NEWS

Rutherienne seeks elusive win in My Charmer

Posted: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 5:02 PM

RUTHERIENNE

Benoit & Associates photo

by Jeff Apel

Grade 1 winner Rutherienne will try to snap a stretch of five consecutive third place finishes on Saturday in the $100,000 My Charmer Handicap (G3) at Calder Race Course.

The Pulpit filly has made six starts this season and is winless since opening her four-year-old campaign with a victory in the Jenny Wiley Stakes (G2) on April 12 at Keeneland Race Course.

In her most recent start, Rutherienne finished behind eventual 2008 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) winner Forever Together and multiple Grade 1 winner Precious Kitten in the First Lady Stakes (G1) on October 3 at Keeneland.

Trained by Christophe Clement for owner-breeder Virginia Kraft Payson, Rutherienne is unbeaten in three career starts at Calder, including a victory in the 2007 Frances A. Genter Stakes (G3).

A career earner of $912,255, Rutherienne made both of her starts as a two-year-old in 2006 at Calder. She won a maiden special weight race in her debut prior to capturing the Cherokee Frolic Stakes.

Rutherienne will be part of a full field of 12 fillies and mares in the My Charmer, a 1 1/8-mile turf race. Graded stakes winners Callwood Dancer (Ire) and Sea Chanter and Grade 1-placed stakes winner Never Retreat also were entered along with multiple stakes winners Wild Promises, Cozzi Capital, and Snow Cone.

Callwood Dancer earned her first stakes win in the Nassau Stakes (Can-G2) on May 31 at Woodbine. Four starts later, the Danehill Dancer filly finished second in the E. P. Taylor Stakes (Can-G1) on October 4 at the Toronto track.

Callwood Dancer enters off a fourth-place finish in the Cardinal Handicap (G3) on November 15 at Churchill Downs for trainer Roger Attfield.

Never Retreat won the Rare Blend Stakes in her previous start on November 5 at Aqueduct. The Smart Strike filly finished second in the Mother Goose Stakes (G1) on June 28 at Belmont Park for trainer Seth Benzel and owner Jeff Singer.

California shipper Wild Promises has posted four consecutive stakes wins for trainer Greg Gilchrist, including a victory in the Miss America Stakes in her previous start on September 20 at Golden Gate Fields.

The Wild Event mare previously captured the Mother’s Day Handicap on May 11 at Bay Meadows Race Course, the Yerba Buena Stakes on June 8 at Golden Gate, and the Luther Burbank Handicap on July 26 at Santa Rosa.

The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, weight, and trainer:

1. Miss Lombardi (Unbridled Jet), Jeremy Rose, 116, Graham Motion;

2. Jeux de Danse (Grand Slam), Jermaine Bridgmohan, 116, Martin Wolfson;

3. Never Retreat (Smart Strike), Javier Santiago, 114, Seth Benzel;

4. Callwood Dancer [Ire] (Danehill Dancer [Ire]), Javier Castellano, 120, Roger Attfield;

5. Cozzi Capital (Cozzene), Daniel Coa, 116, Herman Wilensky;

6. Wild Promises (Wild Event), Aaron Gryder, 118, Greg Gilchrist;

7. Snow Cone (Cryptoclearance), Carlos Marquez Jr., 115, Joe Orseno;

8. Alpha Charmer (Alphabet Soup), Eduardo Nunez, 113, Philip Gleaves;

9. Rutherienne (Pulpit), Rene Douglas, 121, Christophe Clement;

10. Jade Queen (Giant's Causeway), Christopher DeCarlo, 114, Todd Pletcher;

11. Waquoit's Love (Not For Love), Elvis Trujillo, 115, Timothy Hills;

12. Sea Chanter (War Chant), Manoel Cruz, 113, Todd Pletcher;

AE. Lomaki (A.P. Indy), Kent Desormeaux, 113, Eric Coatrieux; and

AE. Stormin Mon (Maria's Mon), Javier Santiago, 112, Martin Wolfson.