Scottish Lassie dominates the Frizette to break her maiden (Angelo Lieto)
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By Lynne Snierson – NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Scottish Lassie graduated from the maiden ranks and punched her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup with a decisive upset win in Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at Belmont at the Big A.
The Frizette, a one-turn mile, is a “Win and You’re In” affair for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to be contested at 1 1/16 miles on November 1 at Del Mar. Not only did Scottish Lassie earn her all-fees paid, guaranteed spot in the starting gate with the Frizette score, but she also tallied 10 qualifying points on the leaderboard for the 2025 Kentucky Oaks.
An elated Jorge Abreu, who secured his first graded win as a trainer, said, “I was expecting a good race today. I know people didn’t believe – not in her, in me – because this is the first time I’ve ever won a graded stakes. You need the quality to win those kinds of races, and I thought I had the horse.”
In making just her second career start, the daughter of McKinzie was content under Jose Lezcano to rate behind the quick splits of 22.81 seconds, 46.20, and 1:11.73 set by Social Fortress with mutuel favorite Snowyte right behind her. But once they raced out of the bend in the one-turn mile event, Lezcano gave Scottish Lassie her cue and she spurted to the front. From there, Scottish Lassie drew off under a strong hand ride through the lane to win by an impressive nine lengths in a final time of 1:36.73 on the fast track. Snowyte, the only other maiden in the field, was the clear runner-up, 6 1/2 lengths in front of Social Fortress.
It was three-quarter lengths back to Another Cleeshay in fourth with Icona Mama, Whatintheliteral and Pondering rounding out the order of finish. The field was reduced to seven by the pre-race scratches of Senza Parole and Paradise City followed by The Queens M G after NYRA Veterinarians observed blood from the nose [not via the lungs] as she approached the gate.
“I had really high expectations of this filly since Day One,” Abreu said. “I expected her to run a good race today because Jose was breezing her and she was breezing very good all along. But I didn’t know she was going to win by this margin.
SCOTTISH LASSIE is going to the @BreedersCup! The 2YO daughter of @Gainesway stallion McKinzie wins the Grade 1 Frizette & 10 points towards the Kentucky Oaks with Jose Lezcano up for trainer Jorge Abreu. pic.twitter.com/qzdAWsSz07
— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) October 5, 2024
“I felt comfortable turning for home when Jose looked back to his inside and he knew nobody was coming,” Abreu added. “I felt very comfortable after that, and she just kept on opening up.”
Lezcano said he had full confidence in the filly, based upon their time together in morning training.
“I’ve been working the filly, and she worked fantastic, every work better and better – galloped out like she didn’t do nothing,” Lezcano said. “All the time I joke with Titi [Abreu] and say, ‘I don’t like her.’ He laughs and looked at me and [I said], ‘I’m joking.’ She really does everything right, every work.
“The last work and every work I do is easy. She goes fast. She does it the right way, not rank or anything like that. “It looked like she settled perfect,” Lezcano added. “The longer she goes, the faster she can go. She finished fantastic today.”
Joel Rosario, jockey of runner-up Snowyte, made no excuses for the Danny Gargan trainee making just her second career start.
“It looked like the winner ran a monster race, but she ran well,” Rosario said. “There was a lot of speed, and it looked like she was fine behind horses for a little bit. She learned something from it.”
Scottish Lassie, bred in Kentucky by Winchester Farm, was bought at auction in March as a 2-year-old in training for $85,000 by the partnership of Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish, Corms Racing Stable, and Abreu. She returned $15 for a $2 wager.
Scottish Lassie finished a game third behind runner-up Snowyte in her September 1 debut at Saratoga Race Course in a seven-furlong sprint won by Quickick, who exited that effort to finish second in Friday’s Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland.
Co-owner Steve Weston of Parkland Thoroughbreds was thrilled, but more for his trainer, a former assistant to Chad Brown, than himself.
“It was more important to me for Titi to win this. Titi has been doing this a long time and I’ve been with him since he left Chad. He’s never won a graded stakes. He’s such a good person and he’s an incredible horseman,” said Weston. “We all agreed that if we had won that [first] race, what would we have done? Go to the Frizette. OK, so, let’s pretend we won and go to the Frizette. If we don’t win, then we can go back and win a maiden at any time. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The way she ran today, she could compete with any other 2-year-old in the country.”
Scottish Lassie will get her chance to do just that in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies next and Abreu has his shot to improve on his runner-up effort with Jody’s Pride in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies: “I hope so,” he said. “Let’s see how she comes out of it. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
Scottish Lassie upped her career earnings to $232,000 with the $220,000 winner’s share of the purse and her record stands at 1-0-1 in two efforts.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Aqueduct with a nine-race card featuring the Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame in Race 2; the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo in Race 6; and the Grade 3, $175,000 Matron in Race 8. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
