Blue Devil Racing Stable's Come Dancing (Malibu Moon) overcame a slow start and waltzed home an easy winner of Saturday's GI Ketel One Ballerina S. at Saratoga, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.
The dark bay, favored at 3-5, was last out of the gate after getting bumped and pinched at the start as 'TDN Rising Stars' Separationofpowers (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Mia Mischief (Into Mischief) battled on the front end. Come Dancing pulled her way up three wide down the backstretch and perched just off the top two through a quarter in :23.31 and a half in :45.86. She put those foes away in upper stretch and strode clear to an easy 3 1/2-length victory, completing the seven furlongs in a snappy 1:21.48. Dawn the Destroyer (Speightstown) was second and Special Relativity (Cowboy Cal) was third.
Come Dancing opened 2019 with romping victories in the Apr. 5 GIII Distaff H. with a massive 114 Beyer Speed Figure and the May 5 GII Ruffian S. She stretched out to 1 1/16 miles and found only Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) too tough after stumbling at the break as the 4-5 favorite in the June 8 GI Ogden Phipps S. She was also a close second to Marley's Freedom (Blame) in the GIII Go for Wand H. last December.
Come Dancing is the first Grade I winner for trainer Carlos Martin since Buy the Firm scored in the 1991 Top Flight H. at Aqueduct. Martin's late grandfather is the late Hall of Fame trainer Frank Martin. His father Jose trained standouts such as Groovy and Wayward Lass.
“When I saw her just sit out there in third, I said, 'She's so comfortable,'” Martin said. “When she gets into that comfortable rhythm, it means she has a lot left coming back. She trained so brilliantly the whole time here. Sitting around the turn, I felt pretty comfortable.
“I was thinking we won a Grade I at Saratoga and we kept the Martin family and the Blue Devil [Racing Stable] family in a good frame of mind going into the Breeders' Cup. I think she's shown that, when given time between races, that she fires her best shot.”
Pedigree Notes:
Come Dancing, from the extended female family of champion Folklore (Tiznow), becomes the 16th Grade I winner for leading sire Malibu Moon, 11 of which are females. Her dam Tizahit, winner of Aqueduct's GII Demoiselle S. for Susan and Jim Hill, hammered to Marc Holliday's Blue Devil Racing for $410,000 at Keeneland November in 2011. She sold at the same auction for $175,000 to Becky Thomas last year. Tizahit also produced a juvenile filly by Ghostzapper and a yearling colt by Malibu Moon. The 12-year-old mare was bred to Bolt d'Oro for the 2020 season. Come Dancing is also the 6th G1/GISW out of a producing daughter of Tiznow–Noble Bird (Birdstone); It Tiz Well (Arch); American Patriot (War Front); Personal Diary (City Zip); and in Argentina, Tiger Feet (Campanologist).
Saturday, Saratoga
KETEL ONE BALLERINA S.-GI, $480,000, Saratoga, 8-24, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 1:21.48, ft.
1–COME DANCING, 122, m, 5, by Malibu Moon
1st Dam: Tizahit (GSW, $195,307), by Tiznow
2nd Dam: Never a No Hitter, by Kris S.
3rd Dam: Jeano, by Fappiano
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Blue Devil Racing Stable (Holliday) (KY);
T-Carlos F. Martin; J-Javier Castellano. $275,000.
Lifetime Record: 12-7-2-0, $881,700. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Dawn the Destroyer, 118, m, 5, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Dashing Debby, by Medaglia d'Oro
2nd Dam: Marquet Rent, by Marquetry
3rd Dam: Fantasy Cat, by Cougar II
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Kiaran P. McLaughlin. $100,000.
3–Special Relativity, 120, f, 4, by Cowboy Cal
1st Dam: Lil American, by Quiet American
2nd Dam: A Woman's Quest, by Coronado's Quest
3rd Dam: Appealing Nany, by Valid Appeal
O-M and M Racing (Mike Sisk); B-Chester Thomas (KY);
T-Robertino Diodoro. $60,000.
Margins: 3HF, 2, 4 1/4. Odds: 0.75, 10.40, 12.20.
Also Ran: Separationofpowers, Mia Mischief. Scratched: Pacific Gale, Minit to Stardom. 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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