Zany rolls in the Demoiselle, NYRA Photo
Mary Eddy
Repole Stable’s Zany romped to an emphatic 8 1/2-length score and provided Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher with a record-extending 10th victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle, a nine-furlong route for juvenile fillies, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The Demoiselle awarded the top-five finishers with a respective 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on the first Friday in May at Churchill Downs.
Piloted by Irad Ortiz, Jr., the daughter of American Pharoah adds her name to Pletcher’s impressive list of Demoiselle winners, which includes Smok’n Frolic [2002], Ashado [2003], Disposablepleasure [2011], Unlimited Budget [2012], Stopchargingmaria [2013], Malathaat [2020], Nest [2021], Julia Shining [2022] and Life Talk [2023].
Of Pletcher’s Demoiselle winners, Ashado went on to be enshrined in racing’s Hall of Fame, while Malathaat and Nest were subsequent Eclipse Award Champions. Pletcher said he hopes Zany will progress into another generational talent.
“Malathaat, Nest, some of those were able to go on and have great careers afterwards – it’s been a race for us that has not only been lucky on the day, but it’s produced some horses that have gone on and done very well,” Pletcher said.
Zany entered from a dominant 6 1/2-length debut graduation sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs on November 2 at Gulfstream Park, and proved even more dominant in the Demoiselle.
“It went like we hoped it would,” Pletcher said. “She trained very impressively, but you are always concerned making one start at 6 1/2 [furlongs] and stretching out to a mile and an eighth in only her second start. I thought her last breeze before we decided to ship her was pretty impressive, so it seemed like the right thing to do.”
The chestnut emerged from post 3-of-6 and settled one length behind the sharp-starting Listed stakes-winner Shilling, who took the field through an opening quarter-mile in 24.05 seconds over the fast footing.
Ortiz, Jr. asked his charge to inch closer down the backside, and was on Shilling’s flank as she marked a half-mile in 48.16 with the Pletcher-trained Believable one length back in third. The top pair were stride-for-stride in the turn while the rail-skimming Jumping the Gun and stalking Concurrently attempted to advance, but the gap remained as three-quarters elapsed in 1:12.46.
Chris Elliott had Shilling in a drive to keep up with Zany in the stretch, while Ortiz, Jr. needed to only shake the reins and commence a strong hand ride for Zany to kick clear of her rival and draw off through the final eighth, widening her stride with her ears pricked and completing the course in 1:50.55.
Jumping the Gun and Concurrently passed the tiring pacesetter to finishing a respective second and third a neck apart, while Shilling rounded out the superfecta. Believable and Ivy Girl completed the order of finish.
Ortiz, Jr., aboard for the first time in the afternoon, said Zany was professional in victory.
“She did it the right way, every step of the way,” said Ortiz, Jr., who recently broke the North American single-season earnings record. “She broke good and put me in a beautiful spot. I let her do what she wanted to do, and she just held her ground and stayed steady until I asked her to go. Honestly, she was doing it pretty easy. She made the lead and was looking around a little bit, but it was impressive the way she did it today.”
Pletcher said Zany will return to Florida as he contemplates her next target.
“We probably won’t get an opportunity to run a mile and an eighth until the Kentucky Oaks, if we are fortunate enough to get there,” Pletcher said. “We’ll ship her back in a few days to Palm Beach Downs, and we’ll come up with a game plan.”
Bred in Kentucky by DJ Stable, Zany was a $350,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale and is out of the Grade 3-winning Uncle Mo mare Mo’ Green. She banked $137,500 in victory while returning $3.50 on a $2 win ticket as the 3-5 mutuel favorite.
Julio Hernandez, aboard the Andy Simoff-trained Jumping the Gun, said he was pleased with the filly’s effort to overcome a bobble at the start in her first race outside of her Delaware Park base.
“I had a perfect trip. It was all about her first time shipping and she handled everything well, but she just found a better horse in front of her today,” Hernandez said. “She bobbled a little bit [at the start] – she did it before, she’s a huge filly with a huge stride and early on she struggles in the first stride but as soon as she gets going, she’s fine.
“The trainer did an excellent job with her for her first time shipping,” Hernandez added. “We’ll see what happens in the future with her.”
Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with an eight-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely in Race 7 and the $150,000 Garland of Roses in Race 6. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
America’s Day at the Races presents live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
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