The real Chocolate Gelato should be tough in Frizette
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Chocolate Gelato was the flavor of the month heading into her debut on opening day of the Saratoga meet only to leave her backers with a bad taste in their mouths when she finished third as the 1-2 favorite.
A daughter of Practical Joke, Chocolate Gelato made amends with a mouth-watering 8 1/2-length maiden victory in her second start, a performance that may make her the horse to beat in Sunday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Aqueduct.
The Frizette, which offers a fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 4 at Keeneland, drew a talented field of seven that includes Grade 1 Spinaway winner Leave No Track, Sorority winner Vedareo, and open-lengths debut winners The Great Maybe and You’re My Girl.
Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Chocolate Gelato, said the Saratoga track was very deep and demanding early in the meet, which may have contributed to his filly’s lackluster performance. A month later, Chocolate Gelato was moving smoother and easier and was taken in hand late by Irad Ortiz Jr. while romping to victory.
“A little surprised she got beat the first time,” Pletcher said. “I think we saw a lot of horses [struggling], especially the first portion of the meet, when the track was just more demanding. Second time was more of what we expected.”
Chocolate Gelato will be stretching out from six furlongs to one mile in the Frizette.
“She’s a good-sized filly, gives you the impression she’ll handle the stretch out,” said Pletcher who trains Chocolate Gelato for Mike Repole.
There is the likelihood of an off track on Sunday. Chocolate Gelato’s mother, Special Treat, won her maiden over a sloppy track.
Leave No Trace stretched out from 5 1/2 furlongs to seven furlongs when she took the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga by 1 1/2 lengths over a good field that included the stakes winner Wonder Wheel.
“I thought she was impressive because she didn’t just win, she looked like she was pretty dominating,” said Phil Serpe, who trains Leave No Trace for WellSpring Stables.
Leave No Trace has trained well since the Spinaway, including a five-furlong workout in 58.60 seconds last Sunday. She will have to deal with the rail and potentially a sloppy track on Sunday.
“I’m very happy with her,” Serpe said. “The rail? What are you going to do? Somebody had to draw it. We’re just going to have to break well and see how the track’s playing.”
Vedareo won the Sorority by six lengths at Monmouth Park on Aug. 21. She is a half-sister to Vequist, who in 2020 won the Grade 1 Spinaway and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to be crowned champion 2-year-old filly. She was upset as the 4-5 favorite in the Frizette.
Butch Reid, who trained Vequist and trains Vedareo, believes how she behaves early will determine how well Vedareo performs.
“She’s a high-energy filly, she runs hard. You could see she had her head up fighting the bit the first quarter,” Reid said of the Sorority. “Once she got on the backside she settled nicely, really did well, which was very nice to see.”
Jose Ortiz rides Vedareo from post 5.
The Great Maybe, a daughter of Upstart trained by Cherie DeVaux, was an eighth-length winner of a six-furlong maiden race at Saratoga on Aug. 28. DeVaux said she was going to look for an allowance race for The Great Maybe, but the filly trained well enough to try a stakes. DeVaux preferred the one-mile Frizette to the Alcibiades, a two-turn, 1 1/16-mile race at Keeneland.
“The two-turn race at Keeneland is too much of a test,” DeVaux said. “I don’t think that’s going to be her best distance.”
You’re My Girl beat New York-breds by 14 1/2 lengths going six furlongs at Saratoga on Sept. 2. Trainer John Terranova said this was the logical next spot and isn’t too concerned about the added distance or prospect of an off track.
“She moves so well over the ground, so easy. Until we try it you never know, but it wouldn’t be a problem for her based on how athletic she is,” Terranova said. “And I love the post for her.”
You’re My Girl drew the outside in the seven-horse field.
American Rockette, fourth in the Spinaway, is a half-sister to 2019 Frizette runner-up Frank’s Rockette. Raging Sea, a daughter of Curlin, was a debut winner by a neck on Aug. 7 at Saratoga for trainer Chad Brown.
The Frizette goes as race 8 on a 10-race card that includes the Grade 2 Pilgrim for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on turf and the Grade 3 Waya for older females going 1 3/8 miles on turf.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.