John C. Mabee on the Radar for Zipessa

Empyrean Stable’s 4-year-old daughter of City Zip, the speedy Mike Stidham trainee Zipessa, took a big step up in class when stretching out to 1 3/16 miles in the Grade I Beverly D. at Arlington International Racecourse on Aug. 13. Forced to track the pacesetter early, the winner of the Grade III Dr. James Penny Memorial at Parx was able to inherit the lead after half a mile that went in 47.68 seconds. Under jockey Joe Bravo, Zipessa opened up on the field by 2½ lengths enter the stretch, but was run down late by a fast closing Sea Calisi (FR) and Al’s Gal.

“We were delighted to get a Grade I placing,” Stidham said of the race. “Certainly we would have liked it if we hadn’t gotten caught up in the whole rabbit situation, but that’s our filly’s style of running so we couldn’t really change it. We sat off the rabbit as far as we could and then inherited the lead. The race went a little quick early so that didn’t help our finish, but you’ve got to deal with what’s dealt to you. We made the best of it, and we wound up third in spite of it all.”

 

Coming off of that effort in good order, Stidham says they will look for a race in the coming months.

 

“She’s back to the track, looks good and is doing well,” Stidham commented. “The one race that’s on the radar – she’ll be nominated to but I don’t know if we’ll run in it – is on September 4, the John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar which is a Grade II. It’s a little bit closer back than I would like to run her, but that would be one of the first races that would come up that we would consider.”