Avenge held on late to earn her second straight win in the Rodeo Drive S. and secured an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf. The dark bay mare was under a snug hold as she chased pacesetting Goldy Espony through fractions of :23.72 and :47.50. She moved in tandem with Goodyearforroses to tackle the pacesetter after three-quarters in 1:11.34. Avenge scampered clear on the turn and further extended her advantage in upper stretch before holding off a host of late challengers.
“This feels very good,” admitted winning trainer Richard Mandella. “This is what we do this for. I was impressed that she settled off the leader and that she had such a good finish. I felt better about it at the quarter pole. When she exploded away from there, you could tell it was working. But she's run so well on the lead, I wasn't looking to change it, but Baffert's horse took the place we were thinking of. It's been frustrating because we couldn't quite get her back to herself until now but, I think we do have her now and we hope we're in as good of shape as we did last year.”
Avenge capped a three-race win streak with a victory in last year's GI Rodeo Drive S. en route to a third-place effort in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf. She opened 2017 with a third-place effort behind Lady Eli (Divine Park) in the May 27 GI Gamely S. and was coming off a sixth-place finish in the Aug. 5 GII Yellow Ribbon H.
Pedigree Notes:
Godolphin purchased Avenge's full-brother for $995,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale. Lerici's now 2-year-old colt by Giant's Causeway was purchased by Zayat Stables for $675,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. The mare, a half-sister to the dam of GSW Grasshopper (Dixie Union), produced a colt by War Front this year and was bred back to that Claiborne stallion.
Saturday, Santa Anita
RODEO DRIVE S.-GI, $301,380, SA, 9-30, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4mT, 1:58.74, fm.
1–AVENGE, 124, m, 5, by War Front&log=">War Front
1st Dam: Lerici, by Woodman
2nd Dam: Balinese, by Nijinsky II
3rd Dam: Homespun, by Round Table
($650,000 Ylg '13 FTSAUG). O-Ramona S. Bass, LLC; B-Lerici
Syndicate (KY); T-Richard E. Mandella; J-Flavien Prat.
$180,000. Lifetime Record: 16-7-0-3, $868,341. Werk Nick
Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”kbif-g1″][bullet ad=”gainesway-consigned-by”]2–Goldy Espony (Fr), 122, m, 6, by Vespone (Ire)
1st Dam: Goldy Honor (Fr), by Highest Honor (Fr)
2nd Dam: Borromee, by Dayjur
3rd Dam: Sporades, by Vaguely Noble
O-Swift Thoroughbreds, Inc. & Bradley Thoroughbreds;
B-Henri Alex Pantall & Yvette Chabot (FR); T-Bob Baffert.
$60,000.[bullet ad=”blackwood-graduate-2″][bullet ad=”bradley-comerunwithus”][bullet ad=”irt-shell”]3–Responsibleforlove (Ire), 122, f, 4, by Duke of Marmalade (Ire)
1st Dam: Vee Gita (Ire), by Vettori (Ire)
2nd Dam: Red Vale (Ire), by Halling
3rd Dam: Hamsaat (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
(€17,000 Ylg '14 GO14). O-Team Valor International & Mrs.
G. A. Rupert; B-Patrick Grogan (IRE); T-Neil D. Drysdale.
$36,000.
Margins: 3/4, NO, NO. Odds: 2.00, 12.90, 11.20.
Also Ran: Amboseli, Decked Out, Majestic Heat, Frenzified (GB), Goodyearforroses (Ire), Kiss Me Now (Brz). Scratched: Beau Recall (Ire). 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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