Bit of Whimsy

I feel like a proud mama! A filly I picked back on April 1 in her maiden race at Gulfstream (she came in second) and have followed all year, won her first grade 1 today—Bit of Whimsy, who took the QE II Cup convincingly over Dreaming of Anna. I liked her back in April for a couple of reasons, not the least of which was her trainer, Barclay Tagg who I knew would take his time and nurture her. I also LOVED her turf pedigree, by Distorted Humor out of an El Prado mare Kristi B. Her dam wasn’t much of a racing horse, but her second dam produced several multiple graded stakes winners on turf, including grade 1 winners Miss Josh (Gamely) and Royal Mountain Inn (Man O’ War); and grade 3 winners Highland Springs and Highland Crystal—all of whom were apparently trained by Tagg. Interesting, Tim Holland addresses this very topic—trainers with a history training other runners from the same female family—in his October 13 installment of Pedigree Handicapping over at Brisnet.

Chestnut filly phenom Magnificience [sic] has returned to galloping after six months off. Patrick over at Handride posted her impressive March 11 maiden victory over at YouTube; unfortunately, the sound fades in and out—just look for the 2 horse, the one that fights her jockey from the gate, drops back to dead-last, then moves like a powerful machine (yes, just like old Big Red himself) around the entire field, and wins going away. After winning the G3 Santa Paula Stakes next out on April 1, she developed heat in her left front ankle, and a chip was discovered via x-ray. Glad to see her back! If she shows that much talent next year, and Rags to Riches returns, man, the filly and mare divisions will be the ONLY divisions worth watching, as nearly all the colts trot off to stud!

One sophomore colt who will race next year is Ravel who made an impressive return to racing on Friday, winning race 8 at Keeneland by five lengths. Good to see him back!