Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies: Quickick, La Cara could meet again
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Greg Tramontin recently turned his attention to purchasing quality racing prospects out of the yearling market and has come up with Quickick, the runner-up in last weekend’s Alcibiades at Keeneland who is now possible for the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Quickick, trained by Tom Amoss, is a daughter of McKinzie and the Grade 3-winning mare Graeme Six. She was a $550,000 purchase last year at the Keeneland September sale.
“I trained her mom, so I made a specific trip to go see her,” Amoss said. “Her mom was really small. She may not have been 15 hands, but Quickick was the polar opposite – tall, scopey, lengthy – and I was immediately attracted to her.”
Amoss added Quickick also was appealing for the fact that Graeme Six has been a successful producer, with a pair of graded winners and an additional stakes winner.
Quickick debuted at Saratoga and was third to La Cara, who came back in her next start to win the Grade 3 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs. Quickick won her maiden one start later over Scottish Lassie, who came back to take the Grade 1 Frizette at Aqueduct. Quickick then advanced to the Alcibiades.
“Here we are a few days after that race and we’re certainly excited about our filly,” Amoss said. “And we don’t think she had the greatest of setups in the Alcibiades, either.
“We came from well off the pace. There were things there we think can be made better. Our filly, who is still learning, didn’t switch leads down the lane. She stayed on her left lead, but she still ran a heck of a race, so naturally, we’re thinking about the Breeders’ Cup with her. We want to give her this week, and a workout probably the middle of next week, before making a final decision on that.”
Quickick is 8-1 for the Juvenile Fillies on the early line set by Daily Racing Form’s David Aragona.
Meanwhile, La Cara will be chasing after her third consecutive win when she makes her two-turn debut in the Juvenile Fillies.
She is coming into the race off a win in the Pocahontas, a one-turn mile on Sept. 14. Prior to that, La Cara was a maiden special weight winner over seven furlongs at Saratoga.
“I think her pedigree says two turns,” said Mark Casse, who trains La Cara for breeder Tracy Farmer. “She’s by Street Sense out of a Bernardini mare. She’s pretty royally bred. Her mom is a full sister to To Honor and Serve. It’s just a really strong family.”
To Honor and Serve was a multiple Grade 1 winner who earned $1.7 million.
La Cara closed to win the Pocahontas by three-quarters of a length, following an eight-length romp in the maiden race.
“I thought the Pocahontas was a good performance,” Casse said. “She broke her maiden very impressively at Saratoga, but was on the lead and she got away a little bad in the Pocahontas. She was able to overcome all that and still win and win comfortably.”
Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount in the Juvenile Fillies, Casse said.
La Cara is scheduled to fly to Southern California on Oct. 28. She’s part of a contingent of eight runners that Casse has pointing to the Breeders’ Cup.
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