2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Clement praises Pizza Bianca, Flay, Ortiz
DEL MAR, Calif. - Pizza Bianca delivered for trainer Christophe Clement and owner and breeder Bobby Flay when she rallied through a crowded field to win Friday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar.
Flay, the celebrity chef, bought White Hot, Pizza Bianca’s dam, for approximately $2 million as a yearling in England in 2014. By Galileo, White Hot, a half-sister to 2011 English Derby winner Pour Moi, did not race. Pizza Bianca is her first foal.
“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 the blood shows up eventually,” Flay said.
“I didn’t think it was going to show up in the very first foal, but obviously she’s a really great filly.”
For Clement, Pizza Bianca was a first career Breeders’ Cup win with his 42nd starter. Prior to this year, Clement had six seconds, including Gio Ponti against Zenyatta in the 2009 Classic at Santa Anita and Best Performance in the 2017 Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar.
On Saturday, Clement focused on the performance of the filly, jockey Jose Ortiz, and Flay rather than himself.
“I’m very happy for the filly,” Clement said. “I’m very delighted for Bobby Flay. He bred the filly. It was a great ride for Jose Ortiz.
“I don’t wake up in the morning thinking I need to win a Breeders’ Cup. I‘ve never had a fixation to win the Breeders’ Cup. Every day, we’re trying to win the next big one.”
In a post-race press conference, Clement’s dedication was the subject of praise from Flay.
“I said before, he’s the best trainer in the world that hasn’t won the Breeders’ Cup,” Flay said. “I’m glad that story’s over. He is a very deserving trainer. He’s so great at what he does.”
Pizza Bianca, by Fastnet Rock, has won 2 of 3 starts and has earned $637,635. She won her debut in a maiden special weight race at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Saratoga on July 22, and was second to the highly regarded English filly Wild Beauty in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at a mile on turf at Woodbine on Sept. 19.
Ortiz rode Pizza Bianca for the first time in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, replacing Joel Rosario, who opted to ride eventual seventh-place finisher Koala Princess. Ortiz had Pizza Bianca last of 14 with a quarter-mile remaining and weaved through runners in the stretch to win by a half-length over the French filly Malavath.
“I was a touch surprised when Joel took off the filly,” Clement said. “It all worked out. It was a superb ride.”
Pizza Bianca is not expected to resume racing until the spring. Clement mentioned a series of three $700,000 stakes for fillies on turf in New York as goals next summer and fall. This year, the corresponding races and dates of those races were the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks at 1 1/4 miles on July 10, the Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks at 1 3/16 miles on Aug. 8, and the Jockey Club Oaks at 1 3/8 miles at Belmont Park on Sept. 18.
“The New York triple crown would suit her,” Clement said of the three stakes.
Flay won the 2010 Juvenile Fillies Turf with More Than Real, who the following year finished 11th in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Royal Ascot in England. Flay said it is not out of the question for Pizza Bianca to be considered for a similar journey.
“I’m a dreamer and I think that these horses, when they’re really good, they can take you on great adventures all over the world,” he said. “So, maybe Ascot?”