French import appears to have touch of class
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – While Chad Brown waits to hear whether he will get the opportunity to train Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf one-two finishers Dayatthespa and Stephanie’s Kitten next year, the search for possible replacements begins in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Long Island Handicap at Aqueduct.
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Brown will send out the 3-year-old filly Danza Cavallo in the Long Island, the last turf graded stakes for fillies and mares on this circuit in 2014. Fourteen were entered, but only 12 will be permitted to run.
Danza Cavallo, a French-bred daughter of Sunday Break, is coming off a listed stakes win over soft turf in France on July 22. It was only the second time in 11 career starts that Danza Cavallo raced against females, and she won both times.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Danza Cavallo. Trainer Chad Brown is 18-8-1-3 with a $4.00 ROI over the past five years with horses new to his barn making their first start in North America in turf routes when adding Lasix and following a layoff of between 61 and 180 Days. Click for more details. – Dan Illman
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While Brown isn’t sure what type of company Danza Cavallo has kept in France, he has worked her with some of his better turf fillies and mares in this country, including Stephanie’s Kitten and Testa Rossi.
“She’s held her own very well with those fillies,” Brown said.
Danza Cavallo has a win and two seconds in three starts at the Long Island distance of 1 1/2 miles.
“She’s probably fitter than I think she is, and clearly she’ll appreciate some cut in the ground,” Brown said.
Danza Cavallo will take on a trio of horses from the Christophe Clement barn: Aigue Marine, making her third straight appearance in the Long Island; Tabreed, second in last year’s Long Island; and Maximova, a New York-bred trying a marathon distance for the first time.
Key contenders
Danza Cavallo
◗ In her last six starts at 1 1/4 miles or farther, she has not finished worse than third.
◗ She defeated males back in April going 1 1/2 miles in allowance company.
◗ She shows eight breezes since coming to Brown’s barn in August.
◗ She gets Lasix for the first time.
Aigue Marine (Last 3 Beyers: 88-93-93)
◗ She finished second in the 2012 Long Island and sixth in this race last year.
◗ She was a listed stakes winner on soft turf in France in 2012 when trained by Nicolas Clement, the brother of current trainer Christophe Clement.
◗ She won the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware in July.
◗ John Velazquez rides Aigue Marine for the first time.
Maximova (Last 3 Beyers: 81-86-84)
◗ She hit the gate in the Grade 3 Athenia and was farther back than her connections had planned. She rallied to finish sixth.
◗ She has won twice at 1 1/8 miles; this will be her first time beyond that distance.
“We always wanted to try her long, and obviously she won on good to soft turf, so it won’t be a problem,” said Christophe Lorieul, assistant to Clement.
Viva Rafaela (Last 3 Beyers: 95-94-91)
◗ She hasn’t won in a year but has three seconds and three thirds in eight graded stakes tries this year.
◗ She ran third to BC Filly and Mare Turf runner-up Stephanie’s Kitten in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl last out.
◗ She could be the controlling speed under Joe Bravo from post 2.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Viva Rafaela. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 16-3-4-1 with a $3.57 ROI over the past year in turf routes of 12 furlongs and longer. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Hellenistic. Trainer Dermot Weld is 12-0-1-1 over the past five years in races in North America. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 10 Auld Alliance. Trainer Graham Motion is 24-9-3-1 with a $7.87 ROI over the past four years in turf route graded stakes of 12 furlongs and longer. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan