Gamine's path to BC Filly and Mare Sprint up in the air
Gamine on Saturday won a Grade 1 race at Saratoga for the second straight summer and now will look toward winning the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint for the second straight year, but her path to the Nov. 6 race at Del Mar is yet to be determined, trainer Bob Baffert said Monday.
Gamine was scheduled to return to Del Mar from Saratoga on Tuesday, three days after capturing the Ballerina for the fifth Grade 1 victory of her 10-race career. Last year, Gamine won the Test at Saratoga, then ran in the postponed Kentucky Oaks before being freshened for the Breeders’ Cup.
Baffert can take Gamine straight to the Breeders’ Cup, or run her in a race like the Grade 3, $100,000 Chillingworth at Santa Anita on Oct. 3.
“I haven’t really made any plans,” Baffert said Monday. “I just wanted to get her through last weekend’s race. I’ll look her over after she gets home Tuesday.”
Gamine got a Beyer Speed Figure of 104, her best fig in four starts this year. She ran with a plate on one hoof.
“A lot of horses at that track were bruising their feet, so I ran her with a plate to protect her frog,” Baffert said. “It’s similar to what I used on American Pharaoh. It’s not a bar shoe, just a thin plate.”
Gamine was ridden by John Velazquez, who teamed with Baffert on Sunday at Del Mar to win the Shared Belief with Medina Spirit.