Thursday, July 1, 2010
Contact: Ashley Herriman
CHAMPAGNE D'ORO SEEKS ANOTHER GRADE 1 CELEBRATION IN PRIORESS
Champagne d'Oro is not likely to fly under the radar again when she takes on four other 3-year-old fillies in search of her second consecutive Grade 1 victory in Sunday's 63rd running of the $250,000 Prioress at
Since winning the Betfair TVG Acorn, the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, owned by Southern Equine Stable LLC and trained by Eric Guillot, has remained stabled at
"She's done nothing wrong since I got her out of California and off synthetic," Guillot said by phone from his base at Louisiana Downs. "I only got five works into her before that maiden race at Fair Grounds on February 20 after she was off almost four months, she won that, then stretched out a month later and was second to Quiet Temper [in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks]. She ran into traffic in the Kentucky Oaks, so you throw that one out, and I just knew that one-turn mile [in the Betfair TVG Acorn] was right up her alley."
Though Guillot thought of running
"The Mother Goose was too quick back and I wanted to come off a sprint going into the Test [Grade 1, 7 furlongs, August 7 at Saratoga Race Course], not back up from a mile and a sixteenth," Guillot said. "I think seven-eighths is her best distance and I haven't gotten to run her at it yet – that's why I'm eyeballing the Test. Running three-quarters at
Miguel Mena will ride from post position 2.
Franny Freud will return to open company in the Prioress as she goes for her fourth straight win, having soundly defeated fellow New York-breds by a combined 13 ¾ lengths in her two most recent starts. Each of the talented Freud filly's 2010 victories have come over a different surface.
Narrowly defeated by Amen Hallelujah in the Grade 2, seven-furlong Santa Ynez at Santa Anita Park on January 16, Franny Freud came back to win Keeneland's Grade 2 Beaumont at the same distance on April 7. Both races were run over artificial surfaces.
From there, Franny Freud returned to New York and captured the 6 ½-furlong New York Stallion Stakes Park Avenue Division on May 2, and later in the month beat a mixed field of New York-bred fillies and colts in the seven-furlong New York Stallion Stakes on turf in a prep for the Prioress, which trainer John Terranova has had penciled in on Franny Freud's calendar for some time.
"She's a very gifted, special filly," Terranova said. "She trains herself. She's like a machine – she loves to get out there and breeze and she does it all on her own. We've had some nice horses come through the barn, but she's just amazing, and I wonder if we've only just scratched the surface with her."
Owned by Paul Pompa and Stephen Yarborough, Franny Freud has seven wins and two second-place finishes from 10 lifetime starts. She has faltered only once, tiring to finish fifth in her only previous Grade 1 attempt, the Frizette for juvenile fillies at
"We're just taking it one race at a time," Terranova said. "Hopefully, the Prioress might lead us into the Test. She deserves to win a Grade 1; she's that type of filly."
Garrett Gomez has the return call and will break from post 3.
From
Martin Garcia, the filly's regular rider, will come in for the race and the pair breaks from the rail.
Completing the field are Funny Feeling, a stakes winner at
The field for the Grade 1 Prioress:
| PP | Horse | Jockey | Wgt | Trainer | Odds |
| 1 | Bonnie Blue Flag (KY) | M Garcia | 120 | B Baffert | 2 |
| 2 | Champagne d'Oro (KY) | M Mena | 120 | E J Guillot | 5-2 |
| 3 | Franny Freud (NY) | G K Gomez | 122 | J P Terranova, II | 7-5 |
| 4 | Funny Feeling (KY) | A Garcia | 120 | M J Maker | 8 |
| 5 | Stormandaprayer (KY) | R Maragh | 116 | J J Toner | 12 |
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