2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Pizza Bianca weaves way to victory for owner-breeder Bobby Flay
DEL MAR, Calif. - Pizza Bianca was last with a quarter-mile remaining in Friday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar, and that seemingly insurmountable position was just fine with top-class rider Jose Ortiz.
Pizza Bianca had closed well in her first two starts when ridden by Joel Rosario – a win and a second – and Ortiz liked what he saw in front of him. Pizza Bianca quickly passed several rivals before Ortiz moved his mount between Malavath and Consumer Spending.
“I had a good feeling,” Ortiz said. “I could see I was going to make a split at the eighth pole.”
Fifth with a furlong remaining, Pizza Bianca continued to close well, rallying between pacesetter Cachet and the well-placed Hello You in the final sixteenth. Ortiz was on a winning path.
Pizza Bianca had an uninterrupted run through the stretch, which carried her to a half-length victory in the $920,000 Juvenile Fillies Turf for her first stakes win.
“I had a lot of horse,” Ortiz said. “I tapped her on the shoulder. She did it on her own and did it nicely.”
Pizza Bianca gave owner and breeder Bobby Flay his second win in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, 11 years after More Than Real prevailed at Churchill Downs. Pizza Bianca’s win was a first Breeders’ Cup victory for veteran New York-based trainer Christophe Clement, with his 42nd career starter.
Clement did not stick around the winner’s circle long, bypassing a post-race press conference to retreat to the barn area and prepare Slipstream for the Juvenile Turf at the end of the day.
“I said before, he’s the best trainer in the world that hasn’t won a Breeders’ Cup,” said Flay, well known as a celebrity chef. “I’m glad that story is over. He’s a very deserving trainer. He cares so much about his horses. He pays attention to every detail. He’s elated.”
Pizza Bianca was timed in 1:36.08 for a mile. Malavath, who was last on the first turn, also closed with interest to finish second at 17-1. Pizza Bianca earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 79.
“She picked it up well,” jockey Ryan Moore said of Malavath. “The winner came with me and had a little more.”
Haughty, who won a maiden race in her most recent start at Keeneland, finished third as the 6-1 second choice after racing in sixth for the first six furlongs.
“I felt comfortable going into the stretch,” said jockey Tyler Gaffalione. “I thought it was a good performance. I wasn’t able to hold off the closers.
“She’s got a bright future in front of her.”
Cachet, who was Group 1-placed in England last month, set a solid pace of 22.76 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 47.01 for a half-mile. Cachet led by two lengths with a furlong remaining, but could not sustain the effort, finishing fourth by slightly less than a length.
The remaining order of finish was Hello You, Consumer Spending, Koala Princess, Helens Well, Cairo Memories, Mise En Scene, California Angel, Bubble Rock, Sail By, and Turnerloose.
The previously unbeaten Koala Princess was the 9-2 favorite in a competitive race. She was wide for much of the race and finished about 2 1/4 lengths behind Pizza Bianca.
“I got stopped a little bit between the five-sixteenths and the quarter pole,” said Rosario, who rode Koala Princess.
Pizza Bianca, by Fastnet Rock, has now won 2 of 3 starts and earned $637,635. The winner’s share of the Juvenile Fillies Turf was $520,000.
Pizza Bianca won her debut in a maiden special weight race at a mile at Saratoga on July 22 and was second in her stakes debut in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at a mile at Woodbine on Sept. 19. Those races were run on good turf, while the Juvenile Fillies Turf was run on firm ground.
Clement had expressed concern before Friday’s race that Pizza Bianca would prefer good turf.
“Christophe said he wasn’t sure she’d like the firm turf at Del Mar,” Flay said. “In her first two races, there was cut in the ground. He said, ‘I think she really likes a little cut in in the ground.’
“I said, ‘She hasn’t run on firm ground so let’s try it.’ I thought at the top of the stretch she didn’t like it.”
It turns out the surface was fine with Pizza Bianca, who ended her juvenile season with the division’s richest prize.