Pretty N Cool Gamely Prevails in Matron
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Photo:
Joe Labozzetta/NYRA
Pretty N Cool shipped across the country and gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert his second graded stakes win of the year at Belmont Park, taking the Grade 2, $200,000 Matron on Sunday by a length.
Baffert, who during the Spring/Summer meet at Belmont sent out American Pharoah to win the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes on June 6, elected to send Pretty N Cool east after the 2-year-old filly finished second to Breeders' Cup bound Songbird in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on September 5.
Pretty N Cool, a daughter of Scat Daddy, relished the cutback to six furlongs on Sunday after fading late in the seven-furlong Debutante. The gray filly broke alertly and assumed control of the early lead, absorbing pressure from Libreta on the outside and Constellation to her inside as she zipped through splits of 22.39 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.96 for the half.
With Constellation still hounding her along the rail as the field of six juvenile fillies turned for home, Pretty N Cool stayed the course and kept her rival at bay throughout the stretch, going on to complete the distance in 1:09.73.
"We were confident," said Baffert, who trains Pretty N Cool for Karl Watson, Michael Pegram and Paul Weitman. "We knew going in she was doing really well and six furlongs is her distance. She has a lot of quality and ran like we thought she would. She's pretty fast. She could have rated but [jockey Martin Garcia] just kept her where she was comfortable. She was doing it the right way and he knows her really well, which is why we had him ride her."
Pretty N Cool returned $3.80 on a $2 win wager as the 4-5 favorite and upped her bankroll to $342,000 in her fourth career start.
"I got a really good trip," said Garcia. "Good horse. She's fast and then I was just in perfect position. When I asked her to go she took off, and in the end she was playing around."
Constellation checked in second, a length in front of Tonasah. Wave of Glory, Island Saint and Libreta completed the order of finish.
Source: NYRA Communications (Sean Morris)
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