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Garrett Gomez brandishes his whip in triumph aboard Indian Blessing
(Alex Evers/Horsephotos.com) |
Patti and Hal J. Earnhardt III's homebred INDIAN BLESSING (Indian Charlie)
seized command early in Saturday's $1,832,000
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), gave
her rivals the slip turning for home, and rolled to a 3 1/2-length triumph to remain
perfect from three starts. By passing her first two-turn test with flying
colors, the Bob Baffert pupil likely wrapped up an Eclipse Award as champion
two-year-old filly.
Piloted by Garrett Gomez, the dark bay was striding comfortably as she reeled
off splits of :23 2/5, :46 2/5 and 1:10 3/5 on Monmouth's sloppy, sealed track.
Indian Blessing widened her margin on the far turn and was never
threatened in the stretch, completing the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44 3/5. The 8-5
favorite returned $5.40, $4.80 and $3.20 while spearheading the $54.20 exacta,
$243 trifecta ($1) and $3,280.80 superfecta (4-10-7-3).
"The idea wasn't to make the lead, it was just to get a good forward
position, but once she made it up to the first turn, she was rolling so easy, I
let her go," Gomez explained. "When we made it up to the far turn, she was
really rolling, and I let her go. When we turned for home, she leveled right
out."
"That was fun," Baffert said. "I left it up to Garrett, but she's a
fast filly and she broke well. She's a really talented filly, and we've always
known it.
"This filly, she's incredible," her trainer marveled. "She's just a
fast filly that just takes her speed, and she's going to run them into
the ground like a Smarty Jones type. You look at her and she's built
like a sprinter, but she just -- when they are that good, you can't run
them down. They just keep going."
Proud Spell (Proud Citizen) finished best of the rest by a half-length,
giving back $8.80 and $5.80 at 9-1. Backseat Rhythm (El Corredor) rallied along the inside in the lane to grab third, and the
19-1 shot furnished
$9.60 to show. It was another four lengths back to Tasha's Miracle (Harlan's
Holiday), trailed by Smarty Deb (Smart Strike), Clearly Foxy (Volponi), Grace
Anatomy (Aldebaran), Zee Zee (Exchange Rate), A to the Croft (Menifee), Izarra
(Distorted Humor), Set Play (Van Nistelrooy), Irish Smoke (Smoke Glacken) and
Phantom Income (Montbrook). Baffert's other entrant, Cry and Catch Me (Street
Cry [Ire]), was withdrawn after spiking a fever earlier in the week.
Indian Blessing has now amassed $1,357,200 in earnings. A 5 1/4-length debut maiden
winner at Saratoga, she captured the Frizette S. (G1) at Belmont by 4 1/2
lengths in her stakes bow.
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