Mike Pegram’s homebred PUSSYCAT DOLL (Real Quiet) bided her time as the front
runners dueled through wicked fractions and then kicked into gear on the far
turn, rapidly picking off foes as she approached the stretch drive in Saturday’s
rainy $250,000
La Brea S. (G1)
at Santa Anita. The Bob Baffert-trained filly
caught her tiring stablemate, pacesetter My Miss Storm Cat (Sea of Secrets), and drew off
from runner-up Leave Me Alone (Bold Badgett) through the final sixteenth,
winning the seven-furlong contest by 5 3/4 lengths over the sealed wet-fast
track.
The bay filly followed in the hoofsteps of her dam, Hookedonthefeelin (Citidancer),
who also captured the La Brea in 1999.
A 6 1/4-length winner of Hollywood Park’s Audrey Skirball-Kenis S. in her
last start, Pussycat Doll was patiently handled in the early going while being
kept well off the rail by Garrett Gomez, and Kent Desormeaux had Leave Me Alone
in a perfect stalking position while fifth as My Miss Storm Cat sped through splits
in :21 1/5 and :43 1/5. It was readily apparent that it was going to be a
two-horse race as the closing pair exited the far turn, but Pussycat Doll was moving
better on the far outside and kept her momentum going, quickly drawing clear
after reaching the six-furlong mark in 1:09 and finishing in a commendable 1:21
1/5.
“She handled the track OK, but she wasn’t skipping over it,” Gomez said. “I
let her settle and took my time. I knew there was a lot of speed, and when I
dropped her in at the three-eighths pole, it was just a matter of finding a spot
for her. I did, and she did the rest.”
Off as the near 7-1 fifth choice, the Kentucky-bred winner paid $15.40, $7.20
and $5.80. Leave Me Alone, the 7-2 second favorite among 10 betting interests, returned
$5.40 and $4.20 and finished 4 1/2 lengths better than 22-1 Thrilling Victory
(Event of the Year), who gave back $7.40. The $1 exotics totaled $41.90
(exacta), $695.30 (trifecta) and $3,691.70 for the 13-12-10-2 superfecta, which
included comebacker Sharp Lisa (Dixieland Band) in fourth. Berbatim (Bernstein)
came next under the wire and was followed by Great Intentions (Cat Thief), the
3-1 favorite with entrymate Mystic Chant (Unbridled’s Song); Resident Alien (Bertrando); Trickle of Gold (Formal Gold); My Miss Storm Cat; Simply Because (Seattle Slew);
and Mystic Chant. Shining Energy (Rahy), Soldier’s Kiss (One Man Army) and Three
Degrees (Ire) (Singspiel [Ire]) were all scratched.
Runner-up in the Santa Ysabel S. (G3) to Sweet Catomine nearly 12 months ago, Pussycat Doll
earned her first graded and third overall stakes victory. She captured the Torrey Pines S. at Del Mar in September and has now compiled a bankroll of
$320,823 from an 8-4-1-1 line. The newly turned four-year-old is the first foal
out of Hookedonthefeelin, who earned $488,554 from an 18-7-3-2 mark. The
10-year-old mare has a two-year-old colt named Building Memories (Unbridled’s
Song) and a yearling filly by Vindication.
“She was sitting on a race like this,” Baffert commented. “I was leery
about
running her on this track, but all the riders said it was safe and even.”
The La Brea is the first leg of the La Canada series for fillies, but Baffert
refused to commit Pussycat Doll to the next race, the 1 1/16-mile El Encino S.
(G2) on January 15. The silver-haired conditioner did add, “I’m going to win a
lot of money with her.”