Brisset, Talk Veuve to Me Ready for Alabama

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In addition to an intriguing name and an admirable racing resume, GI Alabama S. contender and 'TDN Rising Star' Talk Veuve to Me (Violence) has an elevated status in young trainer Rodolphe Brisset's barn.

After an 11-year tour as an assistant and exercise rider for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Brisset, 34, knows well how top-quality Thoroughbreds look, act and feel. While Quip (Distorted Humor) was Brisset's first stakes winner, taking the GII Landholm South Tampa Bay Derby March 10, and is his top earner in a nascent 17-month solo career, the enthusiastic native of France clearly has a soft spot in his heart for Talk Veuve to Me. Brisset and his wife, Brooke Baker, took a big chance on the filly, buying her for $60,000 in a private sale before he officially opened his stable for business.

Talk Veuve to Me–named after Brisset's favorite French Champagne, Veuve Clicquot–has delivered nicely, running first or second in five career starts, earning $319,400. She is twice graded stakes-placed and picked up her first graded stakes victory with a 4 3/4-length romp in the GIII Indiana Oaks July 14. Brisset's friend Steven McKay and Team Valor have come on as partners in Talk Veuve to Me, and Brisset sounds like a proud parent when he talks about her.

“She's a pleasure. She is,” he said. “She never misses a day. She's a very, very smart filly. Maybe one of the smartest that I've ever been around. She's actually scary.”

Scary smart? Brisset is on her every morning, with her the rest of the day and is convinced that is the proper description.

“She's got a pretty big brain,” he said. “She knows when she breezes. There's something about her. It's very special. When we bought her at the sale last year, we liked her, but we never really spent as much time with her as we have now. She's special, that's for sure.

“I've been around a lot of horses in the 20 years I've been doing this, and she's something. It's unbelievable. She knows when she breezes. I was laughing a couple of weeks ago that she exactly knew where the half-mile pole was. You don't even have to do much. You just sit there and she picks up the pace and she knows what she has to do. It's pretty amazing.”

Brisset and Baker attended the 2017 OBS March 2-year-old sale to schmooze and promote their soon-to-launch new stable. A close friend in the bloodstock business, Sean Tugel of WinStar, recommend they take a look at the dark brown Violence filly who had sold for $20,000 as a yearling. Brisset said “she was not a very pretty walker” and at about 15.2 hh was on the smallish side, which might have been enough to deter most people who were not shopping for horses. That's not the way it worked out.

“There was nothing wrong on the vet, but there was nothing like 'wow' about her,” Brisset said. “We liked the breeze. We liked the way she was acting. You could see something about her. My wife and I said we should try and get her. We tried to get her in the ring; it was too much for us.”

Brisset thought that she had been sold, but discovered she had been an RNA at $95,000. He successfully negotiated the purchase with a special arrangement.

“The funny part is that when I got the deal done, I ended up asking the consigner to keep her for three weeks because I didn't have any stalls for her,” he said. “The RiceHorse Stables consigner was very, very nice. They said it's no problem. They kept her for three weeks and we set up the barn at Keeneland.”

Talk Veuve to Me was second in her debut at Ellis Park Aug. 12, but came out of the race with a minor injury and was given time off. She returned with an 11 1/4-length maiden win over six furlongs at Fair Grounds Mar. 25, which attracted majority owner Team Valor's attention. On May 4, she was the runner-up in the GII Eight Belles S. to fellow 'Rising Star' Mia Mischief (Into Mischief).

“The original plan was to run in the seven-furlong allowance on Oaks day, but the Eight Belles came up so light, it was a five-horse field, and I could not pass,” Brisset said. “I knew that Mia Mischief was the one to beat, but I said if we run second in there and be stakes-placed that would be good. That's what happened.”

Encouraged by that performance, Talk Veuve to Me's connections ran her against GI Kentucky Oaks winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the GI Acorn S. June 9 at Belmont Park. She ended up second by two lengths. The Indiana Oaks score convinced Brisset that she could be effective in route races and sent her on to the historic Alabama at 10 furlongs. Monomoy Girl is passing on the Alabama, GIII Delaware Oaks winner Red Ruby (Tiznow) is out with an injury and the Canadian star Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro) will take on males in the GI Travers S. on Aug. 25. Four-time graded stakes winner Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) is the expected favorite in the Alabama and Brisset is eager to see how Talk Veuve to Me fares against her under his friend Julien Leparoux.

“The two times she got beat, she got beat by two very nice fillies. Mia Mischief going seven furlongs and Monomoy Girl going a mile, one-turn,” Brisset said. “I think it's the next logical step for us, to run in that race. Of course, the mile and a quarter, for everybody, we don't know. We don't know how that is going to go, but we like our chances.

“I always had in my mind that she would appreciate the two turns. I would have been very, very surprised if she didn't handle the two turns. Just the way she trained, the way she breezed and even the way she ran. When you look at the Acorn, I know Monomoy Girl went by her pretty easily, but she dug in. I always said that if she could carry that speed going two turns and keep going like this, she will be tough going two turns. I guess we are going to find out on Saturday.”

Quip on the Way Back

Brisset said that he expects GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner 'TDN Rising Star' Quip will return to his barn this fall. He was turned out following a disappointing performance in the GI Preakness S. on May 19.

Quip emerged as a Triple Crown series prospect with his Tampa Bay Derby victory at odds of 19-1. His co-owners, WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing, and Brisset sent him to the GI Arkansas Derby, where he finished second, but opted to skip the GI Kentucky Derby. He had his problems in the Preakness, which was run over a sloppy track, and was last of eight by 45 lengths.

“We sent him to the farm. He got 60 days off. He needed a break,” Brisset said. “His first breeze after the Preakness, we had given him like two weeks off, and I just didn't like the breeze. So we got the partnership together and we decided to give him 60 days. It was really the right thing to do. He should be back next month, I think. We're going to try to get him back on track and may be looking at a winter campaign. We'll see where he takes us.”

Brisset said the colt underwent a physical after the Preakness and, when no problems were discovered, the decision was made to give him a freshening.