BC Internationals: Distaff contender Salama

Photo courtesy of Keeneland/Coady Photography.

Who would have thought that less than two months after the retirement of Wise Dan, trainer Charlie LoPresti would be back with another 2015 Breeders’ Cup contender? Only this time, instead of a formidable champion, his hope is Distaff (G1) longshot Salama.

The Kentucky-bred three-year-old has taken a circuitous route to the Breeders’ Cup. The $13,000 Keeneland September yearling has spent nearly all of her racing career in Peru, where she secured a spot in the Distaff by taking the “Win and You’re In” Cesar del Rio Suito (G3) in June. Watch her, in the yellow shadow roll at the rear early, rally on the outside down the stretch to beat her elders:

 

Salama has employed similar deep-closing tactics in her other two clasico wins, likewise accomplished against older rivals. When still physically a two-year-old last November, she got up in time in this 6 ½-furlong affair: