Champion Ce Ce to Face Shedaresthedevil in Azeri
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Photo: Edward Whitaker/Racing Post
Ce Ce wins the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar
Although Ce Ce is a champion sprinter, seeing her in a two-turn race is not an oddity.
Especially at Oaklawn Park.
Two years ago, the 2021 champion female sprinter captured the 2020 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at 1 1/16 miles and trainer Michael McCarthy would love nothing better than to add a second Apple Blossom win at the Hot Springs, Ark., racetrack to his 6-year-old mare's resume.
For that very reason, McCarthy entered owner Bo Hirsch's champion daughter of Elusive Quality in the March 12 $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) for fillies and mares at Oaklawn to give the California-based mare a solid prep for the April 23 $1 million Apple Blossom in Saturday's 1 1/16-mile stakes.
"This time of year in California there are not many one-turn opportunities for her," McCarthy said. "So, we started thinking about going back to Oaklawn to see if we could make it back to the Apple Blossom and use the Azeri as a barometer to see where she's at."
Ce Ce, who won the 2021 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar en route to an Eclipse Award, is coming off a runner-up finish, three lengths behind Merneith in the seven-furlong Feb. 5 Santa Monica Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park while racing for the first time since the World Championships.
"She's training very well for the Azeri," McCarthy said about the homebred daughter of the Belong to Me mare Miss Houdini . "Her work the other day (:59.80 March 5) was very good. I like where we are," McCarthy said. "We've had a hard time finding a racetrack she likes, but Oaklawn has proven to be one and the timing makes sense."
The Azeri promises to be anything but a layup for Ce Ce, whose eight rivals include 2021 Azeri winner Shedaresthedevil , one of the top distance females in training.
"At this time of year, when they are giving away money like this, you don't expect them to be easy," McCarthy said.
Multiple grade 1 winner Shedaresthedevil prevailed in the 2020 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) for trainer Brad Cox and her victory in last year's Azeri was one of the most thrilling races of the year as she scored by a head after a lively stretch duel with 2021 champion older dirt female Letruska .
The Daredevil 5-year-old will be making her first start since she chased a brutal pace in the Nov. 6 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) and finished sixth in her lone unplaced 2021 finish for the ownership group of Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing Limited, and Big Aut Farms.
"She's really doing well," Cox said. "She looks amazing and her works have been great. I'm excited to get her 2022 campaign started."
Shedaresthedevil has won 9 of 17 starts (three of them in grade 1 stakes) with earnings of $2,331,458. The daughter of the Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed was bred by WinStar Farm and was purchased for $280,000 by Flurry from the Hunter Valley Farm consignment at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
She was entered in the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale but was bought back as new partnership for $5 million by Flurry, Qatar, and Whisper Hill Farm. The ownership group is currently listed as Flurry, Qatar, and Big Aut.
The field of nine also includes Stonestreet Stables' Pauline's Pearl , a Tapit filly trained by Steve Asmussen who won the Houston Ladies Classic (G3), and Exline-Border Racing, SAF Racing, and Richard Hausman's Lady Mystify , a Bernardini filly trained by Peter Eurton who was second to Pauline's Pearl in last year's Zia Park Oaks after beating her before that in the Remington Park Oaks (G3).
Oaklawn Park, Saturday, March 12, 2022, Race 9Entries: Azeri S. (G2)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1She's All Wolfe (OK)
Francisco Arrieta
121
Donnie K. Von Hemel
12/1
2
2Pauline's Pearl (KY)
Joel Rosario
124
Steven M. Asmussen
7/2
3
3Lavender (IRE)
Ramon A. Vazquez
117
Shawn H. Davis
20/1
4
4Ava's Grace (KY)
David Cohen
117
Robertino Diodoro
12/1
5
5Ce Ce (KY)
Victor Espinoza
117
Michael W. McCarthy
3/1
6
6Lady Mystify (KY)
Mario Gutierrez
119
Peter Eurton
4/1
7
7Shedaresthedevil (KY)
Florent Geroux
119
Brad H. Cox
5/2
8
8Golden Curl (KY)
David Cabrera
119
Shawn H. Davis
12/1
9
9Super Quick (KY)
Joseph Talamo
121
Norm W. Casse
10/1
