Cheermeister Leads the Crowd in Sweetest Chant

Rematched with some of her rivals after a disappointing 10th-place finish in the Ginger Brew Stakes, Cheermeister showed how much more effective she can be when allowed to dictate terms. Under Emisael Jaramillo in the $100,000 Sweetest Chant Stakes (G3T) Feb. 1 at Gulfstream Park, she controlled the tempo and the race, winning by three-quarters of a length over rapid-finishing Micheline.

Racing on a damp turf course rated good, Cheermeister set splits of :24.24, :49.57, and 1:13.64, which left her with enough left to spurt away at the head of the stretch in the one-mile race. Though Micheline and third-place Ivyetsu cut into her lead in the final furlong, it was too late. Cheermeister completed the distance in 1:37.25 and paid $17.20 on a $2 win wager.

Video: Sweetest Chant S. (G3T)

"I thought she was going to win last time, but she got very nervous in the gate and in the paddock, too," said trainer Armando De La Cerda, who emphasized gate schooling prior to Saturday's race.

Following Ivyetsu across the wire was second choice She's My Type, who loomed at the head of the stretch before flattening out to settle for fourth. The Jan. 4 Ginger Brew winner at Gulfstream was keen around the first of two turns. 

Bred in Kentucky by Mike Abraham, Cheermeister is a daughter of Bodemeister  out of the Ghostzapper mare Kuhlu. She is the third winner from her dam.

The winner has gone through the sales ring three times, first falling short of her reserve when bidding stalled at $30,000 during The July Sale, Fasig-Tipton's selected yearling sale in Lexington, when auctioned as part of the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment. Reentered at The October Sale, another Fasig-Tipton yearling sale, with Taylor Made again consigning, she sold for $20,000 to Nick Palmer, agent.

At 2, her reserve was not attained with a final bid of $195,000 during the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training from the consignment of Winner's Circle Thoroughbreds.

Cheermeister improved her record to 3-for-4 and her earnings to $129,200 for owners David and Teresa Palmer. The Sweetest Chant was her first graded win and second stakes win following another frontrunning score in the Nov. 30 Wait a While Stakes at Gulfstream.

"She's been kind of a farm favorite. We broke her and trained her at Winner's Circle Thoroughbreds," David Palmer said shortly after the race. "I'm a little disappointed that my wife and son and daughter couldn't be here. They were very involved in her handling."



Field Pass Finds a Way

Also on the Saturday card, Field Pass won Gulfstream's counterpart race for 3-year-old males, the $100,000 Dania Beach Stakes, also at a mile on turf.

Desperate for room leaving the second turn after saving ground, jockey Paco Lopez was able to find a seam in the stretch and urged Field Pass forward for a neck victory. A gray son of Lemon Drop Kid  owned by Three Diamonds Farm and trained by Mike Maker, he completed a mile in 1:35.70—more than a second and a half faster than Cheermeister—and paid $26.60 to win.

Get Smokin held second, just ahead of show finisher South Bend and fourth-place Myamanoi in a tight finish. 

Video: Dania Beach S. (BT)