Calumet Farm’s Kentucky homebred Gin Gin (Hightail) made her first step on the road to the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks with an off-the-pace score in Saturday’s $100,000 Busanda Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile test for sophomore fillies at Aqueduct.
The three-year-old filly had to run down a tough front-runner, Woodbine-based PRINCESS MAYFAIR, owned by Pickering’s Joe DeMarinis and trained by Steven Chircop, who held on for second just a length off the winner.
A maiden winner second time out at Woodbine and second to the colt Jayhawk on Dec. 16 at her home track, Princess Mayfair was making her dirt debut after a troubled journey by van to New York from Penn National.
Chircop said Princess Mayfair encountered issues shipping to New York on Saturday. The van she was traveling on broke down more than an hour into the journey. The filly was returned to Penn National, and Chircop swiftly made other arrangements to get the filly to Aqueduct for her dirt debut.
For her victory, Gin Gin earned the maximum allotment of 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points to the top five finishers towards the Oaks on May 3 at Churchill Downs. Princess Mayfair earned 10 points.
Trained by two-time Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox and ridden to victory by Trevor McCarthy, Gin Gin rebounded from an even fifth-place finish in the Golden Rod (G2) in November at Churchill Downs to earn her first victory against winners in style, pouncing from 2 1/2 lengths off the pace to take command late and cruise home to a one-length victory.
Dylan Davis-piloted Princess Mayfair (West Coast) broke outward from the outermost post 5. The filly quickly cleared the field to assume the inside position in the first turn and mark an opening quarter-mile at 24.01 seconds over the muddy and sealed footing.
Sharp starting Most of All kept watch from second up the backstretch. Post-time 4-5 favorite Shimmering Allure, who won the one-mile Tempted in November and entered from a runner-up effort in the Demoiselle (G2), battled for third with Gin Gin and Class Act.
Princess Mayfair maintained her advantage through a half-mile in 47.93 seconds and three quarters in 1:12.19 before Gin Gin proved game under coaxing and Shimmering Allure went widest of all in pursuit of the lead.
McCarthy angled Gin Gin off the rail to make an outside run at Princess Mayfair rounding the turn and glided with ease past an all-out Most of All to take dead aim at the pacesetter. Shimmering Allure tried in vain to make up ground down the center of the course and inched closer to Most of All, but the top pair began to draw well clear of the field down the lane.
A resolute Princess Mayfair dug in gamely in deep stretch, but there was no denying the momentum of Gin Gin, who kicked clear of her rival near the sixteenth marker and crossed the wire first with a final time of 1:53.31.
The winning Beyer Speed Figure was 73 and Princess Mayfair earned a 71.
Shimmering Allure finished nine lengths behind Princess Mayfair to claim show honors by 3 1/4 lengths over Most of All. Class Act completed the order of finish.
McCarthy, aboard Gin Gin for the first time in the afternoon, said, “(Princess Mayfair) looked pretty good out there, but I checked up on mine at the five-sixteenths pole when I asked her to get through, and I knew my horse was traveling well and would have plenty in the tank to finish with.”
Cox said Gin Gin likely will be pointed next to the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle (G3) on April 6 at the Big A.
Chircop said he was proud of the effort and that she could also target the Gazelle Stakes on March 2 next, with perhaps an allowance race start before.
“We’ll definitely have a look at that,” Chircop said of the Gazelle. “We’ll probably run her one more time before that. We’ll see how she comes out of it. I’m sure this trip is going to take a lot out of her, but I really don’t think we’ve seen the best of this horse yet.
“I couldn’t have asked for her to go into this race any better. She ran a hell of a race, but it doesn’t surprise me. We weren’t coming here just to participate.”
-with files from NYRA media
Cheers to team GIN GIN! @trevormmccarthy earns her 20 @KentuckyDerby Oaks points in the Busanda Stakes for @bradcoxracing! pic.twitter.com/hM9YO09aQI
— NYRA (🗽) (@TheNYRA) January 13, 2024
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