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Casse Points Souper Sensational To Test Stakes At Saratoga

After acing a proverbial quiz with a 3 1/4-length win in Saturday's Grade 3 Victory Ride at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said Souper Sensational could now be ready for a test – the $500,000 Grade 1 Longines Test on August 7 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. that is – after coming out of her effort yesterday in good order.

Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational notched her first career graded stakes score when going five-wide in the upper stretch and surging home under jockey Flavien Prat to win the 6 1/2-furlong main track sprint for 3-year-old fillies. Her win over Ova Charged earned the Curlin filly a personal-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure as she improved her career record to 3-1-1 in seven starts.

Casse had Souper Sensational on the trail for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks earlier in her sophomore campaign, where she finished third in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks in March over a fast track. In her last start, she ran fourth in the Grade 2 Eight Belles in April at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., also over a fast track. The Victory Ride was the first time Souper Sensational ran over a track rated good.

“She's always shown a lot of talent,” said Casse. “We tried to get her to the Oaks and maybe in retrospect, she might just be a good sprinter type or going a mile. But the race set up for her yesterday and Flavien rode her well. She was impressive.”

In the Eight Belles, Hall of Famer John Velazquez was aboard for the seven-furlong sprint, and the veteran rider told Casse afterward he was disappointed in the effort based on Souper Sensational's ability.

“She trained really well into this race. [Assistant trainer] David Carroll, who had her for me at Louisville, thought she trained as well, if not better, than ever coming into the race, and he was right,” Casse said. “The last time she ran at Churchill, Johnny came back and was very frustrated. He said he was following a horse and a horse stopped in front of him and said we should have done a lot better than she did.

“So, we gave her a little break. She had been running hard,” Casse added. “I gave her just a little training beak. Sometimes you don't have to go home to get a break. We just didn't do anything with her for a little while. After the race at Churchill, our goal was the Test, and I figured, what's the best way to get to that race?' And yesterday was a great step.”

The G1 Longines Test for sophomore fillies is held at seven furlongs. Casse said Souper Sensational was headed upstate to Saratoga Springs to begin training for that contest next month.

“She got a 95 Beyer, which is very good for a 3-year-old filly. If you consider the wide trip too, it was impressive,” Casse said reflecting on the Victory Ride. “She's now headed to Saratoga this morning and we'll look at the Test.”

John C. Oxley's Palazzi had a troubled trip and finished sixth in Saturday's $1 million Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational at 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf. After breaking from the inside post under Tyler Gaffalione in the nine-horse field, Palazzi could not find racing room until it was too late, finishing 3 1/4 lengths behind winner Bolshoi Ballet. It was the third time in six starts Palazzi drew the inside post in a stakes race.

“Poor Palazzi, he can't catch a break,” Casse said. “He drew the one-hole again and there wasn't anything Tyler did wrong, but there was nowhere to go and there was too much to do when he finally got loose. I guess we'll go to the next big one in Saratoga.”

With the Belmont Derby Invitational serving as the first leg of the Turf Triple series, the “big one” at Saratoga will host the middle jewel of the series, with the $1 million Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational at 1 3/16 miles set for Whitney Day on August 7.

Casse's other entry in a Turf Triple race, Spanish Loveaffair, ran last-of-eight in the $700,000 Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf. Casse didn't pick up a next spot yet but said a shorter distance could suit the Karakontie filly better. Spanish Loveaffair is owned by Gary Barber, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Michael Hernon.

“I just think we're going to cut her back and go a mile,” Casse said. “She wants a race where there's a little more pace. The problem is the further you run, the less pace there is. She was just too rambunctious early on yesterday.”

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‘We’ll See How Far She Can Carry That Speed’: Baffert Thrilled With Gamine Ahead Of Kentucky Oaks

Taking to the Churchill Downs surface at 9 a.m., Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine, the even-money, morning line favorite for the Kentucky Oaks, put in her final routine gallop under Humberto Gomez on Thursday as she aims to give trainer Bob Baffert his fourth win in the signature race for 3-year-old fillies. Should the daughter of Into Mischief prevail Friday, it would mark the first time Baffert has won the Oaks with the favorite since Silverbulletday achieved that feat in 1999.

“I thought (champion) Indian Blessing was brilliant but this filly, what she's done is amazing,” Baffert said of Gamine. “Her Acorn (an 18 ¾-length win) was….I did not expect that. And in the Test, she was probably training even better heading into that. She's doing well. We'll see how far she can carry that speed.”

Gamine heads into the Oaks have captured the Acorn (GI) and Test Stakes (GI) in her past two outings by a combined 25 ¾ lengths. Should her brilliance carry her to victory in the Oaks, she would also put Baffert in position to become the first trainer to notch the Oaks-Derby double since Ben Jones achieved the feat in 1952. Baffert has two entrants in the Kentucky Derby with Grade 1 winner Authentic and multiple graded stakes winner Thousand Words.

“Right now, I'm just trying to get them there,” Baffert said. “I took baby steps with (Gamine). Now that she's done what she's done, her resume looks great. She just needs to add the Oaks and that would be the cherry on top.”

Petersen purchased Gamine for $1.8 million out of the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds Training Sale and a win Friday would make her the highest-priced Oaks winner sold at public auction since Rags to Riches — a $1.9 million yearling purchase — was victorious in 2007.

“She's just a real elegant looking filly, a lot of leg on her,” Baffert said. “She looked like a queen (at the sale). We call her Queen Gamine. You don't know how they're going to pan out but once we started working with her, she showed right off the bat that she was going to be something special. But I had trouble getting her (entered in a race) because everybody knew about her at Santa Anita. It took me a month to get her in. Every time I entered her, they knew she was in there.”

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Gamine Rolls To Daylight Victory In Test; 1:20.83 For Seven Panels Equals Stakes Record

Showing the same brilliance she demonstrated last out in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes that she won by 18 3/4 lengths, Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine romped to another daylight victory under John Velazquez in Saturday's Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief fought off Grade 2 winner Venetian Harbor through fractions of :22.70, :45.14 and 1:08.61 en route to a final clocking of 1:20.83 for seven furlongs on a fast track, equaling Lady Tak's stakes record in 2003 and falling two-fifths of a second short of the 1:20.40 Saratoga track record set in 1978 by Darby Creek Road.

Venetian Harbor held second, beaten seven lengths, with stakes winner Up in Smoke third, Grade 1 winner Spinaway winner Perfect Alibi fourth and Mrs. Danvers last in the field of five 3-year-olds fillies.

Venetian Harbor was the 1-5 favorite off her victory in the Acorn.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Gamine was picked out of the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in training by bloodstock agent Donato Lanni on behalf of Petersen, a Baltimore-area resident. She won her debut at Santa Anita by 6 1/4 lengths on March 7, then was first across the wire by a neck in an Oaklawn allowance race May 2. She was subsequently disqualified from that win after a post-race test detected lidocaine, a disqualification that has been appealed to the Arkansas Racing Commission.

Baffert then shipped Gamine to New York twice from his southern California stable where she rolled to her two Grade 1 victories.

Gamine, out of the Kafwain mare, Peggy Jane, was bred in Kentucky by Grace Thoroughbred Holdings.

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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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