Eblouissante Entered in Thursday Allowance at Santa Anita
Eblouissante Entered in Thursday Allowance at Santa Anita
Eblouissante is trained by John Shirreffs, who directed Zenyatta to 19 victories in her first 19 races before she suffered her only defeat in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic.
Zenyatta's legion of fans had been eagerly awaiting the premiere of Eblouissante. Shirreffs brought the Eric Kronfeld homebred along patiently, and Eblouissante recorded works over a 17-month span before she was pronounced ready to race.
Sent off as the 7-5 favorite in her unveiling at Hollywood Park, Eblouissante conjured up images of Zenyatta when she rallied from near the tail of the field to win by 4 1/4 lengths. The final time of 1:45 1/5 for 1 1/16 miles on Cushion Track wasn't overwhelming, but the daughter of Bernardini did it the right way, and is very much the type to keep improving.
"I worked her before I rode her," said Corey Nakatani, who retains the mount on Eblouissante Thursday. "She's a special filly. Hopefully, she comes back and runs like she did in her first race. I'm sure John has her spot-on, so I'm looking forward to riding her again."
Eblouissante was expected to make her second start in a December 15 allowance over the same track and trip, only to be scratched after a minor mishap. She banged into a stall door and scraped her hip shortly before she was due to head to the paddock.
The nearly-black filly didn't miss a beat thereafter, though. Right back on the Hollywood worktab on December 21, Eblouissante has since posted three more moves, capped by a five-furlong drill in 1:00 4/5 on Saturday.
Eblouissante will race on dirt for the first time in Thursday's 1 1/16-mile allowance/optional claimer. Only four others are entered, and she is drawn on the outside in post 5.
Her rivals are Torrey Pines Stakes runner-up Viva Carina, most recently fourth in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss on turf; Double Ante, who just missed in an entry-level allowance at Hollywood last out; Pink Blossom; and Folk Dancer, who is in for the $40,000 tag.