Filly & Mare Turf Diary

FILLY & MARE TURF DIARY

MAY 26, 2005

by Jennifer Caldwell

On May 14 at Pimlico, MY TYPHOON (Ire) (Giant's Causeway) finally captured

that first elusive stakes victory. The three-year-old miss was a

successful, and sensational, 5 1/4-length winner as the 6-5 choice in her first

start. Two months

later, she started as the 3-5 choice in the Miss Grillo S. but couldn't keep up

with the pace after being close to the front in that nine-furlong test. She

finished fourth, 9 1/4 lengths behind the winner, and wasn't seen again until

two Saturdays ago, when she was once again sent off the 3-5 favorite.

Now, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about the chestnut miss. If I

told you she is out of French champion Urban Sea (Miswaki), you might think,

"oh, OK, she's supposed to be good." If I were to add that Urban Sea is also the

dam Galileo (Ire), Black Sam Bellamy and All Too Beautiful, all three by

Sadler's Wells, you might say a lot more than that. The first two are multiple

Group 1 winners while their sister finished second in the Vodafone Oaks (Eng-G1)

last year. With such blood flowing through her veins, My Typhoon is one to keep

your eye on in future turf events.

This past weekend, all eyes were on the Preakness S. (G1) and Afleet

Alex's (Northern Afleet) courageous win. However, there were a couple of nice

races on the undercard, one of which was the Gallorette H. (G3). FILM MAKER

(Dynaformer) scored her first win since taking last year's All Along Breeders'

Cup S. (G3) in July. Since that race, the H. Graham Motion trainee was never

farther than 1 1/2 lengths back at the wire. She was making her five-year-old

bow in the 8 1/2-furlong Gallorette and posted a game neck victory after racing

near the back of the field while wide. She earned a career-best 102 BRIS Speed rating and

looks ready for a big year.

On Sunday, Belmont Park took center stage as it featured the only graded

event in the United States. SAUVAGE (Fr) (Sri Pekan) put on a good show, saving

ground and utilizing a hole on the rail to score by a half-length at 16-1. It

was just her second win since coming to the states, and she gave notice to her

foes that more is on the way.

Finally, to end this week's Diary, I'd like to point out a game winner to

whom no one gave a chance. GABIANNA (Deerhound) was making her 22nd career start

on Friday in The Very One S. at Pimlico, but it was her first try against stakes

company. The five-year-old mare raced close to the pace in third, eased out from

her inside position and rallied to take the five-furlong grass test by a neck.

That may not seem all that special, except for the fact that she was sent off

at 88-1, the longest shot on the board in a 11-horse field. Gabianna may never be

able to put together another performance like that one again, but on that day,

the bay mare was the best of a seasoned field of stakes runners.

It just goes to show you, a sure thing, even a long shot, is anything but in

horse racing.