NEWS
Honest Lady grabs trainer's heart
Posted: Saturday, April 01, 2000
Classy four-year-old confirms Bobby Frankel's confidence by winning Distaff
The shifting sands of the Middle East, not the cushy footing of the Aqueduct paddock, were under Robert Frankel's feet on March 25. He was in Dubai, but he left a piece of his heart in New York with Honest Lady for the $183,250 Distaff Breeder's Cup (G2).
Distaff Breeders' Cup H. (G2)
Aqueduct, March 25, $183,250, 7 furlongs, fast, 1:22.10
1-HONEST LADY, f. 4, Seattle Slew-Toussaud, by El Gran Senor.
2-Her She Kisses, f. 4, Dehere-Her She Shawklit, by Air Forbes Won.
3-Tap to Music, m. 5, Pleasant Tap-Nuryette, by Nureyev.
Honest Lady was making her first start since January 22, when she won the Santa Monica Handicap (G1).
That race marked Honest Lady's first start without blinkers. It resulted in a dazzling last-to-first sweep for her first stakes victory in more than a year and vindicated what Frankel had been saying about her all along.
"I said she was one of the best fillies I ever trained," said Frankel, who was delighted when her fast-closing, one-run tactics worked to perfection in the Santa Monica. "I wanted to prove everyone wrong because they all said she was washed up."
So when Richard Dutrow Jr. gave jockey Brice Blanc a leg up on Honest Lady for the Distaff, there did not need to be much discussion about race strategy for the 4-to-5 favorite.
"We took the blinkers off (in the Santa Monica), and it really helped her relax off the pace," said Blanc. "That was the plan today."
Honest Lady, a lovely four-year-old dark bay or brown daughter of Seattle Slew out of Toussaud, by El Gran Senor, won her first two starts, including the Santa Ynez Stakes (G2), and promptly took on the colts as Frankel put her on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail last year.
But she finished fifth as the favorite in the San Rafael Stakes (G2) and then was seventh to General Challenge in the Santa Anita Derby (G1). After a five-month layoff due to a crack in a bone in her left knee and a splint, she came back to finish third in an allowance race at Belmont Park. Then she won an allowance race on the turf at Santa Anita on November 4.
But her last two starts were particularly impressive-third in an off-the-turf Monrovia Handicap (G3) at Santa Anita on New Year's Eve, and then that dizzying out-of-the-clouds finish in the Santa Monica.
After Lucky Again, who defeated Honest Lady in an allowance at Belmont Park last fall, was scratched in favor of running at Pimlico Race Course in the $50,000 Sham Stakes four days later, a field of eight was left for the Distaff. Among them were Tap to Music, winner of the Barbara Fritchie Handicap (G2) at Laurel Park on February 19, and the well-traveled Her She Kisses, runner-up in that race.
Trainer Joe Orseno had planned to run Tap to Music in the Oaklawn Breeders' Cup Stakes on March 19, but was unhappy with the flight plans and settled on the Distaff even though he had considered the Next Move Handicap (G3) the following day.
"There's a tough one in Honest Lady in there," Orseno said, "but I've never been one to duck a horse."
But the Distaff, like the Santa Monica Handicap, was to be Honest Lady's race. Outrun early, Honest Lady trailed pacesetter Angelina Capote by nearly ten lengths as she carried the field through fractions of :22.85 and :45.21. Her She Kisses then took over rounding the far turn as Tap to Music began her bid, but moving fastest of all on the outside was the favorite.
Barreling five-wide into the stretch, Honest Lady trained her sights on the leader and took off inside the eighth pole, pulling away to a 1 1/2-length victory over Her She Kisses in 1:22.10. Tap to Music was another two lengths back in third, with Di's Time a neck back in fourth. Following her under the wire were Tropical Punch, Seeking the Sky, Angelina Capote, and Oh What a Windfall.
"She really ran huge, and I had full confidence in the stretch," said Blanc. "She's a great filly and a pleasure to ride."
With the victory, Honest Lady extended her record to five wins in nine starts and earned $111,300 for Juddmonte Farms to bring her career total earnings to $375,958.
"She got beat by a real nice filly," said Phil Johnson, trainer of Her She Kisses. "I'm very proud of the race she ran."
"She ran well-she wants to go long," said Orseno. "We could have run tomorrow but we knew Honest Lady was shipping in today, and if we were going to beat her, this was the day to do it."
A Rose in Next Move
After Tap to Music was scratched along with Foreign Monarch, the $83,125 Next Move Handicap (G3) was left with a field of seven, including Biogio's Rose, who finished second at 3-to-5 in last year's edition.
Next Move H. (G3)
Aqueduct, March 26, $83,125, 11/8 miles, fast, 1:51.32
1-BIOGIO'S ROSE, m. 6, Polish Numbers-Fois Gras, by Barachois.
2-Up We Go, f. 4, Waquoit-Flags R Up, by Private Account.
3-Perlinda (Arg), m. 5, Ibero (Arg)-=Perfidia (Arg), by =Ahmad (Arg).
Trainer Robert Ribaudo had considered retiring the veteran mare, who did not race from last July until New Year's Eve. But after her first two races back, the six-year-old daughter of Polish Numbers-Fois Gras, by Barachois, appeared better than ever in winning an allowance race and the 1 1/8-mile Rare Treat Handicap (G3).
"She's doing great," Ribaudo said earlier in the week. "She is where I want her physically and mentally."
Biogio's Rose was on the lead in last year's Next Move, but both her winning efforts this year came from just off the pace, a tactic that Ribaudo and jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. hoped to employ in the Next Move.
"There isn't a lot of speed in this race, but we'll be stalking," promised Ribaudo.
The strategy worked-but barely as only a couple of noses and necks separated first from fourth in a wild finish that saw Biogio's Rose closing fastest of all on the far outside to defeat Up We Go by a neck. Pacesetter Perlinda (Arg) hung on gamely to finish a head behind Up We Go in third and a nose ahead of French Braids.
"I didn't think we were going to get there at the head of the stretch," said Ribaudo. "But I've got a lot of confidence in this mare."
Perlinda, the Argentine sprinter who won a pair of races on the inner track, almost stole the race, poking through fractions of 24.45, 48.32, and 1:13.15 for the first six furlongs. Straightening for home, Perlinda showed no signs of quitting, digging in gamely when pressured by French Braids, with Up We Go at her heels and desperately looking for racing room.
Finally, inside the sixteenth pole, Mike Smith was able to guide Up We Go through an opening along the rail, but rocketing home on the far outside was Biogio's Rose, who got up in the final strides to win by a neck in 1:51.32.
"I knew she'd do her job," said Arroyo, who won three races on the day's card. "I just asked her for the same kind of race she gave when I rode her the last couple of times."
The victory, her third straight, extended Biogio's Rose's sterling record to 14 victories in 41 starts, with seven seconds and seven third-place finishes. Sent off as the 2.45-to-1 second choice behind 2.15-to-1 favorite Up We Go, Biogio's Rose earned $49,875 for owners Alfred and Joseph Nastasi, who also bred her. Her career earnings now total $580,771.
Jenny Kellner is a New York correspondent of Thoroughbred Times.
