Bessie M gets elusive stakes trophy

Two starts after settling for second by a desperate head in stakes company at Calder Race Course, BESSIE M assured her name will appear in all-caps on catalog pages for decades to come by taking the Dolly Jo Stakes at Calder on Sunday by a comfortable 2 1/4 lengths.

The 3-year-old filly by Medallist-Catalita, by Mountain Cat, has proved to be a fantastic claim by Platinum Equestrian Corp. and trainer Antonio Sano. After taking her for $25,000 from a NW2L claiming event at Gulfstream in January, Bessie M's new connections have never seen her finish off the board. After a third and a second-place finish, she posted back-to-back wins for them at Calder in April and May, then hit the board in the Regal Gal Stakes (third) and Leave Me Alone Stakes (second a head) before winning in optional-claiming company her last out at Calder, on Aug. 20.

On Sunday, Bessie M and Daniel Centeno rated in fifth, 6 1/2 lengths off a blistering 21.13 opening quarter set by Orlando Bocachica and Afleet Lass, then blew by the rest of the field and wore down the game leader in the stretch to draw clear by the wire. Max Speed and Juan Leyva finished third by 6 1/4 lengths. Final time for six furlongs was 1:10.81.

Bessie M was bred in Maryland by Mr. & Mrs. Charles McGinnes, and I had hoped her connections might prep her for the $100,000 Maryland Million Distaff at seven furlongs this coming weekend at Laurel. No complaints, however, about her scoring a stakes win, wherever it might be.

I shortlisted Bessie M as a Priority 2 prospect for a bargain-seeking client at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. She sold to William H. Harris for $35,000 as Hip 59 and presented him with a win photo from a dead-heat victory at Delaware Park as a 2-year-old. Harris would lose her on that January day at Gulfstream for $25,000, and Platinum Equestrian has been well-rewarded for its claim ever since.

I actually questioned the price Harris paid at the sale, but then again, we were there looking to buy a horse for even less than $35,000 -- which was already at least 25 percent below the sale average. But I stated here that: "This girl oughta be a decent racehorse for someone (though) she only rated Priority 2 status for me primarily because of the very slow start by her sophomore sire, who has just 10 winners so far from his freshman crop of 59 foals. ... (It) was hard to deny the fleetness of her 22 2/5 quarter over a slow track."

With the stakes score, Bessie M becomes the first stakes-winner from that bargain-basement list of 48 horses, whose average bid (sold or RNA) at the sale was under $24,000 and less than half the sale average. She is among four horses stakes-placed or better from that group of 48.

Bibblesman, who sold for $22,000 as Hip 337, has two wins and placed second in the Peppy Addy Stakes at Parx for $90,860. Spring Jump, a $19,000 purchase as Hip 234, is 3-for-11 with a second-place finish in the White Clay Creek Stakes at Delaware Park as a 2-year-old, for $80,700.

The real tragedy from the group is Rough Sailing, a $40,000 buy as Hip 250, who broke maiden on Arlington's grass at first asking and was second in the Arlington-Washington Futurity-G3 for $37,534, but slipped entering the first turn of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and was euthanized after breaking his shoulder in the fall.

Of the 48 bargain prospects, there are 43 starters (89.6 percent), 25 winners (52.1 percent) and 13 multiple-winners (27.1 percent).

Click here to follow all 187 sales selections, plus a few I went against.

Catching up with Calder winners

A week on the road taking my daughter to college was followed by a hectic week in the workplace, and I have been remiss in reporting several victors from my 2010 list of juvenile sales selections.

Two of the better ones had their pictures snapped again at Calder Race Course in Florida last weekend. On Aug. 20, a week ago today, stakes-placed Bessie M prevailed under the guidance of rider Daniel Centeno as the short-price favorite in an optional-claiming field that was cut from eight runners to four due to scratches.

It was the third win in seven starts for Platinum Equestrian Corporation and trainer Antonio Sano, who claimed Bessie M for $25,000 at Gulfstream in January. She's never finished worse than third for the connections, including a show finish in the Regal Gal Stakes at Calder on May 28 and second by a head in the Leave Me Alone Stakes over the same course on June 11. Bessie M now has four wins, three places and three shows from 12 starts for $93,604.

I shortlisted Bessie M (Medallist-Catalita, by Mountain Cat) for a client seeking bargain prospects at the May 2010 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in training. She was purchased for $35,000 by William H. Harris, for whom she broke maiden in a dead-heat with Feelin Abit Frisky at Monmouth on Aug. 20 as of her 2-year-old season. Bessie M was bred in Maryland by Mr. and Mrs. Charles McGinnes.

On Sunday at Calder, inconsistent two-time stakes-winner REPRIZED HALO decided to bring his A-game in an optional-claimer in which he was in for the $25,000 tag. That race was also riddled with scratches when it came off the turf, but the Manuel Azpurua-trained and Daniel Coa-ridden Reprized Halo -- who broke his maiden in the slop -- still paid $19 to win.

Reprized Halo was bred in Florida by Debra and Bill Backlinie. He has now won four times from 19 starts for $340,644.

I selected Reprized Halo in a search for mostly bargain prospects out of the 2010 Ocala April sale of 2-year-olds in training. The son of Halo's Image-Reprized Angel, by Reprized, where he sold to his current connections for a mere $21,000. It took the colt seven tries to break maiden, then on his eighth, he shocked the field in the $365,000 Florida Stallion In Reality Stakes, paying $94.60 to win and handing the very talented GOURMET DINNER (another of my OBS April tips) his first lifetime defeat in four starts.

Reprized Halo would later win the $100,000 OBS Championship Stakes as a 3-year-old.

Click here to follow all 187 of my 2010 juvenile sales selections.

Bessie M misses stakes win by a head

Bessie M came up a head short of becoming a stakes winner in a grueling stretch duel Saturday at Calder Race Course.

I shortlisted the filly by Medalist-Catalita, by Mountain Cat, as a "Priority 2" horse on a list of 48 bargain-priced prospects at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in training while working my first (and only) auction as a hired bloodstock advisor. Then named Carolita, she sold for $35,000 as Hip 59 and would have been a "Priority 1" horse on our list were it not for the slow start at stud by her young, Maryland-based sire.

In the Leave Me Alone Stakes on Saturday at Calder, Bessie M stalked the brisk 22.28 opening quarter set by favorite White Merlot, claimed the lead by a half-mile that was run in 45.76, and responded when Beso Grande challenged her in deep stretch. But Beso Grande edged in front at the wire, claiming the $45,000 winner's share of the purse and leaving Bessie M to settle for her second straight blacktype-placing without winning.

Bessie M flattened out in the stretch and was third her last out in the one-mile Regal Gal Stakes at Calder on May 28. Previously, she had won two straight races for current connections Platinum Equestrian Corporation, which claimed her at Gulfstream in January for $25,000, and trainer Antonio Sano.

Bessie M was bred in Maryland by Mr. & Mrs. Charles McGinnes. She now has a 3-3-3 record from 11 starts for $76,024 in earnings.

She is one of three stakes-placers from that list of 48 bargain-priced prospects at EASMAY 2010 (my selections were sold or failed to attain reserve at an average price less than half the sale average), and one of 18 horses stakes-placed or better from my 187-horse list of mostly bargain-minded prospects from several of last year's juvenile sales.

Follow those 187 sales selections in the list at the bottom of this prior post.

Bessie M stamps her page with black type

Coming in on a two-race win-streak and making her stakes debut, Bessie M made her move on the turn for home but flattened out in the stretch, settling for third place Saturday in the Regal Gal Stakes at Calder Race Course.

Prize Informant led from gate to wire in the $55,000 event, setting sensible fractions of 23.92 and 48.15 on her way to a 2 1/4-length victory at better than 15/1 odds. Dual Calder stakes-winner Blue Eyed Sweetie came on for second. The final time for a mile over a fast Calder track was 1:42.72.

Jockey Jose Alvarez positioned Bessie M perfectly, stalking the long-shot on the rail and swinging out one lane on the turn for home. It looked like Bessie M would go right on by, but she hung, then began losing ground on the eventual winner, and was passed by Blue Eyed Sweetie in the final sixteenth. Bessie M did hang on for third ahead of the favorite, three-time stakes-winner Devilish Lady, thus earning her first catalog black type for owners Platinum Equestrian Corporation, which claimed the filly for $25,000 at Gulfstream in January.

Bessie M is now 3-for-10 lifetime with two seconds and three thirds for $63,024. Though she was competitive prior, she has really caught fire after the claim and the switch to the barn of trainer Antonio Sano.

I tabbed Bessie M as a "Priority 2" prospect on a 48-horse shortlist of potential bargains at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in Training a year ago. She sold as Hip 59 for $35,000 to William H. Harris, for whom she broke maiden at 2 in a dead-heat at Delaware Park. Harris lost her to Platinum Equestrian on the claim in January.

The filly, then named Carolita, was one of the tallest I inspected at the sale, breezed well (22 2/5 for a quarter) and on the whole was pretty fair conformationally. I liked that her dam, Catalita (Mountain Cat-Carmelita, by Mogambo) had earned $111,226 from 18 starts, albeit not in stakes company, was half to minor black-type herself, and had already produced a winner from two prior foals. Really, the only factor knocking the filly from Priority 1 status to Priority 2 was her young sire, who was off to a slow start.

Seems he's done OK with this one, as are the connections at Platinum Equestrian.

Bessie M becomes the 18th stakes horse stakes-placed or better from my 187-member Sales-Tip Class of 2010. Seven of those stakes horses are black-type winners, led by GOURMET DINNER ($989,660), his fellow Florida-bred and close cousin, G1 winning 2-year-old RIGOLETTA (Oak Leaf S., etc.), and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies-placed DELIGHTFUL MARY (372,377).

Follow all of my 2010 juvenile sales picks, and a handful of pans, in the list at the bottom of this prior post.

Two in a row for Bessie M

Bessie M on Saturday scored her second straight win and third in nine starts, taking a seven-furlong $25K starter allowance at Calder.

Sent off at about 9/2 in the six-horse field, Bessie M and Orlando Bocachica tracked Luis Saez and Bella Moneta through early fractions of 22.87 and 46.17. Bessie M pounced in the stretch and began edging away from that 4/5 favorite to win by a comfortable 2 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:25.65 over a strip rated as "fast." It was another five lengths back to second-favored Gorgeous Melody.

Bessie M was bred in Maryland by Mr. & Mrs. Charles McGinnes and now races in the colors of Platinum Equestrian Corporation, which claimed her from William H. Harris. She was trained for the win by Antonio Sano.

The $10,500 paycheck for the victory brings Bessie M's career earnings to $57,524. She has failed to hit the board just twice in nine lifetime starts.

I shortlisted the bay filly by Medallist-Catalita, by Mountain Cat, as a Priority 2 animal on a 48-horse list of bargain prospects at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale at Timonium, Md. I would likely have considered her a Priority 1 horse but for the slow start at stud by her sire, who at the time had only 10 winners from 59 foals in his first crop. She's certainly flashing the talent that was previewed in her 22 2/5 quarter-mile breeze at a sale where the Timonium fairgrounds track was playing quite slow. Harris bought the filly, then named Carolita, for $35,000, and earlier this year lost her for $25,000 on the claim at Gulfstream.

To follow my 187-horse juvenile tip-list from 2010, check out the complete list at the bottom of this link.

Bessie M wins N1x by daylight

Bessie M, a filly I recommended to a client at least year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds, picked up her second lifetime victory in eight starts Friday at Calder, sitting off the pace and pouncing in the stretch to win by a widening six lengths over 3/5 favorite Wild Bout Tiffany.

Sent off as the second choice, but at nearly 5/1, Bessie M paid $11.40 to win, though only $3.80 to place and $2.80 to show. She was expertly ridden by Jose Alvarez, who relaxed the filly behind early fractions of 22.47 and 46.90 and sat seventh of eight at the half as the favorite was hounded by Truly Classy, Miss Maggie Girl and My Mama Gator, who finished 3-4-5 behind the exacta. While Wild Bout Tiffany put away all her early challengers by 2 1/2 lengths or more, she was spent in the stretch, where Bessie M did her running. Final time for six furlongs in N1x company was 1:13.2.

Bessie M earned $15,000 for the victory, bumping her lifetime earnings to $47,024.

She was bred in Maryland by Mr. and Mrs. Charles McGinnes, and was purchased for $35,000 by William H. Harris at last year's EASMAY sale. She broke maiden in a dead-heat with Feelin Abit Frisky for a $40K tag at Monmouth on Aug. 20 last year, in her second start for Harris' barn. Harris lost her in a $25,000 claim to Platinum Equestrian Corporation in January at Gulfstream, and those connections were the winning owners today, with Antonio Sano the trainer of record.

I tipped the filly by Medallist-Catalita, by Mountain Cat, after a 22 2/5 quarter-mile breeze over a slow surface at EASMAY. I generally liked the way she was put together and the time certainly was eye-catching, though on the whole I gave her only Priority 2 status (on a scale of 1-4), mostly due to her young sire's slow start.

In other sales-pick (and pan) news, Akkadian, a Tiznow colt whose $270,000 purchase price I criticized following the April 2010 Keeneland juvenile sale, collected his second lifetime win on Thursday afternoon at Hollywood Park. After stalking the pace, he got up to win by a neck in a one-mile turf allowance, beating Brazilian-bred Great Warrior.

I thought $270,000 was too much for a horse who admittedly (after seeing him lately) looks phenomenal, but whose female family's history was spotty. One had to reach back to the fourth generation on his catalog page to find a graded winner. However, with two wins in four starts and $77,760 banked, the horse is on his way to panning out for owner Gary Broad, who has campaigned his share of good horses.

Only $200,000 more to go to pay back that purchase price.

The link needs some updating, but you can follow all the picks and pans here.