Two-time Grade 1 winner Ce Ce outclasses foes in Chillingworth
Though she won a pair of Grade 1 races going long early in 2020, since then Ce Ce has proven far more effective racing around one turn – especially on the deeper tracks these days in Southern California.
So with the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint adjudged a more suitable goal in 2021 than the Distaff, Ce Ce has sprinted in three of her four starts this year, resulting in two wins. She’ll continue that trend, and try to move on to the Filly and Mare Sprint 34 days later, when she heads the field Sunday at Santa Anita in the Grade 3, $100,000 Chillingworth Stakes.
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The Chillingworth, at 6 1/2 furlongs, drew a field of six older female sprinters and goes as race 5 on the 10-race card. The local and divisional leader for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 6 at Del Mar is Gamine, who is sitting the race out by design so she comes into the Breeders’ Cup fresh.
That’s good news for Ce Ce, who most recently finished third behind Gamine at Saratoga in the Grade 1 Ballerina going seven furlongs, the distance of the Filly and Mare Sprint. Ce Ce should be a heavy favorite against her five rivals.
“She came out of the race at Saratoga in good order after running creditable third,” said Michael McCarthy, who trains Ce Ce for her owner and breeder, Bo Hirsch. “We didn’t get the pace scenario we were hoping for, but I thought she ran super. She’s come back and worked well. Hoping to move on to the Breeders’ Cup.”
Ce Ce won the Grade 2 Princess Rooney, also at seven furlongs, in a runaway at Gulfstream in her race prior to the Ballerina. After two cross-country trips, she now gets to stay home through the Breeders’ Cup.
Ce Ce drew well, landing post 5 of 6, affording regular rider Victor Espinoza the opportunity for an ideal stalking trip as she goes for her fifth win in eight starts at Santa Anita.
Scotish Star is seeking to bounce back from a last-place finish in a four-horse field in the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo at Del Mar. A Group 1 winner in her native Argentina, Scotish Star was an encouraging second in her only other start in this country, which came earlier in the Del Mar meet in a second-level allowance.
Proud Emma rallied for second in the Rancho Bernardo when making her first start in six months.
Bella Vita heads into the Chillingworth off the best race of her career, a first-level allowance sprint at Del Mar that she won by 4 1/2 lengths with a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 96.
Eyes Open, who has first-level allowance conditions, and On Deck, a starter-allowance winner last month at Los Alamitos, are longshots hoping a small field presents an opportunity to pick up black type.