2021 Eclipse Awards: Gamine

Everything was in place for Gamine to be an overwhelming choice for a second straight Eclipse Award as champion filly and mare sprinter. Then, the starting gates opened.

A third-place finish as the heavy favorite in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar made for a disappointing conclusion to 2021 for Gamine, whose preceding efforts were otherwise brilliant and made her a finalist in this category once again.

Given time off after a 6 1/4-length romp that resulted in a 110 Beyer Speed Figure in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint in November 2020 at Keeneland, Gamine began her 4-year-old campaign with a five-length triumph in the Grade 3 Las Flores at Santa Anita in early April. She then followed with a triumph in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs.

Gamine’s third start of the year came July 5 in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. at Los Alamitos, where she prevailed by 10 lengths in what amounted to little more than a public workout. It was a stepping-stone to the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 28 at Saratoga, where she earned a 104 Beyer in winning by 1 3/4 lengths.

“She’s just workmanlike,” Bob Baffert, the Hall of Fame conditioner who trained Gamine for Michael Lund Petersen, said from California following the Ballerina. “She gets it done.”

:: Full list of 2021 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

Gamine’s final start of 2021 came 10 weeks later at Del Mar in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, a seven-furlong race in which she faced just four other fillies and mares. On the lead from the start – the only time Gamine never led at the first point of call in her entire career was in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup – she was pressured from the outset by Bella Sofia while setting fractions of 22.31 and 44.92. In the final quarter-mile, she beat a steady fade, finishing third by 3 1/4 lengths behind the victorious Ce Ce.

“I probably should have given her a prep race before the Breeders’ Cup,” Baffert said afterward. “She just got tired.”

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez rode Gamine in all five of her 2021 races. The filly was never higher than 2-5 odds in any of them.

Bred in Kentucky by Grace Thoroughbred Holdings, Gamine was sired by Into Mischief, the leading stallion of 2020 and 2021, and was produced by Peggy Jane, by Kafwain. She was purchased for $1.8 million at the Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic 2-year-olds in training sale in May 2019 by Petersen, a Denmark native who lives in retirement in Maryland.

Gamine earned $851,900 in 2021, with four wins from five starts, bringing her overall record to 9 for 11 for a career bankroll of $1,771,500. She was officially retired Jan. 4, with Baffert calling her “the best filly sprinter I have ever trained.”