Three turns proves key for My Sister Nat
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With her impeccable breeding – she’s a half-sister to champion Sistercharlie – and promising racing record during her 3-year-old campaign in France, expectations were high when My Sister Nat joined trainer Chad Brown’s barn for the 2019 season.
Things didn’t quite pan out as hoped when My Sister Nat finally returned to the races last summer. But her career is definitely headed in the right direction now following Saturday’s game victory over 7-5 favorite Mrs. Sippy in the 1 1/2-mile, Grade 3 Waya.
“She wasn’t really fully acclimated last year,” said Chad Brown, who trains My Sister Nat for owner Peter Brant. “We never could get her looking like we wanted. She’s a light-framed filly anyway, and this year she looks much better.”
Brown said the key to My Sister Nat’s resurgence was finally getting her into a three-turn race at the end of 2019, the 11-furlong Long Island last November at Aqueduct in which she finished second, beaten just a neck, after rallying from last at the top of the stretch.
“Getting her into those three-turn races was key,” Brown said. “She should have won the Long Island, but her effort gave us the confidence to bring her back and race her at 5. Her two races to start off this year were really big moves forward, and I loved the way she was more tactical yesterday. I was happy to see her not lose contact with the field like she had in earlier races.”
Brown said he’s not sure if My Sister Nat is Breeders’ Cup material just yet, but he does feel there could be a Grade 1 win in her future.
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“The problem is there aren’t a lot of three-turn, Grade 1 races for fillies and mares like there are for the colts, so I might have to consider something like the E.P. Taylor at Woodbine for her,” Brown said. “Although the Glens Falls [Grade 2, Sept. 5 at Saratoga] is also a possibility.”
Brown also was pleased with the performance of Fools Gold, who set the pace before tiring to finish third in the Waya.
“I thought it was a much-improved effort from Fools Gold,” Brown said. “In her first start this year she got quite tired. Her next race should be her best yet, and the Glens Falls also makes sense for her as well.”
Mrs. Sippy, beaten just a neck by My Sister Nat when making her first start since the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in the Waya, also came out of the race in good order, according to trainer Graham Motion.
“The race didn’t set up for us, there wasn’t a lot of pace, there was a little cut in the ground, and the other filly [My Sister Nat] got the jump on us,” Motion said. “But that said, she ran a great race and considering she hadn’t run since November it’s hard to be disappointed with her effort.”
Motion said Mrs. Sippy would likely make her next start at Kentucky Downs in the $500,000 Ramsey Farms going 1 5/16 miles on Sept. 13.
“It gives us five weeks and makes the most sense,” Motion said. “After that, we’ll see where we’re at in regards to the Breeders’ Cup. Right now, our main goal is to try to win a Grade 1 with her.”