By Ben Massam
Gary Barber, Michael James Ambler and Windways Farm's Catch a Glimpse (City Zip) has never lost on the grass in eight consecutive triumphs, and looks to extend her impressive streak in Sunday's GII Lake Placid S. at Saratoga. Perfect on the lawn since finishing fifth on debut on the dirt here last summer, the chestnut's main asset is her tactical speed, and that style appears to give her a significant edge over her rivals again at the Spa.
Catch a Glimpse captured the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland last autumn, capping a season that earned her Canadian Horse of the Year honors, and reeled off three consecutive Grade III wins against fellow sophomore fillies to begin the 2016 season. The Mark Casse trainee beat her male contemporaries in wire-to-wire fashion in the GIII Penn Mile at Penn National June 4 and recently carried her speed 10 furlongs in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational July 9. Despite the fact she cuts back to nine furlongs today, she appears to be the only true speed horse signed on in a race where many do their best running late.
“She likes to go,” Norm Casse, assistant to his father, told the NYRA notes team. “She likes to get out there and be comfortable. Her greatest asset is that she sits the perfect trip every time she runs. She typically doesn't ever have a bad trip, and I think that makes it a little easier to keep this winning streak going.”
Phillips Racing Partnership homebred Time and Motion (Tapit) closed belatedly to be fifth as a maiden behind Catch a Glimpse in the Breeders' Cup last autumn and narrowed the gap on that rival to report home a fast-closing runner up–beaten just a half-length–in the Belmont Oaks last month. Winner of two stakes events on the New York circuit earlier this term, including the listed Wonder Again S. at Belmont June 5, the Jimmy Toner trainee figures to work out a ground saving trip from her rail draw.
As is the case with many turf stakes in the Empire State, trainer Chad Brown will be represented by a pair of runners. Elysea's World (Ire) (Champs Elysses {Ire}) enters off a runner-up finish in the GII Lake George S. here July 22, while Pricedtoperfection (Temple City)–winless since a score in the GIII Sweetest Chant S. in January–comes in off a fourth in the Belmont Oaks.
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