Sea Calisi, backed like she couldn't lose despite having drawn the 13 hole in a full field of 14, catapulted past her competition in the lane to provide owner Martin Schwartz with a fourth and Chad Brown with a third Beverly D. trophy, respectively. </span>
Unhurried early by hot-handed Florent Geroux, Sea Calisi bided her time early towards the back and off the inside as her pacemaker Elusive Million (Ire) (Pour Moi {Ire}) ensured she'd get a set-up. Starting to inch closer while still in hand through six panels in 1:12.58, the bay circled past rivals effortlessly turning for home as Zipessa tried to blow the race apart. The leader still looked like she might forget to stop to midstretch, but the orange and blue blur to her outside was too much to handle. Al's Gal shortened the winning margin late, but the race was won at that point. With her victory, Sea Calisi earned an automatic berth into the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf.
Saturday, Arlington Park
BEVERLY D. S.-GI, $700,000, AP, 8-13, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 3/16mT, 1:54.93, fm.
1–&SEA CALISI (FR), 123, f, 4, by Youmzain (Ire)
1st Dam: Triclaria (Ger), by Surumu (Ger)
2nd Dam: Tiputip (Ger), by Nebos (Ger)
3rd Dam: Tricky Flash (Ger), by Dancer's Image
O-Martin S. Schwartz; B-Derek Bloodstock (FR); T-Chad C.
Brown; J-Florent Geroux. $386,400. Lifetime Record: GSW
& G1SP-Fr, G1SP-Eng, 10-4-2-3, $825,513. *1/2 to Tareno
(Ger) (Saddler's Hall {Ire}), GSW-Ger & Ity, $131,466; Timos
(Ger) (Sholokhov {Ire}), MSW & MGSP-Fr, $244,100. Werk Nick
Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”oceanic-bloodstock-purchased-by-double”]2–Al's Gal, 123, m, 5, English Channel–Dans La Ville (Chi), by
Winning. ($50,000 Wlg '11 FTKNOV; $30,000 Ylg '12 KEESEP;
$40,000 2yo '13 KEEAPR). O-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey;
B-Malone Racing LLC (PA); T-Michael J. Maker. $128,800.[bullet ad=”fourstar-salesgrad”][bullet ad=”paramount-congratulations”]3–Zipessa, 123, f, 4, City Zip–Precious Princess, by Horse
Chestnut (Saf). ($30,000 Wlg '12 KEENOV; $67,000 Ylg '13
FTKOCT). O-Empyrean Stables; B-G. Watts Humphrey Jr. &
Sally S. Humphrey (KY); T-Michael Stidham. $64,400.[bullet ad=”lanes-end-sales-grad”][bullet ad=”stgeorge-salesgrad”][bullet ad=”bradshaw-randy-shell”][bullet ad=”farrell-recommended”]Margins: HF, 1 1/4, 1. Odds: 1.10, 20.20, 10.40. Also Ran: Tuttipaesi (Ire), Faufiler (Ire), No Fault of Mine, Pretty Girl (Arg), Secret Someone, Personal Diary, Coolmore (Ire), Marypop (Fr), Ballydoyle (Ire), Lots o' Lex, Elusive Million (Ire).
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
“[Chad Brown] is one of the hottest trainers in North America right now, and number one on turf,” offered winning pilot Florent Geroux, who had been on quite the streak of his own, having won three races previously on the card including the GIII American St. Leger S. and GI Secretariat S. with Brown-trained Beach Patrol (Lemon Drop Kid). “I went to visit him when I was in Saratoga and asked if he could give me some horses since I'm doing quite good on the turf. We agreed to come here together and he gave me those very nice horses to ride. Turf horses are push button, just sit back, pull the trigger and they are there when you need them. She's a very nice filly, definitely no distance problem at all–she can win at longer if we have to. We got helped a lot today with the pace maker, it was good for that, she needed some pace and clean trip and it worked out good.”
Sea Calisi was purchased privately after finishing second in last May's G3 Prix de Royaumont at Chantilly, and immediately rewarded Schwartz's investment with a victory in Saint-Cloud's G2 Prix de Malleret the following month. She was third in both the G1 Yorkshire Oaks and G1 Prix Vermeille in August and September, respectively, and was transferred from Francois Doumen to Brown after a seventh-place run in Royal Ascot's G1 QIPCO British Champions F/M S. Oct. 17.
Sea Calisi couldn't have been much more impressive cruising in Belmont's GII Sheepshead Bay S. May 7, and settled for second after a very rough trip in that venue's GII New York S. June 10. Brown-trained winner Dacita (Chi) (Scat Daddy) came back to take Saratoga's GI Diana S. last month, while third-place finisher Guapaza (Chi) (Seeking the Dia)–also trained by Brown–annexed a listed event down state before adding Saratoga's GIII Fasig-Tipton Waya S. last Saturday.
With Sea Calisi's win, Brown tied Christophe Clement for most victories in Beverly D. history. He partnered with Schwartz to take the 2011 renewal with future GI Breeders' Cup F/M heroine and champion Stacelita (Fr), and ran one-two in last year's running with Watsdachances (Ire) (Diamond Green {Fr}) and Stephanie's Kitten (Kitten's Joy) after the somewhat controversial DQ of Secret Gesture (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) from first to third.
Brown trainee Real Solution (Kitten's Joy) was put up from first to second here in the 2013 GI Arlington Million, and Brown and Geroux were helped by the stewards later on this card when Noble Beauty (Kitten's Joy) was moved up to first in the GIII Pucker Up S.
“I'm lucky to have this filly,” said Brown. “She came to me in good shape. Michele Zerolo found her, they work well as a team, together Marty and Michele. They find these wonderful horses for us to work with, I'm just lucky to have her.”
Schwartz, a legendary Wall Street trader, took back-to-back renewals of this race with the Patrick Biancone-trained pair of
Angara (GB) and Gorella (Fr) in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
“It's a great place, a great race and great people,” Schwartz said of Arlington Park. “It's a beautiful racetrack, a fair surface, other than being out in the parking lot to start, Florent with his beautiful ride overcame that. We couldn't be more overjoyed.”
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