Baciami Piccola rallies for Florida Oaks victory

Amerman Racing LLC’s Baciami Piccola rallied on the outside from the back of the pack to capture her U.S. debut in the $155,000 Florida Oaks (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday.

The Equiano filly broke from the 13 post and settled in 10th on the inside as Valueable Charmer and Conquest Bebop set the pace up front through splits of :23.01, :46.99 and 1:10.72. Jockey Julien Leparoux angled Baciami Piccola out for running room at the top of the stretch and the bay miss closed with a rush to score by a half-length over Enjoy Yourself.

Baciami Piccolo finished 1 1/16 miles over Tampa Bay Downs’ firm turf in 1:42.20 while paying $31.00 as the 14-1 sixth choice.

Enjoy Yourself held on to second by a neck over Family Meeting, who in turn had a half-length to spare on Princess Princess in fourth. The packed finish line saw 9-5 favorite Ava’s Kitten another neck back in fifth.

Bred in Great Britain by Tirnaskea Stud, Baciami Piccolo opened her career with a win at Milan in Italy last May. She ran third the next month at the same venue in a listed contest before shipping to France for a runner-up effort against listed rivals at Vichy in July.

Baciami Piccolo was making her first start since that latter contest in this spot for trainer Brian Lynch and now boasts a 4-2-1-1 career mark to go along with $113,891 in lifetime earnings.

The sophomore lass is the first registered foal out of the Danehill Dancer mare Lucky Legs and comes from a black-type rich female line that includes One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) heroine Virginia Waters and Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) victor In the Wings.

Baciami Piccola photo courtesy of SV Photography