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

“We had a brief exchange [with the connections] after the race and haven't committed to anything,” Pletcher said. “Obviously, being a 'Win and You're In' for the Sprint is attractive, but we'll see how the horse bounces back and talk to all the connections and come up with a game plan.”

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Mind Control breezed a half-mile in :50.17 Friday over the Belmont dirt training track in his first work back following a game head score over Silver State in the Parx Dirt Mile on September 25.

“He looked like he was beaten and fought back gamely. It was impressive,” Pletcher said. “He's come back and trained with good energy and enthusiasm like he normally does.”

Mind Control earned a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Sprint for his Grade 2 John A. Nerud score here in July but Pletcher said following discussions with Red Oak Stable racing manager Rick Sacco that they have decided to enter the 5-year-old Stay Thirsty horse in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on November 6 at Del Mar.

“I spoke with Rick Sacco after his breeze here the other day and we're going to give the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile a try,” Pletcher said. “I think as he's gotten older he's indicated that he wants to stretch out a little bit.”

Mind Control, who sports a ledger of 23-9-3-4 with purse earnings in excess of $1.4 million, captured the 2018 Grade 1 Hopeful and 2019 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga. Since being transferred to Pletcher this summer, Mind Control has won 2-of-3 starts, including a head score over Firenze Fire in the seven-furlong Nerud.

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Pletcher will also be represented in the Dirt Mile by CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's Life Is Good. The sophomore son of Into Mischief worked a half-mile Friday in :48.84 over the Belmont dirt training track in his first work back following a decisive 5 1/2-length score in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap on September 25 at Belmont.

“He's doing exceptionally well. He's a very impressive horse to watch train and his breeze was effortless,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher said the running style of Life Is Good, who captured the Grade 3 Sham and Grade 2 San Felipe at Santa Anita this winter for his former conditioner Bob Baffert, should complement that of his stablemate in the Dirt Mile.

“Life is Good is a very fast horse and I'd imagine he would be a significant pace factor and Mind Control would settle off the pace a little bit,” Pletcher said.

Shadwell Stable's multiple Grade 1-winner Malathaat breezed five-eighths in 1:01.42 Friday over the Belmont dirt training track. Pletcher said the regally-bred Curlin filly, out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia, is on target for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff on November 6.

“Just like always, she's a star. She trained well and galloped out strongly,” Pletcher said. “We have a couple more breezes to go, but we're very happy with where she is.”

Malathaat has won 6 of 7 starts, including Grade 1 scores this year in the Ashland at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.; the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.; and the Alabama at Saratoga.

StarLadies Racing's Jordan's Leo breezed a half-mile in :48.55 Saturday on the Belmont inner turf in preparation for the $200,000 Grade 2 Sands Point, a nine-furlong turf test for sophomore fillies on October 16.

By Malibu Moon, the $150,000 Fasig-Tipton July Kentucky Yearling Sale purchase posted a smart nine-furlong turf allowance win in August at the Spa ahead of a prominent second last out in the one-mile Pebbles October 9 on the Belmont lawn.

“She worked well yesterday,” Pletcher said. “I thought her effort in the Pebbles was a good performance, so we'll give her a chance to try again.”

Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Westerberg's Sweet as Pie, a 2-year-old Tapit grey, garnered a 77 Beyer for a rallying 1 1/4-length score sprinting 6 1/2-furlongs in her debut Friday over Big Sandy.

“We were optimistic going in that she would have a good debut,” Pletcher said. “She drew the rail – which is always a concern going 6 1/2-furlongs – but I thought she handled it very professionally and finished up well.”

Out of the stakes-winning Smart Strike mare Treasuring, Sweet as Pie was purchased for $490,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase.

Sweet as Pie will now target the $150,000 Tempted, a one-turn mile that will be contested on November 5 over Big Sandy following Saturday's announcement regarding the three-day extension of the Belmont fall meet.

Pletcher said if all goes well, Sweet as Pie will continue to the nine-furlong $250,000 Grade 2 Demoiselle on December 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., which offers 10-4-2-1 qualifying points for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.

“She has a pedigree that suggests she'd want to run further,” Pletcher said. “It's a good progression for her and the Tempted and Demoiselle could be a nice path for her.”

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