2020 Eclipse Awards: Gamine
A blowout victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint culminated an eventful and highly successful 2020 for Gamine, a finalist in both the female sprint and 3-year-old filly categories. Her reputation as a potential superstar preceded even her career debut.
A galloping triumph at 1-10 under Drayden Van Dyke in that March 7 unveiling at Santa Anita put Gamine on her way. Working his way backward from a Longines Kentucky Oaks postponed until Sept. 4, trainer Bob Baffert then took his time with Gamine, spotting her next in a first-level allowance route at Oaklawn Park on May 2, the original date of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve. Ridden by Martin Garcia, she won again, finishing a neck ahead of Speech, an eventual Grade 1 winner. (Gamine ultimately was disqualified from the Oaklawn race for a medication violation.)
With Baffert calling on John Velazquez to ride the bay filly the rest of the year, Gamine then gave back-to-back performances to foreshadow her Breeders’ Cup romp, capturing the Grade 1 Acorn by 10 1/4 lengths on the June 20 Belmont Stakes card and the Grade 1 Test by seven lengths on the Aug. 8 Travers card. Those efforts equated to Beyer Speed Figures of 110 and 108, respectively, helping to make her the 7-10 favorite in her first two-turn stakes attempt, the Kentucky Oaks at 1 1/8 miles.
:: Full list of 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
However, Gamine was defeated for the only time all year – excluding the Oaklawn disqualification – fading to third in the Oaks.
Baffert quickly decided to return Gamine to his California base to focus on the Nov. 7 BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland. Calmly rated by Velazquez down the backstretch of that seven-furlong race, Gamine assumed command after turning for home and proceeded to a 6 1/4-length score, setting a track record of 1:20.20 while earning a 110 Beyer.
“This filly is just incredible,” Baffert said afterward. “I’ve never trained a filly of this caliber going one turn.”
Bred in Kentucky by Grace Thoroughbred Holdings, Gamine was sired by Into Mischief, the leading stallion of 2020, and produced by Peggy Jane, by Kafwain. She was purchased for $1.8 million at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale in May 2019 by Michael Lund Petersen, a Denmark native who lives in retirement in Maryland. Petersen was overjoyed in the Breeders’ Cup aftermath, calling it “a great, great experience . . . it was the first time I’d ever brought my whole family when we won a race.”
Gamine earned $1,003,000 in 2020, with four official wins from six overall starts. Baffert skipped the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita with her in late December, giving her a break ahead of a 2021 campaign during which the trainer said he intends to try her at longer distances at some point.