Cotillion clash could have divisional Eclipse Award implications

While Alabama (G1) heroine Nitrogen awaits the Spinster (G1) at Keeneland, the other prime players in the three-year-old fillies’ division will clash in Saturday’s $1 million Cotillion (G1) at Parx. 

Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Good Cheer will try to reassert herself, Scottish Lassie looks to back up her scintillating victory in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), and the inconsistent La Cara goes for her third Grade 1 title of the campaign. 

The Cotillion will hopefully clarify their pecking order in the division, pending how Nitrogen fares. If Nitrogen continues to pad her resume through the fall, they’re all chasing her for the title. But if she doesn’t, the Cotillion result may well loom large in the Eclipse Award calculations, and that raises the stakes for the 1 1/16-mile prize. 

Good Cheer was the divisional leader through the spring, extending her record to a perfect 7-for-7 in the Kentucky Oaks. But the Godolphin homebred lost both ensuing starts at Saratoga. A lackluster fifth behind La Cara in the Acorn (G1), Good Cheer was a better second to Nitrogen in the Alabama in her latest. The Brad Cox filly promises to get a more beneficial pace set-up here, and she’s tactically drawn in post 7 with Luis Saez.

La Cara has done her best work on the front end, wiring both the Ashland (G1) and Acorn, and Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse is making no secret of his intent. 

“We got the two (post),” Casse said of the Cotillion draw, “but the good news is the other one (Scottish Lassie) got the one. We are going to go to the lead; those will be my instructions (to jockey Dylan Davis). I don’t know what the other filly (Scottish Lassie) will do, who is inside of us. It could get very interesting early. (La Cara) likes to be on the lead, and we are not going to take that away from her.”

La Cara’s resume is blotted by a ninth in the Kentucky Oaks and a fourth in the Alabama. But she didn’t go into the Alabama the way Casse planned. La Cara was supposed to make an interim start in the Coaching Club American (CCA) Oaks, until she was forced to scratch because of a quarantine in her barn. Tackling the 1 1/4-mile Alabama without the benefit of a recent race was tough, especially for a filly who shows speed.

That wrinkle also raises a what-if about the CCA Oaks. Had La Cara been on the scene, would Scottish Lassie have bossed the field in a 15-length wire job? 

The two had traded decisions in the past. Scottish Lassie and La Cara were fourth and fifth, respectively, in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). In the Acorn, Scottish Lassie was a non-threatening third to La Cara. 

Even so, Scottish Lassie’s leap forward in the CCA Oaks wasn’t without precedent. At two, the Jorge Abreu pupil jumped up as a maiden to dominate the Frizette (G1). 

Scottish Lassie stalked the pace before drawing off in the Frizette, and that’s how Abreu envisions her Cotillion trip. 

“I don’t like the one (post), but I will let (jockey Joel) Rosario ride his race," Abreu said. Hopefully, we will get a clean break and a good position. That’s it. We are going to leave it up to God, Rosario, and luck.”

“On paper, it looks like Chad Summers’ horse (Dry Powder) will be on the lead. La Cara will be on the lead. I don’t have to tell Joel anything. She does not have to be on the lead. She could be forwardly placed; she can target horses. I feel comfortable going into the race.”

Dry Powder was beaten by double-digits when third to Scottish Lassie in the CCA Oaks, but she was further behind than usual after hitting the gate. Back to her more aggressive style in a recent Parx prep, the Cathryn Sophia S., Dry Powder kicked 4 1/4 lengths clear.

Clicquot rolled by about the same convincing margin in her stakes debut, the Indiana Oaks (G3). The once-beaten blueblood deserves the chance to climb the ladder. 

“She’s done nothing wrong,” trainer Brendan Walsh said of Clicquot. “She’s won her last three, including the Indiana Oaks, very impressively. She’s been going through the year nice and quietly. This is obviously the first big test for her, and it will be a big test. There are some nice fillies in there, but I don’t think she’ll be out of place.”

Clicquot’s only loss was a sixth in her unveiling at Gulfstream Park behind Indy Bay, who promptly won three in a row. Her skein was halted by a third in the Victory Ride (G3), but the Saffie Joseph Jr. filly rebounded in the Charles Town Oaks (G2). 

Rounding out the Cotillion field are the locally-based duo of Ourdaydreaminggirl, a fast-closing second in the Cathryn Sophia, and Not Too Late, fifth in the Charles Town Oaks. 

The race immediately preceding the Pennsylvania Derby (G1), the Cotillion, goes as the 13th with a 5:15 p.m. (ET) post time. 

The banner day features a total of seven stakes, beginning with the $200,000 Greenwood Cup (G3) (ninth race at 3:01 p.m.) for dirt marathoners. Birdstone S. runner-up Digital Ops and Brazilian Group 3 scorer No Bien Ni Mal are top contenders in the 1 1/2-mile affair. Stakes stalwart Repo Rocks would be as well, if he stays the trip.

Mystic Lake might take on Carmelina in the $150,000 Liberty Bell S. (10th race at 3:32 p.m.). Note that Mystic Lake is also cross-entered to Saturday’s Princess Rooney (G3) at Gulfstream, a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). 

Coastal Mission is set for a title defense in the $300,000 Parx Dirt Mile (11th race at 4:04 p.m.), which has also lured Salvator Mile (G3) runner-up Nelson Avenue and Far Mo Power, the demoted first-past-the-post here in 2022. 

Onetime Kentucky Derby (G1) hopeful Barnes shortens up to six furlongs in the $400,000 Gallant Bob (G2) (12th race at 4:35 p.m.) for three-year-old sprinters. The Bob Baffert colt lost his form when trying to stretch out on the Derby trail, but appreciated reverting to one turn when third in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1). Derby also-ran Neoequos is another to prosper back down in trip. After beating talented comebacker Donut God in the Jersey Shore S., Neoequos placed second in the two-turn Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town. Retribution, winner of the Chick Lang S. on Preakness Day, captured a minor stakes here in his latest. 

The 15-race program concludes with the $150,000 Parx Sprint (6:30 p.m.). Damon’s Mound, hero of the 2023 Gallant Bob, meets fellow New York shippers Full Moon Madness and Hold My Bourbon, Monmouth-based Caramel Chip, and such accomplished locals as Buccherino and Maximus Meridius.