Pleasant Passage jumps in front, stays there in Miss Grillo
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Pleasant Passage rallied from six lengths back to get up by a neck when she won her career debut six weeks ago at Saratoga. On Saturday, Pleasant Passage showed a new dimension, but got the same result as she won the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo Stakes in front-running fashion at Aqueduct.
Seeing no speed in the field, Irad Ortiz Jr. put Pleasant Passage on the lead soon after the start, was able to slow down the pace and, despite bumping with Free Look in midstretch, held that one at bay to win by three-quarters of a length.
It was two lengths back to favored Be Your Best in third. Alluring Angel, Im Just Kiddin, and Georgees Spirit completed the order of finish.
Approximately three-quarters of an inch of rain fell in Queens, so the Miss Grillo - as well as the Belmont Turf Sprint - were run over a yielding turf course. Two other turf races were moved to the dirt.
Ortiz said Anthony Hamilton Jr., the assistant to trainer Shug McGaughey, told him Pleasant Passage was training sharp and that she could be more forward than in her debut.
“I tried to warm her up good, there was not too much speed in the race … I know there’s going to be a slow pace, if I can be in front it’s going to be good for me,” Ortiz said.
Pleasant Passage ran a half-mile in 49.77 seconds and was able to open a one-length advantage over Free Look, ridden by Flavien Prat. Free Look got within a half-length of Pleasant Passage when the two bumped at the eighth pole. The two fillies persevered to the wire with Pleasant Passage holding sway.
“Off her race, her works were sharp,” McGaughey said by phone afterward. “Her work at Saratoga was visually very good and I think Irad rode a smart race on her. He put her into the race, backed it up some and it worked out. She’s a nice filly no matter what.”
Pleasant Passage, a daughter of More Than Ready, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.25 (78 Beyer Speed Figure) and returned $21.20 to win.
The victory earned Pleasant Passage a fees-paid berth into the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 4.
Despite the bump, Prat, on Free Look, did not claim foul.
“I got bumped from the inside, but I never made up any ground afterwards, so that’s why,” Prat said.
Chad Brown, the trainer of Free Look, before seeing the bump on the replay, said he was pleased with his filly’s performance. Free Look was running in this race four weeks after her maiden victory at Saratoga. He was planning on running Free Look in next week’s Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland, but called an audible when Pink Hue, whom he was planning on running in the Miss Grillo, got sick.
“She probably needed one more week to recover from her race for me to really see her at her best,” Brown said of Free Look. “If I have five weeks to the next race and a little more pace in front of her, I think we’ll see the best of her.”
Be Your Best suffered her first defeat after two dominant wins at Saratoga. Trainer Jose Ortiz blamed the yielding surface for Be Your Best not showing her best.
“The ground was very heavy, you see nobody made up any ground, the [winner] was on the lead, the second was second and I was third,” Ortiz said. Unfortunately, I was three-wide the whole way, it’s a lot to ask on this ground, it was very heavy. I look forward to the Breeders’ Cup.”
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