Pass the Champagne runs a corker in return

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Pass the Champagne returned with flying colors by winning an allowance race Thursday at Gulfstream Park, although the 4-year-old filly’s clocking was nearly two seconds slower than what a Florida-bred 3-year-old ran earlier on the card.

Trainer George Weaver said he expects Pass the Champagne to use the 2 1/4-length victory in the seven-furlong race as foundation toward more important engagements.

“Hopefully this is a step to bigger things,” said Weaver. “You never know how they’ll respond when they come off that layoff. It looked like she came back running.”

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Pass the Champagne, a highly regarded daughter of Flatter, was making her first start in nine months, having needed time off following a 12th-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks. She had earned a career-high 88 Beyer Speed Figure when defeated just a head in the Grade 1 Ashland in her previous race.

Under leading jockey Luis Saez, she drew off with authority in winning the first-level allowance Thursday in 1:23.71. Pass the Champagne ($3.60) got a 72 Beyer for her comeback win, whereas King Cab ($5) got an 88 in easily winning a Florida-bred allowance in 1:21.79 when going the same seven-furlong distance nearly three hours earlier.

“I’ve thought for a long time that this horse could be something extraordinary,” said Eddie Plesa Jr., trainer of King Cab, a Noble Bird gelding who had been away since finishing far back in the restricted Affirmed Stakes in late August.

“He came back a little off after that race,” said Plesa. “He didn’t need any surgery, just some time off. His works since we brought him back have been amazing.”