Reneesgotzip eyes Rancho Bernardo repeat
DEL MAR, Calif. – Winning the Rancho Bernardo Handicap for the second straight year with Reneesgotzip would put an exclamation point on a week full of joy for trainer Peter Miller, whose wife, Lani, gave birth to their second son, Seth Henry, on Tuesday.
“Of course, on a dark day,” Miller said Friday. “It’s been very exciting. I’m picking them up at the hospital after work this morning to take them home.”
Seth joins brother Jacob, 2, in the Miller household.
Reneesgotzip has been part of the family a lot longer. Now 5, she is a multiple stakes winner and has been in the money five times in Grade 1 races, including the last two runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
The BC Turf Sprint is the main goal this year, too. Last year, Reneesgotzip did not race between the Rancho Bernardo and the BC Turf Sprint, and Miller said that is the plan for this year, too.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Reneesgotzip. Trainer Peter Miller is 14 for 49 with a $2.94 ROI over the past five years with horses returning from a layoff of more than 180 days on a synthetic surface.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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“She runs really well fresh,” Miller said. “I want to keep her fresh and happy, go straight to the Breeders’ Cup.”
To successfully defend her title in the Grade 3, $150,000 Rancho Bernardo – run at 6 1/2 furlongs on Polytrack – Reneesgotzip will have to beat a pair of Grade 1 winners in Judy the Beauty and Fashion Plate as well as Polytrack-loving Madame Cactus.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Judy the Beauty. Trainer Wesley Ward is 2 for 13 with a $0.70 return on investment over the past five years with older horses moving from dirt to synthetic after a layoff of 61-180 days.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
“It’s a tough race, hooking two Grade 1 winners for $150,000,” Miller said.
KEY CONTENDERS
RENEESGOTZIP (Last 3 Beyers: 96-103-105)
◗ Got a lifetime-best Beyer Speed Figure when returning from a 6 1/2-month layoff last summer, so she can fire fresh.
◗ She has a sharp series of works coming into this race and looked eager during a half-mile drill from the gate in 47.40 seconds on Monday.
“She’s ready. She’s on edge,” Miller said.
◗ She is strictly the one to catch. Of her five rivals, only the longshot Amaranth seems capable of pressuring her in the early going.
JUDY THE BEAUTY (Last 3 Beyers: 82-96-96)
◗ Returns to her preferred footing, a synthetic surface, after finishing fourth in the Humana Distaff on dirt at Churchill Downs last time out on Kentucky Derby Day, May 3.
◗ This is her first start at Del Mar, but she won the Grade 1 Madison on Polytrack at Keeneland in April and won the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland last fall.
◗ She has won five times in six starts on synthetic surfaces.
◗ A high-class performer, she was second to two-time champion Groupie Doll in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
FASHION PLATE (Last 3 Beyers: 57-58-87)
◗ A 3-year-old, she is facing her elders for the first time and has caught some top-class runners.
◗ Disappointed in the Acorn and ran poorly after becoming out of sorts at the Kentucky Oaks, so she is now turning back to a sprint.
◗ Though she won a pair of Grade 1 races at Santa Anita during the winter, the form of those races has not held up well.
MADAME CACTUS (Last 3 Beyers: 61-87-85)
◗ Like Reneesgotzip, she is making her first start of the year.
◗ Benefits from a significant weight break. She carries 118 pounds, compared to 125 for Judy the Beauty and 124 for Reneesgotzip.
◗ Owns a win and two seconds in three starts on Polytrack.