Ce Ce was the equine star at Santa Anita on Sunday, repeating last year’s success in the G3 Chillingworth Stakes to set herself up for the defense of her Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint crown next month. The two-legged stand-out was jockey Ramon Vazquez, who signed for a double with wins aboard Midnight Memories (G2 Zenyatta) and Heywoods Beach (G3 Tokyo City Cup).
Zenyatta Stakes
Memories a name to remember, G2, $200,000, 1m 1/16, 3yo+ fillies/mares
Climbing the ladder step by step, Midnight Memories turned in a career-best when drawing off for a dominant success in the Zenyatta, the main event at Santa Anita on Sunday.
It wasn’t plain sailing for the lightly raced 8-5 favorite, though, as she stumbled out of the gate and trailed the field, before making up ground quickly under Ramon Vazquez to take over from Soothsay halfway down the backside.
Midnight Memories gave up that lead just as quickly as Soothsay re-asserted, but she stayed close and was the only one with a change of gear at the top of the stretch, leading inside the final eighth and kicking on to win by three and a quarter lengths from second-choice Awake At Midnyte, who had a neck to spare over the longshot Empire House in third. The stopwatch showed 1:45 and changed.
“She didn’t break well but Ramon was patient,” said trainer Bob Baffert, winning his fifth Zenyatta, a record. “We took our time with her, she was slowly coming to hand last year, but she’s making up for that now.”
It was her fourth win from five starts, a step up from her last-time-out score in the G3 Torrey Pines at Del Mar, and the logical next move for Midnight Memories is a G1 contest, although that is unlikely to be the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
@horseracingtote Midnight Memories Draws Clear to Take the Zenyatta Stakes #Horseracing #Horseracingtips #Horsesoftiktok #Horses #Horse #FYP #Sports
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Tokyo City Cup Stakes
Beach’s day in the sun, G3, $100,000, 1m 4f, 3yo+
Two hours later, Ramon Vazquez completed a Graded-stakes double when Heywoods Beach took the Tokyo City Cup with an irresistible display of staying power.
The further the five-year-old goes, the better he likes it, and although the fractions weren’t particularly hectic Vazquez was content to keep him just behind the pace set by Storm The Court and last year’s winner Tizamagician.
As they approached the home turn for the final time a gap opened on the rail and Vazquez eased Heywoods Beach through it, and after that it was easy, the 7-2 second-choice keeping on too strongly through the lane for the rallying Win The Day, whose late charge missed by a neck. Odds-on favorite Tizamagician was a length and a half further back in third; the time was a tick under 2:32.
“I wanted to save ground,” said Vazquez of his race-winning move along the rail. “He helped me, and I had a lot of horse left for the stretch run.”
This was the second win at Graded level for Heywoods Beach following his victory in the G3 Cougar II at Del Mar in July, and trainer John Sadler will now point him towards the G2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on the Breeders’ Cup undercard at Keeneland on November 4.
@horseracingtote Heywoods Beach wins the 2022 Tokyo City Cup Stakes #Horseracing #Horseracingtips #Horsesoftiktok #Horses #Horse #FYP #Sports
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Chillingworth Stakes
Ce Ce so classy again, G3, $100,000, 6 1/2f, 3yo+ fillies/mares
She did it again. Ce Ce continued her remarkable, repetitive sequence when recording back-to-back victories in the Chillingworth in the style of a top-class horse.
Last year, Ce Ce won the G2 Princess Rooney, lost the G1 Ballerina, won the Chillingworth, and won the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. This year she has taken the same route with the same results, and she was just as impressive here as she was 12 months ago, holding her form superbly at the age of six.
The 1-5 favorite sat off the pace, cruised to the lead at the three-sixteenths pole, and cleared away to win by an easy two and a quarter lengths, stopping the clock in 1:16 and two-fifths. Under The Stars rallied hard for the second spot, three and a half lengths ahead of the fading front-runner Teddy’s Barino.
“With her, I don’t even need to pay attention,” said winning jockey Victor Espinoza. “If the track is not her favorite, she won’t perform. If she likes it, she’ll run her best.”
The Michael McCarthy-trained mare clearly likes Santa Anita, but Ce Ce was beaten on her only start at Keeneland, where she will conclude her brilliant career – 11-for-22, three G1s, earnings of more than $2.3m – in next month’s BC Filly & Mare Sprint. Will she like it, will she run her best one last time?
@horseracingtote Ce Ce wins the 2022 Chillingworth Stakes #Horseracing #Horseracingtips #Horsesoftiktok #Horses #Horse #FYP #Sports
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