Breeders' Cup could be last waltz for Come Dancing

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Less than 24 hours after her popular and impressive 3 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 Ballerina, Come Dancing stood at the front of her stall in trainer Carlos Martin’s barn late Sunday morning looking bright and fresh and ready to have at it again. But if Martin has his say, there may be only one more dance left on the 5-year-old’s dance card, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

Come Dancing overcame an eventful beginning before circling the field and drawing off to an easy triumph as the 3-5 favorite in the Ballerina. The victory was the third in four starts this season for the homebred daughter of Malibu Moon, who captured the Grade 3 Ruffian and Grade 2 Distaff in similarly one-sided fashion within a one-month span during the spring. Her lone setback in 2019 came in her previous start when she finished second behind Midnight Bisou, leader of the filly and mare handicap division, stretching out to 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 8 at Belmont Park.

“She came out of the race super, she couldn’t be doing any better,” Martin said while showing off his stable star on Sunday.

Martin admitted he had some anxious moments after Come Dancing got knocked around and was taken to the rear of the five horse field by jockey Javier Castellano shortly after leaving the gate for the seven-furlong Ballerina, in which she earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure.

“The one horse, Special Relativity, came out and kind of knocked her sideways,” Martin explained. “Javier told me in the paddock before the race he thought he might have a target on his back and that some of the others might try to come out and put it to her if she went for the lead. So I think, in his mind, he was kind of looking for a reason to take back and it kind of worked out okay.”

Come Dancing earned an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint by virtue of her victory in the Ballerina, and Martin said if it’s left up to him, she will not run again until that race. In fact, if he had his druthers, she might not run again after the Breeders’ Cup either.

“I’d like to freshen her up, give her two to 2 1/2 months, maybe take her to Fair Hill for a couple of weeks, do the same thing we did before this last race since we ran her in the Ogden Phipps,” said Martin. “She runs great fresh. I could get her back around the first of October and easily have her ready for the Breeders’ Cup the way she trains.”

Martin said he believes a victory in the Breeders’ Cup should earn Come Dancing a championship in the filly and mare sprint division.

“She won the Ruffian, she won the Distaff, and if she won the Breeders’ Cup, what more could you ask her to do?” said Martin. “And what better way for her to go out than as a Breeders’ Cup winner and a champion. She’s given us a lot of big thrills, but she’s also been through a lot too. In my heart, if she won the Breeders’ Cup, I’d recommend not to run her again. At some point you can’t push the envelope. She’s sounder now than she’s ever been and her Tiznow breeding suggests she’d get even better as she got older. But as a horseman, if we could make her a champion as a 5-year-old, I think that’s more than enough.”