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Changing Skies lives up to pedigree in The Very One Swettenham Stud's homebred CHANGING SKIES (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) rallied strongly in deep stretch to collar Nehantic Kat (Tomorrows Cat) in Saturday's $100,000 The Very One S. (G3) at Gulfstream Park, becoming the sixth stakes winner from the prolific Magnificient Style (Silver Hawk). A full sister to English juvenile co-highweight filly Playful Act (Ire) and Group 2-winning stayer Percussionist, Changing Skies stopped the teletimer in 2:16 1/5 for 1 3/8 miles on good turf. By earning a graded stakes victory, the royally-bred five-year-old enhanced her already considerable value as a broodmare. In the opening stages, In My Glory (Honour and Glory) led the way through splits of :24 2/5, :49, 1:14 4/5 and 1:39 2/5, with Zaskar (GB) (Anabaa) lapped onto her flank. Belle Allure (Ire) (Numerous) and Long Approach (Broad Brush) stalked the early pace, Closeout (Repriced) worked her way into a contending position, and Nehantic Kat bided her time in midpack. Changing Skies lagged well back, and Cable (Dynaformer), the lukewarm 7-2 favorite, anchored the 13-horse field. The complexion of the race changed significantly swinging into the stretch, when the early leaders were swamped by the closing Nehantic Kat and Closeout. Bursting from the pack with a bold move, the two surged to the front and edged away. Nehantic Kat got the better of Closeout, but by that point, Changing Skies was on the march. The Bill Mott mare hit top gear for Kent Desormeaux, overtaking a game Nehantic Kat to record a three-quarters of a length victory. "She gave me a great ride," Desormeaux said. "She was always in the bridle and distributing the confidence to me through the reins. And she was happy with the going. She's a light filly, and they tend to stay on top of the ground, so she had no problem with the softer surface." "They (Swettenham Stud in England, owned by Ben Sangster) have sent me a number of nice fillies," Mott said, "and we've been fortunate to win good races for them, including some Grade 1s. There are more opportunities over here once they get older. I was worried she might get a little rank early breaking from the outside post, but she settled nicely. We'll definitely consider the Orchid (G2) here for her next start (on March 28)." Sent off as the 4-1 second choice in her seasonal reappearance, Changing Skies returned $10, $6 and $4 while keying the $140 exacta, $844.20 trifecta and $12,548.20 superfecta (11-13-5-1). Nehantic Kat, a 14-1 outsider, gave back $12.60 and $6.60 for finishing a clear second by 1 1/4 lengths. Cable was along late for third, paying $3.40. Proud Lisa (Proud Citizen) grabbed fourth by a head from Long Approach, followed by a weakening Closeout, Morena (Per) (Privately Held), Belle Allure, Celtic Princess (Brz) (Public Purse), Mystic Miracle (Unbridled's Song), Zaskar, the also-eligible Rcuandry (A.P. Indy) and In My Glory. Lady Shakespeare (Theatrical [Ire]) and Kiawah Cat (Lemon Drop Kid) were scratched, along with the main-track only entrant Jessica is Back (Put It Back). Changing Skies improved her scorecard to 12-3-3-3, $167,593. First trained in England by Brian Meehan, the bay missed by a head in the 2008 Prix de Psyche (Fr-G3) and placed third in that season's Cheshire Oaks and Prix Charles Laffitte. Changing Skies raced only once for Meehan in 2009, fading to fourth in the Middleton S. (Eng-G3), and joined Mott later that summer. After capturing an allowance at Belmont Park in her U.S. debut, she finished second in a Keeneland allowance to wrap up her campaign. The Irish-bred mare is the latest notable performer out of Magnificient Style, whose biggest career victory came in the 1996 Musidora S. (Eng-G3). Her first foal was multiple American stakes winner and Grade 3-placed Stylelistick (Storm Cat). Next came Echoes in Eternity (Ire) (Spinning World), queen of the 2003 Sun Chariot S. (Eng-G2) and 2004 Park Hill S. (Eng-G2). Her following two foals were both by Sadler's Wells, the aforementioned full siblings to Changing Skies. Percussionist landed the 2006 Yorkshire Cup, while Playful Act scored in the 2004 Fillies Mile (Eng-G1) and May Hill S. (Eng-G2). Playful Act added the Lancashire Oaks (Eng-G2) to her resume in 2005 and also finished runner-up in the Irish Oaks (Ire-G1). In 2007, Playful Act sold for $10.5 million at Keeneland November, setting a world record auction price for a broodmare. Magnificient Style has since produced English stakes scorer and Group 2-placed Petara Bay (Peintre Celebre). She also has a juvenile colt by Galileo (Ire) named Nathaniel. Magnificient Style is herself a half-sister to Charles H. Strub S. (G1) winner and sire Siberian Summer (Siberian Express). This is the family of Cavalryman (Halling), last year's Grand Prix de Paris (Fr-G1) hero who was third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1); Grade 1 victor Silver Ending (Silver Hawk); German highweight older stayer Double Honour (Highest Honour); and a few New Zealand champions, including St Reims (Zabeel) and Champagne (Zabeel). Changing Skies' fourth dam is the influential Delta (*Nasrullah), the 1968 Broodmare of the Year.
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