Cathryn Sophia Voted Top Midlantic-Bred for 2016

Maryland-bred Cathryn Sophia has earned the Mid-Atlanic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz Top Midlantic-bred title for 2016.

Stellar Wind's bid to repeat as the top horse bred in the mid-Atlantic region fell just short of Cathryn Sophia, who finished ahead of the 2015 winner and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) winner Finest City to earn the honors.

The Mid-Atlanic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz Top Midlantic-bred poll is comprised of some two dozen media members and other participants in Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred racing.

The top three horses represent three different states and account for seven combined graded stakes victories in 2016, four at the grade 1 level.

"What a great year for horses bred in the Mid-Atlantic region," said Cricket Goodall, executive director of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, which publishes Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred. "The depth of the field this year far surpassed previous years, which made this an especially tough decision for the voters."

The second- and third-place finishers both had strong enough seasons to make solid cases for top honors. Stellar Wind, a Virginia-bred, won two of four starts in 2016, taking a pair of grade 1 wins—the Clement L. Hirsch and the Zenyatta Stakes—over Beholder. She finished fourth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) after breaking poorly.

Finest City, bred in Pennsylvania, won the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint to cap off a season in which she also won the Great Lady M. Stakes (G2) and earned $823,200.

But it was Cathryn Sophia who topped them all. She earned top honors after a year in which she won four of seven starts and finished in the money in all of them. She won three graded races and earned more than $1.1 million during the season.

Cathryn Sophia's seasonal highlight came in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). Under Javier Castellano, the daughter of Street Boss   cruised outside the leaders and went on to a 2 3/4-length victory.

"It's exciting," said breeder Bob Manfuso. "She's a Maryland-bred and winning the Kentucky Oaks is an incredible thing."

She also won a pair of grade 2 events at Gulfstream Park, where she took the Forward Gal Stakes in late January and Davona Dale Stakes in February.

Cathryn Sophia's other highlights include a trio of third-place finishes in grade 1 company: the Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, the Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park, and in her season finale, the Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing.

"Cathryn Sophia stamped herself virtually from her first race as a special talent," said Frank Vespe, owner and publisher of The Racing Biz. "This honor marks a terrific season in which she faced—and usually defeated—the best fillies of her generation."

Bred in Maryland by Robert Manfuso, Cathryn Sophia is out of the unraced Mineshaft   mare Sheave. Manfuso sold her in 2014 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall yearling sale in Timonium, where she fetched a winning bid of $30,000 from Charles Zacney, who named the then-unnamed filly after his niece, Cathryn McCarry.

Zacney, under the name Cash Is King, sent Cathryn Sophia to trainer John Servis at his Parx Racing base. She won at first asking there and followed that with a 16-length romp in the Gin Talking Stakes at Laurel Park, the final race of her 2015 season.

"She was a true campaigner," Servis said. "She was a racehorse."

Zacney sold Cathryn Sophia, who completed her career with six wins from nine starts and earnings of more than $1.2 million, at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton's November Sale. She fetched a winning bid of $1.4 million from SF Bloodstock and will be bred to Pioneerof the Nile  .