Life Talk Silences Foes in Demoiselle Romp
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Life Talk wins the Demoiselle Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Repole Stable's Life Talk continued to climb the ladder of progress with a flashy frontrunning victory in the $250,000 Demoiselle Stakes (G2) Dec. 2 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The 2-year-old Gun Runner filly was returning to the races only a month removed from a solid fourth-place effort behind familiar foe Just F Y I in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita Park. The pair had previously clashed in the Oct. 7 Frizette (G1), with Just F Y I again getting the upper hand on Life Talk, who was third in the Belmont slop.
Despite the intensity of her last two starts and the cross-country trip to California, Life Talk looked no worse for wear when parading to the gate for the 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle. Facing a sealed muddy track, jockey Irad Ortiz sent Life Talk to the front on Pletcher's instructions.
"He (Todd Pletcher) told me try to be close, even if you have to use a little more, be a little more aggressive to stay close," Ortiz said. "(There was) Not that much speed in the race so the way she break, I said I'm going to take the lead, so I'm going to let her do her thing and I don't want to fight too much with her."
Life Talk skipped on the lead through moderate early fractions of :24.10, :48.65, and 1:13.10. Shimmering Allure , an impressive last-to-first victress of the Tempted Stakes at the Big A last month, appeared she might make a race of it turning for home. The Kenny McPeek trainee rallied boldly from mid-pack to sweep into contention at the quarter pole but Life Talk quickly repelled her looming challenge, opening up two lengths down the lane.
Hugging the rail as she glided to the wire, Life Talk ($4) splashed home 3 3/4 lengths in a final time of 1:51.10.
"It is great to see her back in this performance because it was a great race (in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, because she ran so good to get beat last time," Ortiz said. "She's learning every time she runs. We saw a little more experience so I think it helps, because she broke so clear, I didn't have to use her too much, she was full of energy by the quarter pole."
Shimmering Allure was a length clear of Dolomite in third.
An impressive second-out maiden winner at Saratoga Race Course in August, Life Talk posted her first stakes win in the Demoiselle. She collected 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Shimmering Allure (5), Dolomite (3), and fourth and fifth-place finishers Most of All (2) and Caldwell Luvs Gold (1) also earned points.
Bred in Kentucky by Gun Runner Syndicate, Mulholland Springs, and Tom Grether Farms, Life Talk is the third winner produced from the Bernardini mare Touchy Feely. Repole acquired her for $335,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the St George Sales consignment.
Life Talk is by current 2023 leading third crop sire Gun Runner . She became the son of Candy Ride 's eleventh-graded winner this year. Gun Runner will stand the 2024 breeding season at Three Chimneys Farm for a fee of $250,000.