Goodnight Olive strides away under Irad Ortiz, Jr. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Breeders’ Cup Press Release
ARCADIA, Calif.— First Row Partners and Team Hanley’s Goodnight Olive ($4.20) rocketed past second choice Society at the top of the stretch and drew off to score a 2 3/4-length victory in the 17th running of the $1 million PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Saturday afternoon at Santa Anita.
In joining Groupie Doll (2012-2013) as the only repeat winner of the race, Goodnight Olive completed the 7 furlongs on the fast main track in 1:22.97.
Trainer Chad Brown picked up his third victory in the race and 18th Breeders’ Cup victory overall. His other wins in the race came with Wavell Avenue in 2015 and Goodnight Olive last year.
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. won the race for the fourth time, having previous won on Goodnight Olive last year, Bar of Gold in 2017 and Shamrock Rose in 2018. It is his 18th Breeders’ Cup victory.
Society and Eda battled for the early lead with Society taking over heading into the far turn. Goodnight Olive began to close in on the bend and drew alongside at the top of the stretch and quickly took command.
Yuugiri rallied to finish second, 1¼ lengths in front of Three Witches with Society another half-length back in fourth.
Goodnight Olive is a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of 2004 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Ghostzapper out of the Smart Strike mare Salty Strike. The victory was worth $520,000 and increased her earnings to $2,196,200 with a record of 12-9-2-1 that includes four Grade 1 victories.
Stakes Quotes:
Winning trainer Chad Brown, Goodnight Olive – “It’s very satisfying. She trained perfect her last two works. Really beautifully. When she broke good and got behind Society, which I was really happy to see because we knew she was the second choice in the race and really fit on paper. If we could find her, she was going to take us at least to the quarter-pole. And I said to Irad (Ortiz Jr.), it’s likely that other horses will be tired around you at that point and when she got outside of her, she was able to put the race to bed. Rarely does ‘Plan A’ go into effect and actually finish all the way through. That was our plan and Irad executed it perfectly.”
Winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Goodnight Olive – “Beautiful trip. She was there for me every time I asked. She gives me confidence. I knew I was on the best horse. She did it again.”
Second-place trainer Rodolphe Brisset, Yuugiri – “The race worked out how we were thinking. Eda was up there putting pressure on Society and Irad rode a beautiful race on Goodnight Olive. We were where we wanted to be and we got out three-wide and she dug in and got a nice second. We got to be happy. A second in the Breeders’ Cup.”
Second-place jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., Yuugiri – “I had a good trip. She ran really good. No excuses. We’re really happy with her today.”
Third-place trainer Saffie Joseph, Three Witches – “That was a huge effort. I am super proud of her. She showed up and came back safe and sound. You always dream of winning a race like this. It was a big step up in class for her and for her to get a Grade 1 place was huge. I am leaving here as happy as possible. She ran her race and that is all you can ask for.”
Third-place jockey Luis Saez, Three Witches – “She ran her race and tried pretty hard. It was a tough race but she ran big and finishing third to (Goodnight) Olive, is not bad.”
