2022 Eclipse Awards: In Italian
Keeping up with In Italian in 2022 was a dangerous tactic.
In nearly all of her seven races, In Italian set the pace, a tactic that led to four wins, including two in Grade 1 stakes, and a position among the three finalists for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding turf female of the year.
A season that started with a win in a first-condition allowance race on the second Wednesday of January at Tampa Bay Downs ended with a game second to Tuesday in the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 5 at Keeneland.
In between, In Italian won three stakes and set a course record at Saratoga while racing for owner Peter Brant and trainer Chad Brown.
:: Full list of 2022 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
A 4-year-old filly in 2022, In Italian won her career stakes debut in her fourth start in the Grade 3 Honey Fox Stakes at about a mile at Gulfstream Park in early March, but lost her next two starts to stablemates. In Italian was second to Speak of the Devil in the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill Downs on May 7, and third behind Regal Glory in the Grade 1 Longines Just a Game Stakes on June 11 at Belmont Park.
At times during the year, In Italian was a workmate with Regal Glory, a Grade 1 winner in 2021 and another finalist for the outstanding turf female award. Even though In Italian was beaten in May and June, Brown had In Italian entered among a group of four fillies and mares from his stable in the Grade 1 Diana Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf July 16 at Saratoga.
Ridden by Joel Rosario and dismissed at 8-1, In Italian ran one of the best races of her career, leading throughout to win by 1 1/2 lengths over stablemates Technical Analysis and Bleecker Street. The final time of 1:45.06 was a course record.
“They separate each other when you run them together,” Brown said at the time. “I like to run the horses against each other, settle it out on the track.”
In Italian, a daughter of Dubawi out of Florentina bred in Great Britain by Fairway Thoroughbreds, was bought for approximately $609,000 by Brant as a yearling.
In Italian remained sharp through her fall campaign. She won the second Grade 1 stakes of her career in the First Lady Stakes at a mile on turf Oct. 8 at Keeneland, finishing a length in front of Regal Glory and giving Brown a fifth consecutive win in the race. In Italian finished the year with a second by a length in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
In Italian set a quick pace in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, but could not hold off the Irish-bred Tuesday, who closed from seventh to lead in the final furlong.
Brown praised In Italian’s effort, despite a quick pace.
In Italian “really ran her heart out,” Brown said.
That sentiment matched the theme of the filly’s 2022 season.
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