Spiced Perfection overcomes poor start, traffic to win Thoroughbred Club of America by a head

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Peter Miller was watching a simulcast from Keeneland back home in Southern California on Saturday. He scarcely could believe what he was seeing.

“That’s one of the best races one of my horses has ever run,” Miller said by phone shortly after Spiced Perfection overcame a terrible start to win the 39th running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland. “It was just incredible.”

Ridden by Javier Castellano, Spiced Perfection somehow passed all eight of her rivals to capture the six-furlong TCA, a Win and You’re In toward the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita. After stumbling at the break, she nimbly sped up the rail down the backstretch, then still had three horses to pass with a quarter-mile to go.

Nearing the eighth pole, she was nearly pinched back by Mia Mischief and the tiring early leader, Talk Veuve to Me, but Spiced Perfection persevered through a narrow opening, drew clear with about 100 yards to go, then reached the wire just in time to survive a belated bid by Dawn the Destroyer. The win margin was a head, and the final time was 1:10.60 over a fast track.

“We got through a little tiny hole at the eighth pole,” said Castellano.

Making her first start since early May, Spiced Perfection returned $10.20 as second choice. Mia Mischief was another 1 1/2 lengths behind the top pair and another 1 3/4 lengths before Chalon, the 2-1 favorite.

Spiced Perfection, a 4-year-old California-bred by Smiling Tiger, is owned by Pantofel Stable, Wachtel Stable, and Peter Deutsch. She now has won eight of 18 starts, with the Grade 1 Madison here in April being her most notable prior victory.

Miller, who has won nearly 1,100 races when becoming one of the top trainers on his home circuit, said Spiced Perfection will resume training in the relative quiet of San Luis Rey Downs, which is where she had posted 10 timed works since late July in preparing for her return in the TCA.

“I just hope she didn’t run her Breeders’ Cup race right there,” said Miller. “She’s such a nice filly.”

Dawn the Destroyer, a 10-1 shot who had been second in the Grade 1 Ballerina in her previous start for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, closed resolutely under Tyler Gaffalione and should benefit from the extra distance of the seven-furlong BC Filly and Mare Sprint. Chalon had no apparent excuse, with trainer Arnaud Delacour expressing doubt afterward that the mare would proceed to the Breeders’ Cup.

The $2 exacta (3-5) paid $88.80, the $1 trifecta (3-5-6) returned $249.80, and the 10-cent superfecta (3-5-6-8) was worth $82.53.