Perfectly Pretty looking just beautiful

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It has taken less than two weeks for Perfectly Pretty to make a name for herself as a broodmare.

On June 27, Perfectly Pretty's second foal, the 2-year-old High Intellect, won his debut in a maiden special weight race at Hollywood Park. On Wednesday, her first foal, the 3-year-old Idiot Proof, set a six-furlong track record of 1:07.47 winning his first stakes in the Grade 3 Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Idiot Proof's win has owners Marty and Pam Wygod and trainer Clifford Sise thinking of a return trip to Monmouth Park for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint in October.

The Wygods bred Idiot Proof and High Intellect at their River Edge Farm, in Buellton, Calif. Both colts are by Benchmark, a stallion who stands at River Edge and was campaigned by the Wygods.

Perfectly Pretty, 8, raced for the Wygods. She had one victory in six starts - a maiden special weight race at Bay Meadows in September 2002 - and earned $40,968.

Perfectly Pretty has a yearling filly and a suckling colt by Benchmark, according to Russell Drake, the farm manager at River Edge Farm.

"She's the type of mare that you want to breed to him," Drake said of mating Perfectly Pretty to Benchmark. "She kind of looked like she'd make a good fit with Benchmark. We're glad it's worked out this well."

The Wygods did not keep High Intellect, who was sold last October at Barretts for $30,000 to David Lanzman and Jason Wood. High Intellect is trained by Craig Lewis, who credited Lanzman with making the purchase. High Intellect will make his next start in the $125,000 Graduation Stakes for statebreds over 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on July 25.

"I got lucky enough to get him," Lewis said of High Intellect. "I liked him from the beginning. He showed promise from early on."

Drake said that High Intellect "was just a little small" as a yearling. "We raise quite a few yearlings, and we'll have to thin them a little bit," he said.

Drake said that High Intellect was chosen to be sell as a yearling because Perfectly Pretty had yet to be proven as a broodmare.

"If I'd known Idiot Proof was going to turn out, I wouldn't have sold him," he said. "I think she's doing quite well."

As for the yearling filly, Drake describes her as a "very nice looking filly."

"We're probably looking at keeping her for sure," he said.

Benchmark, by Alydar, stands for $10,000. He is ranked eighth on the state's general sire list with 2007 progeny earnings of $1,259,740 through Thursday. The list is led by the River Edge stallion Bertrando, the sire of Perfectly Pretty. Bertrando, has 2007 progeny earnings of $2,097,318.

Drake said that Benchmark was bred to approximately 100 mares this year.

Idiot Proof is a winner of 4 of 6 starts and $237,272. Sise, his trainer, said the colt is likely to have only more start before the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Sise said that Idiot Proof is still learning about racing, as evidenced by the way he ran erratically in the final furlong of the Jersey Shore. He won by 7 1/4 lengths over Spin Master.

Sise thinks that Idiot Proof could have gone faster "if he had something to run at."

"When he came into the winner's circle, he couldn't have blown out a match," Sise said.

"I thought, 'Am I dreaming this?' I've never seen a horse come back like that, like it was nothing. He really likes that track."