Bredenbury gets first U.S. win in Lady Shipman Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – Bredenbury registered her first victory in nearly a year – and first since shipping to the United States during the fall of her 2-year-old campaign – when rallying from just off the pace to a 1 1/4-length victory over 2-1 favorite She’s My Type in Sunday’s $80,000 Lady Shipman Stakes at Belmont Park.

Bredenbury, an Irish-bred daughter of Night of Thunder, won her maiden in England in June 2019 before going winless in six consecutive starts. That streak included four races in the United States since joining Graham Motion’s barn prior to closing her juvenile campaign with a sixth-place finish in Aqueduct’s Chelsey Flower Stakes. She entered the six-furlong Lady Shipman off a fourth-place effort against older horses in her first local appearance just 16 days earlier.

With jockey Luis Saez aboard for the first time, Bredenbury broke alertly from her inside post and chased the pace of the speedy Chili Petin before engaging the leader in early stretch. Bredenbury ultimately shook that rival off inside the eighth pole and edged well clear before holding safe a late surge from the favorite.

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She’s My Type, who easily defeated Bredenbury when the pair met for the first time in Gulfstream Park’s Ginger Brew Stakes on Jan. 4, settled near the rear of the field during the early stages while turning back in distance to race six furlongs for the first time Sunday. She advanced outside horses on the final turn, finished willingly while lugging in some through the closing stages, but could not seriously menace the winner, who completed the distance over a very firm course in a lively 1:07.21. Miss J McKay raced wide and rallied mildly to finish a non-threatening third.

Owned by Andrew Stone, Bredenbury paid $20.

“It was a great trip. I had a plan, and everything went the way we expected it would,” Saez said. “The Wesley Ward horse [Chili Petin] went to the lead, and my plan was to follow her, sit right there, and when they turned into the stretch, make our move. She responded really well. I was very confident. I knew when we came into the stretch that I had a lot of horse. She could go a little further, for sure. When I turned her loose, she gave a really good kick.”

Trainer Christophe Clement, who saddled both the runner-up and fourth-place finisher Notorious R B G in the Lady Shipman, said “Joel [Rosario] said he maybe moved a little too early [with She’s My Type]. Maybe the winner was just the better horse on the day. We’re still learning about her. She’s coming from a mile and ran six furlongs today. The final time was very fast. She ran well. Sometimes you finish second but still run a good race.”