Juddmonte Farms’ homebred Emollient had been underachieving in 2014, but the
addition of blinkers had the desired effect in Saturday’s Grade 1, $301,750
Rodeo
Drive at Santa Anita.
Finishing with newfound purpose to wear down Parranda, the Bill Mott trainee
prevailed in this “Win & You’re In” for the
Breeders’ Cup Filly &
Mare Turf over the same course and 1 1/4-mile distance.
The Rodeo Drive was marred by a frightening spill on the far turn, when
Moulin de Mougin slipped and tossed Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith. Immediate
reports on social media indicated that horse and rider apparently escaped
serious injury. Smith was fit to ride unbeaten champion Shared Belief to a gutsy
win in the next race, the Awesome Again.
Emollient, who was listed at 6-1 on the morning line, was dispatched as the
3-1 favorite. Although the new headgear might have been expected to make her
more aggressive early, she did not get away particularly fast, and jockey Rosie
Napravnik nestled her in midpack.
Bunairgead, the 73-1 longest shot on the board, took up the pacesetting role
and dictated soft fractions of :24 1/5, :48 4/5 and 1:13 3/5. Parranda kept
close tabs in a prompting second, and Miss Serendipity stalked out in the clear.
Irish Mission, initially accompanying Emollient in midpack, lost her position
and found herself third from last entering the far turn.
Moulin de Mougin had been unhurried at the rear of the field. Commencing a
circling move on the far turn, the John C. Mabee winner looked ready to make her
presence felt in the stretch. Then she suddenly fell. Thankfully, she bounced
right back to her feet and cantered off.
Meanwhile, at the head of proceedings, Parranda took over from the retreating
Bunairgead turning into the stretch. But Emollient was rallying strongly in the
clear and soon accosted the new leader. Although Parranda gamely attempted to
fight back once headed, Emollient kept her at bay by a half-length, stopped the
clock in 2:00 1/5, and paid $8.40.
“She didn’t break really sharp and she usually gets upset if she’s in tight
with horses, but Rosie did a heck of a job getting her to settle,” assistant
trainer David Lively said.
“I had so much horse I knew I could wait until something opened up,”
Napravnik said of being bottled up in traffic early. “I was in a good position
and could see where the holes were going to open up and she was really on her
game today.
“When I rode her last time (near-miss in the May 16 Gamely), she did the same
thing and when I asked her, she was ready. I’m very thankful to Juddmonte and to
Bill Mott to have me on her again.”
Irish Mission stayed on resolutely to force a dead-heat for third with Rusty
Slipper. Bee Brave checked in fifth, followed by Cozze Up Lady, Queen of the
Sand, Famous Alice, Bunairgead, Scarlet Strike and a disappointing Miss
Serendipity. Charlie Em was withdrawn, and Stormy Lucy was a late scratch on the
track.
With this fourth Grade 1 trophy on her mantle, Emollient sports a mark of
17-6-3-1, $1,350,400. Runner-up in the 2012 Demoiselle on the Aqueduct dirt, the
Kentucky-bred thrived on the switch to Keeneland’s Polytrack in the 2013 Ashland
and crushed her rivals by nine front-running lengths. She made her turf debut in
last summer’s American Oaks at Hollywood, where she ground out a half-length
decision. Emollient earned her third Grade 1 victory in the Spinster back at
Keeneland, rallying from last to first on the Polytrack.
Emollient concluded her sophomore season with a fine fourth in the Breeders’
Cup Filly & Mare Turf, suggesting that she’d be a top performer in the division
this year. But she had gone winless in her five outings until the Rodeo Drive.
Fourth in the March 16 Santa Ana here in her reappearance, she was outgamed when
third in the April 18 Dougledogdare, a loss that dispelled her aura of
invincibility on Keeneland’s Polytrack. Emollient shipped west again for the
Gamely and performed much better, only to be nipped late by Miss Serendipity.
She was a troubled ninth next time in the July 19 Diana at Saratoga, and
retreated to ninth again in the August 16 Beverly D. at Arlington, prompting the
equipment change.
“She loves this hard surface here — I think that’s what it is,” Lively said
of her solid efforts at Santa Anita. “She shipped in really well and was calm
and she’s had her game face on since she got off the van.
“We’re here for a couple more days then we’ll be shipping back to New York.
We’ll ship back for Breeders’ Cup. That’s the plan right now.”
Her Rodeo Drive victory capped a big hour for her sire Empire Maker, who was
exported to Japan in 2011. One race earlier, leading West Coast juvenile
American Pharoah — by the Empire Maker stallion Pioneerof the Nile — rolled in
the FrontRunner Stakes.
Emollient is out of the Touch Gold mare Soothing Touch. Her second dam is
Grade 2-placed stakes victress Glia, and her third dam is multiple Group
1-winning French highweight Coup de Genie. Herself a full sister to French
champion and influential sire Machiavellian, Coup de Genie is responsible for
four stakes winners, led by French highweight Denebola, and her other
descendants include 2004 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-winning champion Bago and
multiple Group 1 star Maxios.
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