Champagne Room Ready for Las Virgenes Season Debut
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Photo: Dave Harmon
Champagne Room with Mario Gutierrez up wins the 14 Hands Winery Juvenile Fillies
The 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner and champion 2-year-old filly Champagne Room worked five furlongs Jan. 29 in 1:00 flat at Santa Anita Park, in preparation for her 3-year-old debut against monster Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) winner Unique Bella in Santa Anita's grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes at one mile Feb. 4.
"Awesome" is how trainer Peter Eurton summed up the drill under exercise rider Jose (Pepi) Aragon. "I'm very pleased with her work."
Champagne Room, a bay daughter of Broken Vow , has been working steadily since her Breeders' Cup win last Nov. 5 at Santa Anita. Four of her last seven recorded breezes were the fastest at their respective distances.
The filly has only finished worse than third once while competing in three grade 1 races and the grade 2 Sorrento Stakes, which she won by 1 1/4 lengths over Miss Southern Miss.
Among the 123 recorded works on Santa Anita's fast main track Sunday was a seven furlong move in 1:25 1/5 by Sheer Flattery, a contender for the Feb. 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old Triple Crown prospects. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer called it "a nice workout" under exercise rider Freddie Rodriguez.