Saturday's $75,000 Joseph E. Spanky Broussard, run at one mile and 70 yards at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., drew a compact yet stellar field of three and 4-year-old fillies. To hear trainer Larry Jones tell it, Fox Hill Farms Inc's Whoa Nellie will only be getting started when they hit the finish line.
“As we say, her name is Whoa Nellie, so getting her pulled up after her gallops and races is like 'Woah Nellie,'” Jones said. “She'll run all day and her forte is to go two turns.”
Whoa Nellie (post 1 at 8-5 with Florent Geroux) has blossomed since being stretched out over a route of ground and Jones is hoping to use the Broussard as a stepping-stone to what he hopes will be a big 2021 campaign. The 4-year-old daughter of Orb was a solid one-turn allowance performer to start her career but she took her game to a new level last winter when sent two turns. She won the Pippin at Oaklawn Park in January and then was second, beaten just a neck, in a Bayakoa (G3) in February.
“She showed in the Pippin and coming back in the Bayakoa this is what she is and we think her 5-year-old year could be a very big year for her,” Jones said. “She has learned to settle early and sits well now until we're ready to go. Needless to say, being by Orb and (out of a Medaglia d'Oro mare), distance is not an issue for her.”
Whoa Nellie, who is 5-for-11 lifetime, missed nine months after the Bayakoa and came back to run third in Churchill Downs' one-turn Chilukki (G3) Nov. 21, where she spotted recency to local Rachel Alexandra (G2) heroine and multiple graded stakes winner Finite. She made a bold middle-move before flattening out a bit late. The effort left Jones feeling very confident moving forward.
“She's better now than she was then,” Jones said. “Coming into that Chilukki off a nine-month layoff, that was not an easy task, and for her to run that well and against those horses, and to finish as well as she did, that race should tighten her up really well.”
Hoffman Family Racing LLC and Steve Landry's Beautiful Trauma (post 3 at 9-5 with James Graham) looms the one to catch, as she enters off a gate-to-wire win in an optional-claimer November 12 at Churchill for trainer Tom Amoss. The 3-year-old daughter of Tapiture is 3-for-7 lifetime but will make her stakes debut in the Broussard. She is familiar with the local main track, having won an off-the-turf optional-claimer here 370 days ago by 16 lengths.
Phoenix Thoroughbred III Ltd's Lady Apple (post 5 at 3-1 with Adam Beschizza) is looking to find the form that has earlier netted her a quartet of grade 3 wins for trainer Steve Asmussen. The 4-year-old daughter of Curlin was 5-for-7 in 2019, and won the Houston Ladies Classic (G3) at Sam Houston to kick off her season in January, but she is winless in five starts since. Lady Apple is 6-for-17 lifetime, with $1.038 million in earnings, and she gets back to the main track after running fourth in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3) Sept. 12.
Completing the Joseph E. Spanky Broussard Memorial from the rail out: Four Lawn Chairs LLC's Longpants Required (post 2 at 20-1 with Shaun Bridgmohan), who broke her maiden two-back at Churchill for trainer Brendan Walsh; La Nora LLC's Joy Epifora (post 4 at 8-1 with Brian Hernandez Jr.), a G1 winner in her native Argentina but winless in four U.S. starts for trainer Ignacio Correas; and Rigney Racing LLC's Singita Dreams (post 6 at 12-1 with Miguel Mena), who won an off-the-turf optional-claimer two-back at Churchill for trainer Phil Bauer.
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