Catch a Glimpse Gets Win Number 8 in the Belmont Oaks

Catch a Glimpse took a field of thirteen three-year old fillies gate to wire in the $1,000,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) to extend her winning streak on the turf to eight straight. There were obtacles to overcome if this daughter of City Zip was going to keep on winning. There was the number twelve post position and a distance of ground that was a furlong and a half more than she had ever faced. She met every challenge today when she crossed the finish line with a half length victory in a time of 1:59.87, which was .64 seconds faster than the males ran in the Belmont Derby.

The winning streak of this Mark Casse trainee began in August of last year at Woodbine when she made her first start on the grass after a fifth place finish in her initial race, which was transferred to the main track at Saratoga. From there it has been one turf victory after another. Wins have come at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, at Gulfstream Park, Churchill Downs, against the boys in the Penn Mile, and now at Belmont Park.

Assistant trainer Norm Casse said, "The 1 ¼ miles was a legitimate concern; she had never been beyond 1 1/16 miles. This filly, any time another horse comes to her, she finds another gear and she rewarded our confidence today.”

The race began perfectly when her regular rider, Florent Geroux, got her out of the gate sharply. From there they moved right to the rail of the inner turf course, opened up a length and a half lead, when she was able to relax and set the pace. The Euro invader, Coolmore, was hustled out of the thirteen hole to take up a position in second place. Long shot Auntie Joy moved in behind Coolmore and Land Over Sea was behind her.

Catch a Glimpse was able to catch her breath down the backstretch as she carved out fractions of 24.28, 49.36, and 1:13.87. Entering the clubhouse turn Coolmore made her move and closed the gap on the leader, but when Geroux asked for more, Catch a Glimpse responded and turned back the challenge from the Aidan O’Brien runner. The final challenge came from Time and Motion, who has making a big run down the middle of the track.

"She broke very well from the gate and from there I just kept going as fast as I could,” said Geroux. “When I asked her to leave from home she gave me a good kick and was very brave all the way to the wire. She was the quickest of the race so it's not like I had an outside post with a horse with no speed. Speed is always dangerous no matter what the distance."

The final order of finish had Catch a Glimpse on top, with Time and Motion getting the second place check, as 16-1 Coolmore held on for third. For the win Catch a Glimpse, who was the 3.40-1 second choice, returned $8.80, 5.30, 4.10. The 2-1 favorite Ballydoyle was never in contention and finished last.

“I thought we had a perfect trip,” continued Casse. “Her and Florent get along so well. He knows exactly what to do with her. He deserves a lot of credit with this filly. The filly deserves a lot of credit as well. As soon as she turned back the other horse going around the far turn, I thought we were pretty much home from there.  When she kicks away from horses she is hard to run down.”

With her latest victory, Catch a Glimpse has a career record of 9: 8-0-0 and earnings of $1,748,052. She and her stablemate, Tepin, give the Casse Racing Team the two of the best turf horses in the world.

Casse spoke proudly about the duo, “This has been a dream come true [winning at Royal Ascot with Tepin and a Grade 1, $1 million race with Catch a Glimpse]. There's a lot of pressure. This morning I woke up and I was really nervous. But at the end of the day, it's what we wanted, and now we're getting a chance to achieve our dreams. It's very rewarding for Dad, and it's very rewarding for me. She'll definitely go up to Saratoga to train; I'm not sure what her next race will be. It's always been race to race with her."

The Belmont Oaks was a "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup qualifying race, so looking ahead to November, Catch a Glimpse's win today secured her a spot in the gate for the Filly and Mare Turf to be run on the newly renovated grass course at Santa Anita.