Ba Dee Yah scores in the Allen Black Cat LaCombe Memorial (Hodges Photography/Lou Hodges Jr.)
Plans Undecided for Kimchi Cat
Lady Orient Could Stretch Out in P. G. Johnson
NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— Gold Standard Racing Stable’s stakes-winner Ba Dee Yah will make her next start in Saturday’s $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, a nine-furlong Tapeta test for Canadian-bred sophomore fillies, at Woodbine Racetrack.
Trained by Tom Amoss, the Uncle Mo bay out of the multiple stakes-placed Bernardini mare Pearl Turn, was purchased for $485,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.
Bred in Ontario by Anderson Farms Ont. Inc., Ba Dee Yah is a half-sister to Grade 1 turf winner Gretzky the Great, who is also a maiden winner on Tapeta to go along with a stakes-placing at Turfway Park.
“She’s never run on the artificial surface before, but her family has had a lot of success on it,” Amoss aid. “We’re comfortable that transition will go well, and we feel like she’ll be competitive in there.”
Ba Dee Yah graduated at third asking in November at Fair Grounds in a 1 1/16-mile main track event and two starts later captured the off-the-turf LaCombe Memorial at one mile and 70 yards over the same surface. She was off-the-board in the Grade 2 Fantasy in March at Oaklawn Park and returned from a more than two-month break to finish third in the one-mile Panthers on June 8 at Prairie Meadows.
“I think that’s a race that she needed, and we certainly needed that race to be able to go this far on Saturday. It served a good purpose for us,” Amoss said.
Ba Dee Yah worked a half-mile in 50.83 Friday over the Saratoga main track and left for Woodbine earlier this morning. Luis Contreras will have the call in the Woodbine Oaks.
Joel Politi’s Kimchi Cat graduated at second asking here Sunday, scoring gate-to-wire under Tyler Gaffalione in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight over the main track for 2-year-old fillies.
#1 Kimchi Cat breaks her maiden in the opener at Saratoga at 4/1 under @tyler_gaff for trainer @tomamossracing! pic.twitter.com/EjVeGyOGM0
— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) July 14, 2024
The Twirling Candy dark bay showed the way through splits of 22.03 seconds and 45.94 en route to a 3 1/2-length score in a final time of 1:06.04. The winning effort garnered a 63 Beyer Speed Figure, matching the number earned in her June 14 debut at Churchill Downs when second to Viggiedal, who exited that effort to run sixth as the favorite in the Listed Schuylerville here last weekend.
“With young horses, it’s so hard to tell race-to-race what they ran against because there’s always going to be some inconsistencies with the learning curve,” Amoss said. “In our opinion, Kimchi Cat’s first race was a great education and one we thought she would win, but we were just outdueled down the lane.
“She came back and ran well,” Amoss added. “She’s not a learned horse yet, nor should she be with just two starts but Tyler was saying at the three-eighths pole when she cleared the field, she started playing around and didn’t know what to do. And again down the lane once she cleared, she started playing around, so the race is maybe better than the time was.”
Amoss said he will evaluate how Kimchi Cat comes out of the race before determining a next start.
The $185,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is out of the winning Sky Mesa mare Winter Dawn, who is a half-sister to multiple stakes-winner Summer Cruise.
Richard J. Emmet’s Lady Orient made an auspicious debut in a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for juvenile fillies on July 13 at Ellis Park, overcoming a slow start and traffic trouble behind dueling leaders at the top of the lane before tipping out and arriving in the final jump to post a head score over Don’t Call Me Babe. The winning trip, engineered by Jareth Loveberry, garnered a 72 Beyer.
#3 LADY ORIENT ($8.86) dove to the inside in the final furlong and charged home to graduate on debut in race 5 at Ellis.
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) July 13, 2024
The 2yo filly by @LanesEndFarms's Liam's Map was piloted by @jareth16 for @TomAmossRacing. pic.twitter.com/dVtd1kQuRo
Amoss said the Liam’s Map bay could stretch out for her next start in the 1 1/16-mile $150,000 P.G. Johnson on August 28 at the Spa.
“She had a very troubled trip and still won. She’s a horse that wants to stretch out,” Amoss said. “There are some opportunities down there but there’s some opportunities here, too. You might see her up here perhaps for the P. G. Johnson.”
The $170,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is out of the winning Ghostzapper mare Second Coming, who is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Are You Kidding Me.
