Midnight Bisou Can Claim Spotlight in Alabama

Timing can be everything when it comes to shaping a racehorse's career, be it advantageous or otherwise. Depending on how you gauge the circumstances that have aligned for Midnight Bisou can determine how you view her current standing in the 3-year-old filly ranks.

On one side of the equation is the fact the Steve Asmussen trainee was born in the same crop as divisional leader Monomoy Girl, the chestnut dynamo who has rattled off four straight grade 1 victories, including two head-to-head matchups against the daughter of Midnight Lute . Take her nemesis out of the equation and Midnight Bisou's form would likely rule her generation. Instead, the grade 1-winning filly who has never been out of the top three has had a red-colored shadow cast over her achievements.

When looking at the script in a broader view, however, there is something to be said for having one of the elite members in a division widely heralded for its depth of quality. With four graded stakes victories to her credit and expected favoritism on her shoulders in advance of one of the sport's most prestigious races for sophomore fillies, there are few moments Midnight Bisou's camp would trade with anyone else.

"This is an incredibly salty group of fillies, this 3-year-old filly division, and it seems as though it's actually getting stronger as the year goes on," said Jeff Bloom of Bloom Racing Stable, which co-owns Midnight Bisou along with Allen Racing and Madaket Stables. "But to have a filly that is right there at the top, or certainly within the top of the top-tier fillies in that division, makes us feel good. Our filly is a multiple graded stakes winner in a very tough division, and there is a still a lot of racing left to be done the remainder of the year."

Specifically, there is a major prize for the taking Aug. 18 at Saratoga Race Course. With Monomoy Girl training toward an expected start in the Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing next month, Midnight Bisou has the opportunity to snatch the spotlight for herself when she faces seven challengers in the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) going 10 furlongs Saturday.

Aside from a couple run-ins with Monomoy Girl in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) where she finished third and second, respectively, Midnight Bisou has been the superior runner in every other matchup against her classmates this season. She began her year with three consecutive graded victories under the guidance of previous trainer Bill Spawr, including a 3 1/2-length win in the Santa Anita Oaks (G1), and was on cruise control when she took the June 30 Mother Goose Stakes (G2) over Road to Victory by six lengths.

The Coaching Club American Oaks was billed as a two-filly showdown but ended being the latest showcase of Monomoy Girl's brilliance—a gate-to-wire, three-length triumph that all but dropped the hammer on the race for divisional honors. Though there is no debating who holds all the cards among the sophomore fillies, Midnight Bisou's camp still sees room for improvement with their charge—something they believe the Alabama's 1 1/4-mile distance will help bring forth.

"We've had the Alabama as our target for a while," Bloom said. "She's shown that 1 1/4 miles should hit her right between the eyes, and it should be a good fit for her. She didn't really have her 'A' game in the Coaching Club American Oaks, so for her to still have run as well as she did, it's encouraging for us coming into the Alabama.

"She just didn't seem herself (in the Coaching Club American Oaks). Typically, she gets a little keyed up in the paddock, and then when she gets on the track, she sort of drops her head and relaxes. That day she was, not washed out, but she was kind of pissy and not necessarily herself going into the starting gate. The little bit of extra time and the fact she's been able to settle in so well into her routine (at Saratoga), probably all those things will help her coming into this race."

Not having to deal with Monomoy Girl this weekend doesn't mean the path will be an easy one for Midnight Bisou if she is to add another grade 1 win to her résumé.

Since the time he began getting on her after purchasing her privately last season, trainer Rodolphe Brisset has believed Talk Veuve to Me was the kind of filly who would relish the two-turn experience. The daughter of Violence  validated that train of thought when she stretched out beyond a mile for the first time and produced a 4 3/4-length win in the July 14 Indiana Oaks (G3) going 1 1/16 miles.

Owned by Brisset in partnership with Team Valor International and Stephen McKay, Talk Veuve to Me has taken big steps forward in a relatively short time. In just her third start, the filly Brisset calls "scary smart" finished second in the May 4 Eight Belles Stakes presented by Kentucky Trailer (G2) at Churchill Downs, and she took the runner-up position behind Monomoy Girl in the June 9 Acorn Stakes (G1), finishing ahead of multiple grade 1 winner Moonshine Memories and 2-year-old filly champion Caledonia Road.

"Training-wise, she's always been very easy to ride, and we breezed her behind horses before and she was giving us all the signs that she could be a very nice filly going two turns," Brisset said. "I think her race in the Acorn, even though Monomoy Girl went by her pretty easily … we didn't really stop. If you look at the the last three-sixteenths, she kept going. I was very interested to see her run two turns because if she could carry her speed around two turns, she could be something special going long."

When Talk Veuve to Me captured the Indiana Oaks, she became the second graded stakes winner for Brisset, a former assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott who has been on his own for just over a year. The way she finished up last time out has her conditioner cautiously optimistic that his first grade 1 win could be on the near horizon.

"When she won the Indiana Oaks, I thought it was pretty logical as the next step to go for a grade 1," Brisset said. "We still have to face Midnight Bisou but … this could be a great chance to win a grade 1 this year."

Graded stakes winner Coach Rocks is entering the Alabama off a pair of second-place finishes to the talented Red Ruby for trainer Dale Romans and owners Roddy J. Valente, RAP Racing, and West Point Thoroughbreds. After winning the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) in March, Coach Rocks finished seventh in the Kentucky Oaks before being beaten 4 3/4 and 13 lengths by Red Ruby in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) and Delaware Oaks (G3), respectively.

"There is no question that Monomoy Girl is atop the leaderboard, but I think that our filly and others in this division have a lot left to do before this year is out," Bloom said.

Entries: Alabama S. (G1)

Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 18, 2018, Race 9

• Grade I
• 1 1/4m
• Dirt
• $600,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:40 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Piedi Bianchi (IN)	John R. Velazquez	121	Todd A. Pletcher	15/1
2	2Eskimo Kisses (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	121	Kenneth G. McPeek	6/1
3	3Midnight Bisou (KY)	Mike E. Smith	121	Steven M. Asmussen	7/5
4	4She's a Julie (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	121	Steven M. Asmussen	9/2
5	5Auspicious Babe (KY)	Florent Geroux	121	Dallas Stewart	30/1
6	6Figarella's Queen (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	121	Brad H. Cox	15/1
7	7Coach Rocks (KY)	Luis Saez	121	Dale L. Romans	10/1
8	8Talk Veuve to Me (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	121	Rodolphe Brisset	5/2