Gamine Carries High Weight, Expectations in Ballerina
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Gamine wins the Great Lady M Stakes by 10 lengths at Los Alamitos Race Course
Gamine appears, on paper, to be lengths the best in the $500,000 Ketel One Ballerina Handicap (G1) Aug. 28 at Saratoga Race Course.
The Saratoga racing office thought as much, too. Under handicap assignments, she shoulders high weight of 126 pounds, spotting her six foes from three to 10 pounds.
An inside draw would appear a non-issue with an alert beginning. Gamine is the controlling speed of the seven-furlong race.
Michael Lund Petersen's star filly has never lost a one-turn race and equaled the stakes record with seven furlongs in 1:20.83 in last summer's Longines Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. She also won the Longines Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Keeneland on her way to becoming champion female sprinter.
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The Bob Baffert trainee's lone defeat in nine starts came in the 1 1/8-mile Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs last September. There, she crossed the wire third and was ultimately disqualified and placed last for testing positive for betamethasone, the same prohibited race-day medication later found in the post-race samples of Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) first-place finisher Medina Spirit this spring.
This year the 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief is 3-for-3, having won the Las Flores Stakes (G3), Derby City Distaff Stakes Presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery (G1), and Great Lady M Stakes (G2).
"She's filled out and she looks good and she's been working well, so we wouldn't send her unless we thought she was doing really well," Baffert said. "We're excited about it. She always runs well when she goes back East. She likes the Eastern tracks."
She is among four entries for Baffert at Saratoga Aug. 27-28. Earlier meet starters for the trainer were Illumination , who ran sixth in the Aug. 7 Test, and Fenway , fifth in a maiden race Aug. 19.
New York-based rider John Velazquez has made two trips to California to ride Gamine this year, including to a last-out stroll by 10 lengths in the July 5 Great Lady M at Los Alamitos Race Course.
"She's just brilliant, just a brilliant filly," Baffert said.
The Hall of Fame trainer previously won the Ballerina with Marley's Freedom in 2018. Fellow Hall of Famer Velazquez is a four-time Ballerina winner.
Another West Coast raider is Bo Hirsch's 5-year-old homebred mare Ce Ce , who captured the Princess Rooney Stakes (G2) July 3 at Gulfstream Park under Victor Espinoza. She defeated runner-up and fellow Ballerina entrant Estilo Talentoso by 3 1/4 lengths after the latter broke poorly.
"I thought the racetrack would be to her liking down there. Victor gave her a great ride, and we got a wonderful setup," trainer Michael McCarthy said.
The Elusive Quality mare also captured the Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park and 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park in the spring of 2020. Not until the Princess Rooney this summer did she score another stakes victory.
Medallion Racing, Barry Fowler, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Little Red Feather Racing, and BlackRidge Stables' Estilo Talentoso also looms a threat with an alert break. She twice placed in grade 1s this spring and won the Bed o' Roses Stakes (G3) prior to her loss in the Princess Rooney.
Both she and Lloyd Madison Farms' graded stakes winner Sconsin chased Gamine in vain in the Derby City Distaff at Churchill May 1.
Lake Avenue , Casual , and Truth Hurts complete the Ballerina, a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 28, 2021, Race 7Entries: Ketel One Ballerina H. (G1)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Gamine (KY)
John R. Velazquez
126
Bob Baffert
3/5
2
2Lake Avenue (KY)
Junior Alvarado
119
William I. Mott
12/1
3
3Casual (KY)
Ricardo Santana, Jr.
116
Steven M. Asmussen
15/1
4
4Truth Hurts (ON)
Joel Rosario
114
Chad Summers
50/1
5
5Sconsin (KY)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
120
Gregory D. Foley
9/2
6
6Estilo Talentoso (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
119
Juan Arriagada
8/1
7
7Ce Ce (KY)
Victor Espinoza
123
Michael W. McCarthy
4/1
