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Dayatthespa proves uncatchable in Filly & Mare Turf
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| Dayatthespa will enter the Fasig-Tipton sales ring Monday night with a huge catalog update
(Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com) |
Jerry Frankel, Ronald Frankel, Steve Laymon and Bradley Thoroughbreds'
Dayatthespa had never tried to carry her speed 1 1/4 miles before Saturday's
Grade 1, $1,840,000
Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, but the 5-1 chance proved the old adage
that pace makes the race. Getting away with tepid splits beneath Javier
Castellano, Dayatthespa spurted away and held off a barrage of closers.
Stablemate Stephanie's Kitten got up for second to round out the exacta for
trainer Chad Brown, while defending champion Dank was fourth.Dayatthespa gave herself a big catalog update ahead of her scheduled sale at
Monday's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November. Coming off a victory in the one-mile
First Lady at Keeneland October 4, she now rates as a leading contender for an
Eclipse Award as champion turf mare.
A five-year-old daughter of City Zip, Dayatthespa hustled to the fore through
an opening quarter in :23 4/5 on the turf listed as good after overnight rain at
Santa Anita. Parranda sat close to prompt, but Dayatthespa was well within herself through
fractions of :48 1/5 and 1:13. Qatar Racing's duo of Secret Gesture and Just the
Judge stalked, while Dank appeared a touch rank early before Ryan Moore got her
to settle.
Turning for home through a mile in 1:36 4/5, Dayatthespa shook free of
Parranda and opened up what turned out to be an insurmountable lead. Dank tried
to lift, but couldn't bridge the gap. Just the Judge kept on at the rail to no
avail. Stephanie's Kitten, who endured a wide trip from post 10, rallied bravely
to edge them both for the runner-up spot, without ever threatening her
victorious stablemate. |
Dayatthespa maintained a 1 1/4-length advantage at the wire and stopped the
clock in 2:00. Her loyalists were rewarded with a $13 win mutuel.
"I thought she could get the distance if we could get away with a slow pace,"
Castellano said. "I was hoping we could go :24, L48, 1:13, and that's exactly
what we did. When we got the three-quarters in 1:13 I thought to myself, 'We're
going to steal this thing,' and we did."
"Javier did an awesome job," Brown said. "He was able to set an easy pace. We
knew that if she got a little tired (on the lead), Stephanie's Kitten would be
coming, so we had it covered either way. I just wish there could be two winners.
Both mares ran terrific."
"I got a good trip," Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez said of Stephanie's
Kitten. "By the second turn, I put her into the race because they started to
slow down in front. I let her get a little closer and thought I had a chance to
win, but the leader kept going. She's (Stephanie's Kitten) very consistent."
Stephanie's Kitten had a half-length to spare over Just the Judge, who headed
Dank for third.
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| Defending champion Dank (center, red sleeves and blue cap) was retired after her fourth-place finish
(Lauren Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com) |
Dank's retirement was announced immediately afterward, according to Twitter
reports.
"She's run a very game race," Dank's trainer, Sir Michael Stoute, said. "They
didn't go fast enough in the middle part of the race for her. Ryan was a little
further back than he wanted to be and had to come wide, but she's tried as
always."
Secret Gesture was another neck away in fifth, followed by Parranda, Abaco,
Fiesolana, Emollient, Rusty Slipper and Irish Mission.
Dayatthespa advanced her scorecard to 18-11-4-0, $2,288,892. Ten of those
victories have come in stakes. Her previous Grade 1 coups came at Keeneland,
with the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup preceding her First Lady triumph.
She has also claimed the 2012 Appalachian over the Lexington, Kentucky, course,
as well as that season's Herecomesthebride and Sweetest Chant at Gulfstream and
the Riskaverse at Saratoga.
The chestnut has also captured a trio of New York-bred stakes, landing the
2013 You Go West Girl at Belmont and the past two editions of the Yaddo at
Saratoga. All four of her second-place finishes have been recorded in stakes --
the 2011 Natalma, the 2013 First Lady and Eatontown and the August 2 De La Rose
in her belated reappearance.
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Bred by Castellare DiCracchiolo Stable, Cracchiolo and Goldsher in the Empire
State, Dayatthespa brought $50,000 as a Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Saratoga
yearling. She is by City Zip and out of the Doc's Leader mare M'Lady Doc, who is
in turn a full sister to Grade 3 victor Phi Beta Doc. This is the family of Clev
Er Tell, the Louisiana Derby and Arkansas Derby winner of 1977; New Zealand
Group 1 sprint star Gold Trail; and Grade 2 victress Tricky Code, the dam of
Japanese champion sprinter and sire Hat Trick.
Click here for the
transcript from the winning connections.
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