Churchill Downs: Shisospicy sets stakes record in Mamzelle
In record time, Limestone Stakes winner Shisospicy scored her second straight stakes victory with a dominant, 4 1/4-length win over Kilwin on Saturday in the sixth running of the Grade 3, $224,625 Mamzelle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs.
Ridden by Jose Ortiz and trained by Jose D’Angelo, Shisospicy clocked 5 1/2 furlongs on firm turf in a stakes record 1:01.46 for Josh Mendez’s Morplay Racing. Shisospicy shaved 1.52 seconds off Danse Macabre’s 2023 mark of 1:02.98 and nearly bested Queen Maxima’s course record of 1:01.29 set on Kentucky Oaks day.
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“In her last start the ground was soft, and today the track was a lot better for her,” D’Angelo said. “In her last workout I tried to relax her a little bit and close. She was able to do that today, relax and close hard.”
Breaking alertly from post position 9 in the field of 13, Shisospicy rated just off the right hip of pacesetter Dreamaway, who zipped the first quarter-mile in 21.72 seconds and the first half-mile in 44.03 seconds. Shisospicy put away Dreamaway with more than an eighth of mile to the finish and coasted to the powerful victory without a challenge.
Shisospicy paid $4.80, $3.12 and $3.02 as the 7-5 favorite. Kilwin, the 3-1 second choice under Edgar Morales, returned $3.74 and $3.10. Mechaya, with Luan Machado up at 26-1, paid $9.56 to show.
Dreamaway, Laurice, Bunratty Manor, It Ain’t Two, Civetta, Avientot, Mighty Eriu, Bonne Fille, Anakarina and Stay Classy finished fourth through 13th in that order. Hey Bertie, Lovely Emma, Me Governor and Serving Time were scratched.
The victory was worth $129,820 and increased Shisospicy’s earnings to $415,370 with a record of 6-4-1-1. She is unbeaten in three starts on grass.
“Our goal is always to have fun, and this was a lot of fun,” said Rich Mendez, the founder of Morplay Racing. “We knew after the Limestone we had a lot of confidence with her moving forward. She’s run so well in all of her starts. Her performance today really solidified that.”
“Our plan now is to go to Saratoga with her,” D’Angelo said.
Shisospicy is a daughter of Mitole out of Into Mischief mare Mischief Galore and was bred in Kentucky by Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt.