Cafe Americano Breaks Through in Pucker Up
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Photo: Coady Photography
Cafe Americano wins the Pucker Up Stakes at Arlington International Racecourse
Chad Brown's Aug. 10 trip to Arlington International Racecourse was well worth it. The trainer swept all four graded stakes on the card, with Peter Brant's Cafe Americano wrapping up the action in the $100,000 Pucker Up Stakes (G3T).
The victory followed Sistercharlie winning the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T), Valid Point scoring in the Secretariat Stakes (G1T), and Bricks and Mortar taking the day's highlight and the marquee race of the season at the Illinois track, the Arlington Million XXXVII (G1T).
Irad Ortiz Jr. was aboard Cafe Americano for the day's finale, a 1 1/8-mile turf test for 3-year-old fillies. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro was made the 5-2 co-choice, and lived up to those odds when she rallied from 10th for her first stakes score. Sky Freak set speedy opening fractions of :23.00, :47.64, and 1:11.84, then Cafe Americano kicked it into high gear and ran a mile in 1:36.13 before hitting the wire in 1:47.72 on firm turf 2 1/4 lengths in front.
Princesa Carolina came from sixth to finish second ahead of co-favorite Art of Almost and Winter Sunset.
The Pucker Up was the third win in four starts for Cafe Americano. She won on debut Feb. 9 at Gulfstream Park, then took an allowance optional claimer June 1 at Belmont Park. She was sixth in the July 6 Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1T), when rank stablemate Newspaperofrecord carried her wide.
Brant purchased the bay filly for $625,000 in the name of his White Birch Farm when St George Sales consigned her to the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her career earnings total $149,800.
Cafe Americano was bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm out of the Indian Charlie mare Roxy Gap, Canada's champion older female and champion female sprinter in 2012. Roxy Gap foaled a Gun Runner colt April 17 before visiting Into Mischief .