Bell’s the One surges past Joyful Cadence in Lady Tak

Neil Pessin, trainer of the fine Midwest sprinter Bell’s the One, felt confident that if the mare could find her way outside from her rail draw and get a clean run from quarter pole to the finish, she’d win the $200,000 Lady Tak at Churchill Downs on Saturday. And Pessin was right.

Motoring home through a final quarter-mile in about 23 seconds, if not less, Bell’s the One swooped past pacesetting Joyful Cadence and went on to win the Lady Tak by 1 1/2 lengths. Bell’s the One now is 12-5-3 from 26 starts, and she visited the Churchill winner’s circle for the sixth time.

“She’s just a special filly. She gives you everything she has every time she runs,” said Pessin, who trains Bell’s the One for Bob Lothenbach’s Lothenbach Stables.

Joyful Cadence, who set surprisingly slow splits of 22.42 and 45.42, held on for second over pacepressing Lovemesomeme. Sconsin, the 4-5 favorite, had a slightly tricky inside trip, but found her way into the clear before the three-sixteenths pole and simply could not kick home with Bell’s the One. The two mares now have met seven times, Bell’s the One bettering Sconsin in four.

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Six-year-old Bell’s the One ran a winning race making her 2022 debut in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland in April, but Pessin believed a premature move led to the mare’s second-place finish, rather than victory. Pessin blamed himself for running Bell’s the One back too quickly on May 7 in the Derby City Distaff, in which she was fourth, and on June 25, in the Chicago Stakes at Churchill, with Bell’s the One finished third rallying up the rail.

The mare, Pessin insisted, will not produce her best racing along the inside, and jockey Corey Lanerie’s job on Saturday was to find his way to the outside after breaking from post 1. He did, and Pessin said he decided early this was Bell’s the One’s day.

“I figured when they broke out of the gate, we were a winner. She didn’t get 20 lengths back. She was about seven lengths back, and even with a slow pace, she can close into that,” Pessin said.

Bell’s the One gathered momentum at the three-furlong pole, came about six paths wide into the homestretch, and mowed down her four rivals while running six furlongs on a fast track in 1:09.42. She paid $4.82 as the strong second choice.

Bell’s the One, bred in Kentucky by Bret Jones, is by Majesticperfection out of Street Mate, by Street Cry. Her trainer liked her Saturday, and the mare, as so often has been the case, delivered.