'Chatterbox' Ready for Spa Rematch

Fletcher and Carolyn Gray's Eclipse Award finalist and multiple Grade I winner I'm a Chatterbox (Munnings) may not be the talk of the older dirt filly and mare division like the flashy Stellar Wind (Curlin) or iconic Beholder (Henny Hughes), but by year's end she may be worth every word of praise if her connections' plans come to fruition–including no small amount of redemption.

A lightly framed, medium-sized chestnut filly, the most accomplished offspring of 2015 leading second-crop and current top-two 2016 third-crop sire Munnings has proven victorious in seven of 14 starts, while earning more than $1.8 million, including a decisive tally in the $1-million GI Cotillion S. at Parx last September. A throwback in soundness and gameness, she concluded a 2015 season that saw her compete in stakes alone from January through the Breeders' Cup–winning half her eight starts–while earning more money than any dirt filly of her generation.

Unfortunate when the fortunes were highest, the Larry Jones trainee was slow to begin in the GI Kentucky Oaks when finishing a hard-charging third; was disqualified from first to second behind Curalina (Curlin) in a controversial decision in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks after a stretch-long battle; hopped from the stalls and lost position before finishing a valiant second in the GI Alabama S.; and broke from the rail before being stuck behind horses and shuffled back in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff en route to a season-ending eighth-place effort. Her effort that day compromised her Eclipse chances, as Distaff runner-up and Grade I winner Stellar Wind's bang-up runner-up effort helped earn her top honors in the 3-year-old filly division.

“She had a hard season last year and she was on-the-go almost all the time and got a little unlucky,” Carolyn Gray said. “She probably should have won the Kentucky Oaks with a better trip, finished first in the CCA Oaks [before being disqualified], and the Breeders' Cup just wasn't meant to be after that tough trip–but you can't worry about that stuff and just have to move on. She was the champion last year in our eyes and the fact that she didn't perform to what the voters thought she should've is okay with us. We're proud of her and she's doing great this year. Larry said she's feeling as well as she's ever felt and she's has really grown up. She's not ever going to be a huge horse, but she looks really good and is training aggressively.”

The Kentucky-bred filly with the noticeable blaze has won two of three in 2016 by a combined 10 3/4 lengths, including an impressive victory over 10 furlongs in the GI Delaware H. last out. Said effort sets her up for a rematch with Todd Pletcher-trained Curalina in next weekend's GI Personal Ensign S., which is contested over the same nine-furlong Saratoga strip as their clash one year and six weeks prior. The same conditions in which a tooth-and-nail stretch battle and an unfortunate bump at a crucial moment in the race arguably cost I'm a Chatterbox a year-end championship. The Breeders' Cup “Win & You're In” event could also set her up for a third face-off with Stellar Wind–whom she out-finished for the show in the Kentucky Oaks–who is currently in top form in California, having recently defeated top-ranked older mare Beholder.

“She loves to compete,” Gray said. “Our statement is always to 'bring them on' because they're all good fillies on any given day who can beat one another. We're not concerned about meeting anyone. We are competitive and it's all the spirit of competition. The main thing is that everyone comes back safely. You say that before the race and then thankfully afterward, hopefully. But beyond that, I'd rather be in front just like any other owner.

“Another Breeders' Cup is always in the offing for us as long as she's doing well,” Gray continued. “She'll tell us, of course, if she can get there. Last year it was obviously a very bad trip for her and she was trapped down inside with nowhere to go. Still, she always tries and that's the cool thing about her. Going into this year, she was supposed to have 60 days off, but she was telling us after 45 that she was ready to come back–and that's a really great sign for fillies. She's happy and healthy and wants to race and what can be more fun than that?”

If all goes well after this season, Gray confirmed that the plan is to keep her homebred in training at five, with a likely experimentation with grass racing in 2017–something Jones has been excited to try with her, especially considering she is inbred to top broodmare and grass influence Lady Winborne (Secretariat). A possible trip to Arlington Park for the GI Beverly D. S. has also been mentioned as a goal, given her penchant for distances between nine and 10 furlongs.

“We're realistic enough to know that this is our once-in-a-lifetime horse,” she said. “We enjoy seeing her race and nothing else could be as much fun as what we're doing. Watching them win when you've bred and still own them is something I can't quite explain–especially with a filly like her. We're likely going down to five mares after this year, so I'm very grateful for success we've had. There are a lot of small breeders out there like us. We give them lots of land and we get to focus on them every day to see if there are any changes individually – and those variables really help. We don't have to have it all and we do breed to sell. The good horses that we've sold we felt good about and we don't take anything to the sale we don't want to race.”

For now, though, the focus is on Aug. 27 at Saratoga where I'm a Chatterbox will take one more step toward what could be a season filled with atonement for the talented charge. She concluded her serious training on Aug. 15 with a sharp five-furlong drill in 1:00 2/5 at Delaware Park and will likely have one more maintenance move before shipping to the Spa to take on a salty field that will likely also include Paid Up Subscriber (Candy Ride), Cavorting (Bernardini) and Forever Unbridled (Unbridled's Song).

“I can't look inside her head, but I would say that like a lot of human athletes, she relishes what she's doing,” Gray concluded. “She's special that way. When they're like that they always try their best and that's what she does. It's one of the reasons she has come back so well.”