Pizza Bianca Leads BC Returnees in Memories of Silver

Pizza Bianca  will commence her 3-year-old season on closing day at Aqueduct Racetrack, facing a talented but compact field in the $100,000 Memories of Silver Stakes April 24. The Memories of Silver is for sophomore fillies at 1 1/16 miles on the outer turf. 

Pizza Bianca, owned and bred by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, captured last year's Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) at Del Mar, providing trainer Christophe Clement with his first Breeders' Cup score. 

The daughter of Fastnet Rock  was expertly piloted by Jose Ortiz from the rail and was last around the far turn, before weaving her way through traffic and displaying a strong turn of foot to win by a half-length. 

"The Breeders' Cup form is stronger than ever. Two of the fillies who finished second and fourth came back and won in Europe," said Clement, who targets his third straight Memories of Silver score following wins by Feel Glorious  (2019) and Bubbles On Ice  (2021). "Pizza Bianca is doing well. She had a break at Payson Park after the Breeders' Cup and she's training very forwardly so I'm excited to see her run."

While luck was on her side in the Breeders' Cup, Clement noted that her natural talent was also highly instrumental in securing the win. 

"She had an amazing trip. She came from way out of it. Jose took her to last and the inside opened up," Clement said. "Everything worked out perfectly. She had a good ride, good trip, racing luck and she's a good filly. She had a very good turn of foot."

En route to her Breeders' Cup score, Pizza Bianca was a debut winner over the summer at Saratoga Race Course before finishing second in the Natalma Stakes (G1T) in September at Woodbine. 

Pizza Bianca is out of the unraced Galileo  mare White Hot , who Flay purchased overseas at Tattersalls.

Jose Ortiz will be reunited with Pizza Bianca from post 6.

Also making their first start since the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf are Treadway Racing Stable's Sail By  (13th) and Klaravich Stables' Consumer Spending  (sixth). Leah Gyarmati trains the former, and Chad Brown the latter. Both fillies were stakes winners last year as 2-year-olds.

At 6-1 odds, Consumer Spending was a shorter price in the Breeders' Cup than Pizza Bianca, who was dismissed at more than 9-1. Consumer Spending on a maiden race at Saratoga and the Selima Stakes at Laurel Park last year.

Miss You Ella , On Alert , Alittleloveandluck , and main-track-only entrant Waters of Merom  complete the field.

The Memories of Silver is carded as Race 8 on Saturday's nine-race program, which also features the $200,000 NYSSS Park Avenue in Race 3. 

Entries: Memories Of Silver S.

Aqueduct Racetrack, Sunday, April 24, 2022, Race 8

• STK
• 1 1/16m
• Outer turf
• $100,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:01 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1On Alert (KY)	Javier Castellano	118	Claude R. McGaughey III	10/1
2	2Waters of Merom (KY)	Dylan Davis	120	Linda Rice	4/1
3	3Miss You Ella (PA)	Trevor McCarthy	118	Chad C. Brown	8/1
4	4Alittleloveandluck (FL)	Kendrick Carmouche	122	Michael Dini	10/1
5	5Sail By (KY)	Jose Lezcano	122	Leah Gyarmati	12/1
6	6Pizza Bianca (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	122	Christophe Clement	3/5
7	7Consumer Spending (KY)	Manuel Franco	122	Chad C. Brown	5/2