Mrs. Sippy Spells Trouble for TVG Stakes Foes
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Photo: Skip Dickstein/Tim Lanahan
Mrs. Sippy wins the 2019 Glens Falls at Saratoga Race Course
For a long-distance female grass horse, stakes races are few and far between, particularly the half-million-dollar variety. But one such test looms at Kentucky Downs Sept. 12 with the TVG Stakes, a 1 5/16-mile race that is one lap around the pear-shaped, all-grass oval.
The race is the first of three stakes Sunday on the Franklin track, kicking off a late pick 3 that is followed by the $400,000 Untapable Stakes for 2-year-old fillies sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs and the $400,000 Music City Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at the same distance.
Despite a purse of $500,000, the TVG drew a field of only six, and a couple of its entrants, Theodora B. and English Affair, could end up in alternative races after being cross-entered in other stakes Sept. 12.
Regardless of whether they stay or go, Mrs. Sippy will be favored. Imported to the U.S. last summer, she won the 2019 Glen Falls Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course before running second to Sistercharlie in the Flower Bowl Stakes (G1T) last fall. Then after failing to keep pace in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly And Mare Turf (G1T) at Santa Anita Park, where she was ninth, she returned this summer with a second in the Waya Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Aug. 8.
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"Between the (COVID-19) situation and we had a tie-up with her one day, so she didn't have ideal preparation," trainer Graham Motion said of her comeback in the Waya, in which she was beaten a neck. "So I'd like to think that race will move her forward.
"This race has kind of been on the radar since then. It's logical from a timing point of view. Financially, it's a very lucrative purse."
A 5-year-old daughter of Blame owned and bred by Andrew Stone, Mrs. Sippy is untested at Kentucky Downs, but having made nine starts in Britain or France is experienced on a variety of courses with lengthy stretch runs.
Joel Rosario, her jockey for all four of her U.S. starts, retains the mount.
If they start, Theodora B. and English Affair appear her main adversaries. The field is completed by Delta's Kingdom, Siberian Iris, and Over Thinking.
Contention runs deeper in the remaining two stakes with 11 entries in the Untapable and an overflow field of 12 entries and four also-eligibles in the Music City.
Red Ghost is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the Untapable after winning first out under Jose Ortiz at Saratoga by 8 1/2 lengths Aug. 30 in a race taken off the grass and moved to the main tack. Ortiz returns in the irons Sunday. The Doug Scharbauer-owned daughter of Ghostzapper is one of eight last-out maiden winners in the lineup.
Lady Goldstart, Lady Edith, La Libertee, and Emro—coming off debut victories at Ellis Park—are among her leading rivals.
The Ward-trained Kimari is the star attraction in the Music City, though she is not certain to run. She was also entered in the Sept. 12 Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint Stakes (G3T) against older mares and the Sept. 16 Franklin-Simpson Stakes (G3T) vs. open 3-year-olds.
Ward said the afternoon of Sept. 11 that she would be scratched from the Ladies Sprint but that a decision would not be made until Friday night regarding whether to run her in the Music City or the Franklin-Simpson. The daughter of Munnings is owned by Ten Broeck Farm.
A three-time stakes winner in the U.S., she was sent overseas this summer and ran second in the Commonwealth Cup (G1) at Royal Ascot June 19. She was beaten a length and a half by Golden Horde in a field of 16.
"She got left at the gate," Ward said. "Take nothing away from the winner, but I wish we could have (broken) with him. I think we'd have been around there at the end in front. But she ran a great race."
Irad Ortiz Jr. has been named to ride in the Music City.
Stakes winners on grass this summer, Enola Gay and She's My Type head the opposition.
Kentucky Downs, Sunday, September 13, 2020, Race 9Entries: TVG S.
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Delta's Kingdom (KY)
Florent Geroux
122
William I. Mott
20/1
2
2Theodora B. (KY)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
126
Michael W. Dickinson
5/2
3
3Mrs. Sippy (KY)
Joel Rosario
122
H. Graham Motion
1/1
4
4English Affair (KY)
Rafael Bejarano
122
George R. Arnold, II
7/2
5
5Siberian Iris (IRE)
Flavien Prat
122
Richard E. Mandella
12/1
6
6Over Thinking (KY)
Luis Saez
122
Victoria H. Oliver
8/1
Kentucky Downs, Sunday, September 13, 2020, Race 10Entries: Untapable S.
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Lady Goldstart (KY)
Chris Landeros
120
Ian R. Wilkes
8/1
2
2Taylor's Tourist (KY)
Florent Geroux
120
Scott Gelner
12/1
3
3Red Ghost (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
120
Wesley A. Ward
3/1
4
4Becca's Bouquet (KY)
Robby Albarado
120
Scott Gelner
20/1
5
5Herald Angel (NY)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
118
Michael J. Maker
12/1
6
6Kewpie Doll (KY)
Tyler Gaffalione
120
Cathal A. Lynch
20/1
7
7Fouzia (KY)
Julien R. Leparoux
120
Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
20/1
8
8Lady Edith (KY)
Colby J. Hernandez
120
Thomas Drury, Jr.
6/1
9
9Mad Maddy (KY)
Ricardo Santana, Jr.
118
Steven M. Asmussen
8/1
10
10La Libertee (KY)
Adam Beschizza
120
Mark E. Casse
9/2
11
11Emro (KY)
Shaun Bridgmohan
120
Brad H. Cox
6/1
Kentucky Downs, Sunday, September 13, 2020, Race 11Entries: Music City S.
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Lucrezia (KY)
James Graham
118
Arnaud Delacour
12/1
2
2Outburst (GB)
Florent Geroux
124
Eddie Kenneally
20/1
3
3Mom's Red Lipstick (KY)
Ricardo Santana, Jr.
118
Chris M. Block
30/1
4
4Bredenbury (IRE)
Luis Saez
122
H. Graham Motion
12/1
5
5Enola Gay (KY)
Julien R. Leparoux
124
Claude R. McGaughey III
9/2
6
6She's My Type (FR)
Joel Rosario
122
Christophe Clement
5/1
7
7She's So Special (KY)
Flavien Prat
122
Peter Miller
12/1
8
8Finite (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
118
Steven M. Asmussen
8/1
9
9Lighthouse (KY)
UMBERTO RISPOLI
118
Simon Callaghan
8/1
10
10Kimari (KY)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
122
Wesley A. Ward
3/1
11
11Miss J McKay (MD)
Tyler Gaffalione
122
Cathal A. Lynch
10/1
12
12Hear My Prayer (FL)
Rafael Bejarano
122
David Fisher
30/1
13
13Fashionable Lady (KY)
Florent Geroux
118
Michael Ann Ewing
30/1
14
14Evil Lyn (KY)
Shaun Bridgmohan
118
Michael J. Maker
20/1
15
15Poseidon's Passion (FL)
Mitchell Murrill
118
James M. Gulick
30/1
16
16Lucky Jingle (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
118
H. Graham Motion
30/1