It isn’t as if the man hasn’t been making an attempt. Christophe Clement, the Ernie Banks of the Breeders’ Cup, entered the 2021 championship with an enormous, fats 0-for-40 round his neck, unfold over 24 years of comprehensible frustration. His credentials had been in any other case flawless, his popularity envious, and his Breeders’ Cup file, for all these losses, was hardly the stuff of abject failure.
Then once more, the timeline is brutal:
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T), Gulfstream Park in 1999, Coretta takes the lead deep within the stretch and will not surrender, lastly shedding by three-quarters of a size to Hovering Softly.
Breeders’ Cup Mile, Belmont Park, 2001, Forbidden Apple opens up within the stretch however is caught within the ultimate yards by Val Royal and finishes second.
Breeders’ Cup Traditional (G1), Santa Anita Park in 2009, Gio Ponti has everything beaten and the wire in sight when the unbelievable happens, and Zenyatta sweeps past to break Clement’s heart.
TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T), Churchill Downs in 2010, Gio Ponti and Clement are again for extra punishment, this time ending second to the star European mare Goldikova.
Breeders’ Cup Mile, Santa Anita in 2013, Za Approval finds himself on the lead inside the eighth pole with only one horse behind him making a serious run. Unfortunately, that horse is Wise Dan , who gets up to beat Clement by three-quarters of a length.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), Del Mar in 2017, Rushing Fall gets first run, but then here comes Best Performance for Clement and Jose Ortiz. Will they get there? Nope, done in by the short stretch, they are second by three-quarters of a length.
It was the memory of that race Clement must have been suppressing as Ortiz was snaking his way through the guts of the field on Friday in the very same race. Fate was being a tease once again. Pizza Bianca —bred, owned, and obviously named by Bobby Flay—looked certain to hit the board, but what else was new? So did Disco Partner , Pure Sensation , and Flag Down for Clement, all banking nice paydays but forgotten in time.
“It’s as good as it gets!”
PIZZA BIANCA gets a warm welcome from @clementstable and @bflay after WINNING the #BreedersCup Juvenile Fillies Turf! 🎉#FutureStarsFriday pic.twitter.com/4tKdhuo1Wh
— Breeders’ Cup (@BreedersCup) November 5, 2021
Then one thing miraculous occurred. A seam opened late, and Ortiz plunged the Fastnet Rock filly through to a half-length victory over the fast-closing Malavath , who in turn beat the Chad Brown-trained Haughty by a neck for second.
Christophe Clement after Pizza Bianca’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf win
Before the race, as Clement waited for Pizza Bianca to arrive at the Del Mar receiving barn, it was suggested that this one could be the one to strangle the albatross once and for all, and that the trainer should prepare for a grand celebration if it should happen. Clement knew better, though. Forty slaps without a kiss will do that to a fellow. Whatever happens, he figured, “I’ll just go back to New York.”
He can float home now on the wings of the dark bay filly who was a solid second in her previous race, the Natalma Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine. Joel Rosario rode her that day, as he did when Pizza Bianca broke her maiden at Saratoga Race Course July 22. Rosario jumped to Koala Princess , however, which fazed Clement only briefly.
“I was a bit surprised Joel took off the filly,” Clement said. “But he had another good one, so I understand.”
The betting public followed. Pizza Bianca, sporting solid speed figures, was the tepid 5-1 morning-line favorite but went off at nearly 10-1. Koala Princess and Rosario ended up favored at 9-2 in the field of 14 and finished seventh.
For much of the mile, which Pizza Bianca completed in 1:35.36, the Juvenile Fillies Turf unfolded as an all-European affair. Cachet , under Luis Saez, cut out the pace, with Mis En Scene tracking close alongside Turnerloose . Hello You , another from England, was in the hunt and kept on to be fifth under John Velazquez.
The disappointments included Bubble Rock , who missed the break and was in constant trouble; California Angel , who put in a mild run she could not sustain; and Cairo Memories , who found herself far back early after a rough start and never got untracked.
But there were no disappointments for the connections of Pizza Bianca, the first foal out of the unraced Galileo mare White Hot, a 1.25 million guineas ($2,122,050) purchase by Flay from Camas Park Stud’s Book 1 consignment to the 2014 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. The mare has since produced a weanling colt by Uncle Mo and was bred to Not This Time for 2022.
“My favorite thing to do is go over the mating and breed,” Flay said. “And you never know what you’re going to get. The mare is a horse bought as a yearling who never ran, but she has one of the best pedigrees in the stud book, and so I just knew that I was going to keep her forever because I always say that blood shows up eventually. And I didn’t think it would show up in the very first foal, but obviously she’s a really great filly.”
Bobby Flay (center) enjoys the trophy presentation for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf
Video: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T)
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