Making her graded stakes debut, La Signare capped a French-bred double at Belmont as she showed the way and held off heavy favorite Significant Form in this springboard to the July 7 GI Belmont Oaks. Her victory came one race after the similarly named La Sardane (Fr) (Kingsalsa) annexed the GIII Intercontinental S.
Straight to the front in an event that had no obvious pacesetter on paper, the bay faced no resistance as she cruised through fractions of :26.36 and :50.95. Significant Form began to ratchet up the pressure after a six-furlong split of 1:14.54, and though her pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. gave off confident vibes, Joel Rosario asked La Signare for more and she stiff-armed the chalk to post the mild upset.
“This one had some speed, that's for sure,” Rosario said. “She ran very good. She ran nice early, and ran very good after that. She relaxed very nicely and had a long, slow gallop early, and before turning for home, I said, 'Well it's great,' because I knew we were going slow, and she handled it really well. Good run. I like her. It's always good when they run like that.”
Trained by Didier Guillemin to kick off her career in her native country, La Signare was a close fourth first up at Toulouse Oct. 17 before breaking through at that venue Nov. 4 and being picked up privately. The bay rallied for a half-length second in a Keeneland allowance Apr. 11 won by Toinette (Scat Daddy), who returned to annex the GIII Edgewood S. at Churchill May 4 over a field that included Significant Form's star stablemate Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) and Daddy Is a Legend (Scat Daddy).
“I didn't really think there was a lot of speed in the race, so it was going to be a bit of a cat and mouse game,” said trainer Brian Lynch, who successfully teamed up with Rosario one race later to take a maiden special weight with the well-bred Emmy Performance (Point of Entry). “I'm always a big believer that pace makes the race, so we put her where she was comfortable and evidently that's where she was comfortable. She had been doing so well coming into the race, so it didn't surprise me that that's where she ended up.”
Pedigree Notes:
La Signare is the first U.S. graded stakes winner for highly regarded Aga Khan stallion Siyouni, whose Stateside-based representatives have included MGSP 'TDN Rising Star' Hayabusa One (Fr), last month's GIII Gallorette S. runner-up Blessed Silence (Fr) and fellow Madaket Stables-co-owned Wonder Again competitor Altea (Fr), who missed by a head when third in the GIII Florida Oaks in March. La Signare is half to an unraced 2-year-old colt by Orpen.
Saturday, Belmont Park
WONDER AGAIN S.-GIII, $200,000, Belmont, 6-7, 3yo, f, 1 1/8mT, 1:48.84, fm.
1–LA SIGNARE (FR), 118, f, 3, by Siyouni (Fr)
1st Dam: La Teranga (Fr), by Beat Hollow (GB)
2nd Dam: Adrastea (Ire), by Monsun (Ger)
3rd Dam: Akasma (Ger), by Windwurf (Ger)
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Madaket
Stables LLC, Cambron, Tim, Cambron, Anna and Bradley
Thoroughbreds; B-Moussa Mbacke (FR); T-Brian A. Lynch;
J-Joel Rosario. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0, $144,413.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: B+.[bullet ad=”bradley-racing-ventures”][bullet ad=”guyhubert-privatepurchase”][bullet ad=”mersant-international”]2–Significant Form, 121, f, 3, Creative Cause–Church by the Sea,
by Harlan's Holiday. ($75,000 Ylg '16 FTKJUL; $575,000 2yo '17
OBSAPR). O-Stephanie Seymour Brant; B-Brereton C. Jones
(KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $40,000.[bullet ad=”bradley-pinhook”]3–Mighty Scarlett, 115, f, 3, Scat Daddy–Thundering Emilia, by
Thunder Gulch. ($100,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP; $260,000 2yo '17
OBSMAR). O-Coleman, T., Doheny, M., Head of Plains Partners
LLC and Long Lake Stable LLC; B-Teneri Farm Inc. & Bernardo
Alvarez Calderon (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $20,000. [bullet ad=”taylor-made-tm-for-you”] [bullet ad=”sequelbloodstock-grad”]Margins: 1, NK, NK. Odds: 6.30, 0.80, 7.70.
Also Ran: Daddy Is a Legend, Altea (Fr), Andina Del Sur, Camila Princess, Armoricaine (GB), Spinning Top. Scratched: Animosity.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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