Neige Blanche ends eight-month layoff with Possibly Perfect triumph

ARCADIA, Calif. - Not even an eight-month layoff could prevent Neige Blanche from another successful start in the $100,000 Possibly Perfect Stakes at Santa Anita on Sunday.

Third in the 2021 Possibly Perfect and the winner of the race last year, Neige Blanche ($6.80) rallied between rivals in the stretch to win the eighth stakes of her career in the Possibly Perfect.

The Possibly Perfect was Neige Blanche’s first start since a last-place finish of seven in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita last October.

The victory marked the first Thoroughbred stakes win for 19-year-old jockey Diego Herrera, who won the $100,000 Charger Bar Handicap for Quarter Horse fillies and mares at Los Alamitos in 2022 on the champion mare Kiss Thru Fire.

Aside from the Santa Anita meeting that ended on Sunday, Herrera rides the Los Alamitos evening meeting of Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds, and had two winners at that venue on Saturday evening.

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Herrera rode Neige Blanche for the first time in the Possibly Perfect for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf. Neige Blanche was third for most of the first mile, tracking pacesetter Australia Mia, who set a moderate pace of 24.15 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 48.84 for a half-mile.

Australia Mia led by a length with a quarter-mile remaining.

Herrera moved Neige Blanche between 6-1 Australia Mia and 8-5 favorite Buzz of New York to reach contention in early stretch.

“I was waiting for a split.” Herrera said. “I was lucky to get the split.”

Neige Blanche caught Australia Mia in the final strides and held off a late threat from 9-5 Queen Ofthe Temple to win by a neck in 2:01.44 in an exciting finish. Neige Blanche earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 84.

Queen Ofthe Temple finished a head in front of Australia Mia, who was followed by Zeyaraat and Buzz of New York in the field of five.

Queen Ofthe Temple was well supported on the basis of a win in the Santa Barbara Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf on April 30.

Trained by Leonard Powell, Neige Blanche, a 6-year-old French-bred mare by Anodin, has won 10 of 22 starts and has earned $602,780. Aside from the Possibly Perfect, Neige Blanche won two Grade 3 stakes in 2022 – the Santa Barbara and Astra Stakes.

Last November, Neige Blanche went through the sales ring at the Keeneland November Sale for $485,000 to partially dissolve a partnership. The mare is currently owned by Laura de Seroux, Marsha Naify and Powell’s wife, Mathilde.

Madaket Stable was part of the partnership that owned Neige Blanche from her first start in the United States in the summer of 2020 until the auction last fall.

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