Eblouissante entered in Thursday allowance; Balance to visit Frankel

Eblouissante entered in Thursday allowance; Balance to

visit Frankel

Two half-sisters to Zenyatta are back in the news. Newly-turned four-year-old Eblouissante,

who scored a visually impressive win in her November 16 debut, is entered in Thursday's

7TH race at Santa Anita. And Zenyatta's older half-sister, the 10-year-old

broodmare Balance, is set

to visit unbeaten phenom Frankel.

Eblouissante is trained by John Shirreffs, who directed Zenyatta to 19 victories in her first 19 races

before she suffered her only defeat in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic.

Zenyatta's legion of fans had been eagerly awaiting the premiere of

Eblouissante. Shirreffs brought the Eric Kronfeld homebred along patiently, and

Eblouissante recorded works over a 17-month span before she was pronounced ready

to race.

Sent off as the 7-5 favorite in her unveiling at Hollywood Park, Eblouissante

conjured up images of Zenyatta when she rallied from near the tail of the field

to win by 4 1/4 lengths. The final time of 1:45 1/5 for 1 1/16 miles on Cushion

Track wasn't overwhelming, but the daughter of Bernardini did it the right way,

and is very much the type to keep improving.

"I worked

her before I rode her," said Corey Nakatani, who retains the mount on

Eblouissante Thursday. "She's a special filly. Hopefully, she comes back and

runs like she did in her first race. I'm sure John has her spot-on, so I'm

looking forward to riding her again."

Eblouissante was expected to make her second start in a December 15 allowance

over the same track and trip, only to be scratched after a minor mishap. She

banged into a stall door and scraped her hip shortly before she was due to head

to the paddock.

The nearly-black filly didn't miss a beat thereafter, though. Right back on

the Hollywood worktab on December 21, Eblouissante has since posted three more

moves, capped by a five-furlong drill in 1:00 4/5 on Saturday.

Eblouissante will race on dirt for the first time in Thursday's 1 1/16-mile

allowance/optional claimer. Only four others are entered, and she is drawn on

the outside in post 5.

Her rivals are Torrey Pines Stakes runner-up Viva Carina, most recently

fourth in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss on turf; Double Ante, who just missed in an

entry-level allowance at Hollywood last out; Pink Blossom; and Folk Dancer, who

is in for the $40,000 tag.

Meanwhile, in other Zenyatta family news, half-sister Balance is just

settling into her new quarters in England as she awaits her date with Frankel.

"Balance arrived safely yesterday in England with plans for mating to

sensation Frankel," Mill Ridge's Headley Bell tweeted Monday, adding that she is "boarded at Newmarket

with Brian O'Rourke."

A multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire herself, Balance captured the Grade 1

Santa Anita Oaks and Grade 1 Las Virgenes in 2006. At four in 2007, the daughter

of Thunder Gulch added the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap and

Grade 2 La Canada to her resume.

Balance has produced three registered foals so far -- the

unraced four-year-old Mr. Besilu, by A.P. Indy, who topped the 2010 Keeneland

September Yearling Sale at $4.2 million; unraced three-year-old Go Nineteen, by Street Cry, a $750,000 Keeneland

September purchase who was subsequently exported to Japan; and a newly-minted

yearling colt by Smart Strike.

Meanwhile, Zenyatta produced her first foal, a colt by Bernardini, last

March, and is currently in foal to Tapit. A nine-year-old by Street Cry,

Zenyatta resides at Lane's End Farm near Versailles, Kentucky.

Zenyatta, Balance and Eblouissante are all out of the Kris S. mare

Vertigineux, the 2008 Broodmare of the Year.

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