Wonder Gadot, already a winner on turf and synthetic, showed off her versatility Saturday, scoring her first win on dirt in the Demoiselle. The chalk was glued to GIII Tempted S. winner Daisy (Blame)'s outside hip in second through soft early fractions of :24.47 and :50.28. Even with the leader turning for home, the $325,000 OBSAPR buy kicked it into high gear in the lane, powering clear to a dominant victory.
“I was talking to the trainers about staying closer to the speed,” winning pilot John Velazquez said. “We were hoping she would be comfortable and I was happy where she put me. When I came down, I switched leads, and she was going very comfortable and got away from the horses pretty easily. She has a beautiful stride. I was very happy with the way she did it.”
“Yeah, the plan going into it [was to] kind of sit off of it but be a little closer than she was in the last race,” said Jamie Begg, assistant to trainer Mark Casse. “And the fractions worked beautifully in our favor. Johnny [Velazquez] said he was just waiting there to make his move. I was pretty happy with the way it worked out because a few of the races here have been going pretty quick up front and the speed is holding.”
Named one to watch by Casse in Steve Sherack's Debutants piece prior to her debut, Wonder Gadot made good on her trainer's words with a decisive debut graduation over the Woodbine lawn Aug. 26, which earned her “TDN Rising Star” honors. Third next out in that venue's grassy GI Natalma S. Sept. 17, she returned to winning ways with a six-length romp in Woodbine's GIII Mazarine S. on the synthetic Oct. 7 and rallied late to be sixth when trying dirt for the first time in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar Nov. 4.
Pedigree Notes:
Wonder Gadot was bred in Ontario by David Anderson's Anderson Farms, which sold its first seven-figure yearling this September when a Scat Daddy colt (hip 578) summoned $1 million from Coolmore's M.V. Magnier at Keeneland, topping that day's session (click here for sales story). Charlotte Weber's Live Oak Plantation purchased the winner's dam Loving Vindication, a daughter of GSW and GISP Chimichurri, for $725,000 as a yearling at the 2006 Keeneland September and she won two of 13 starts for that operation. Anderson picked her up for just $180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland January Sale. Her first foal Solemn Tribute, a full-brother to Wonder Gadot and $385,000 KEESEP buy, captured the 2015 Tropical Park Derby and finished second in the 2016 GII King Edward S. Loving Vindication's yearling filly Hard Not to Love (Hard Spun) sold to West Point Thoroughbreds and Vosburgh LLC for $400,000 at this year's Keeneland September sale. The 12-year-old mare produced a Bodemeister colt May 6 of this year and was bred back to champion Nyquist.
Saturday, Aqueduct
DEMOISELLE S.-GII, $250,000, AQU, 12-2, 2yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:53.91, ft.
1–WONDER GADOT, 119, f, 2, by Medaglia d'Oro
1st Dam: Loving Vindication, by Vindication
2nd Dam: Chimichurri, by Elusive Quality
3rd Dam: Hard Knocker, by Raja Baba
“TDN Rising Star” ($80,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP; $325,000 2yo '17
OBSAPR). O-Gary Barber; B-Anderson Farms Ont. Inc. (ON);
T-Mark E. Casse; J-John R. Velazquez. $150,000. Lifetime
Record: MGSW & GISP, 5-3-0-1, $312,973. *Full to Solemn
Tribute, SW & GSP, $181,234. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for
the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”brookdale-prepped-and-sold”][bullet ad=”anderson-farms-bred-raised-sold”][bullet ad=”eisamanequine-shell”][bullet ad=”ontario-bred”]2–Maurer Power, 115, f, 2, Violence–Arboresque, by Cure the
Blues. ($180,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP). O-Cash is King LLC;
B-Seclusive Farm & Chester Prince (KY); T-John C. Servis.
$50,000.[bullet ad=”eisamanequine-shell”][bullet ad=”baccaribloodstock-bredandsalesgrad”]3–Layla Noor, 115, f, 2, Midnight Lute–Senada, by Pulpit.
O/B-Lael Stable (KY); T-Arnaud Delacour. $25,000.
Margins: 3 3/4, 3, 1HF. Odds: 1.60, 5.10, 10.80.
Also Ran: Daisy, Held Accountable, Indy Union, Stakes On a Plane, Vindictive Ways. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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