Herecomesthebride: A Glimpse is all her rivals can Catch
February 27th, 2016
A mortal lock for a Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion 2-year-old filly of 2015, the Mark Casse pupil may well have scope for further improvement. She’s a May 13 foal, still three months shy of her actual third birthday, and with a glorious turf pedigree that shouts long-term prospect.
Catch a Glimpse was bet down to 3-5 favoritism with regular rider Florent Geroux, who left his Fair Grounds winter base to retain the partnership. Breaking from the far outside post 8, the daughter of City Zip scampered into perfect position from the start. She allowed 68-1 longshot Vieja Luna to carve out the pace through splits of :23.96 and :49.10 before easily overtaking her at the six-furlong mark in 1:13.97.
Off a soft pace like that, the others were never going to outkick Catch a Glimpse down the stretch. The classy chestnut put the race away with a :22.94 fourth quarter, despite fanning herself wide off the turn, and a final sixteenth in :5.72, to complete 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.63.
Runner-up Lira, who brought an unbeaten mark including back-to-back stakes wins in the Wait a While and Ginger Brew, simply couldn’t match that turbo. She actually lost ground late and checked in 2 1/2 lengths adrift. Nevertheless, Lira tried hard for the duration, and as a Giant’s Causeway filly from a solid family, she wants more ground.
Gone Away and Hold Harmless raced in proximity to each other throughout, with the former edging clear for third. Vieja Luna faded to seventh. Wedding Dress, who added blinkers and Lasix, didn’t move forward with either. A tad slowly away and hung out six wide on the far turn, she ended up last of eight.
Catch a Glimpse is now a perfect 4-for-4 on turf, her lone loss coming in her debut in the Saratoga slop. Had that July 30 maiden not been rained off the turf, she might be undefeated. Casse put her straight into a Woodbine turf allowance last August, and Catch a Glimpse went wire-to-wire. That was a warm-up act for her even bigger win next time in the Natalma (G2), where she drubbed two other Sovereign finalists, Gamble’s Ghost and Caren. Catch a Glimpse toppled an international cast in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland, one day before stablemate Tepin locked up an Eclipse Award by defeating world-class males in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).
Bred by Branch Equine in Kentucky, Catch a Glimpse was sold for $75,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. She has now bankrolled $767,562 for owners Gary Barber, Michael Ambler and Windways Farm.
Catch a Glimpse is out of the multiple stakes-winning Irish River mare Halo River, who is also responsible for Grade 3 winner and Gulfstream course record-setter Old Forester. This is the family of English champion and Irish classic winner Forest Flower as well as multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire High Yield.
Quotes from Gulfstream Park:
Winning rider Florent Geroux: "I was loaded (going into the far turn). Going into the elbow she pointed her ears and lost focus just a little bit, then she just galloped home easy."
Assistant trainer Norman Casse: “I think she was going so fast around the turn she kind of bore out a little. She’s still learning and not 100-percent professional.
“She’s obviously very talented and she’ll get even better as she goes on. It was good and we’re excited to have her back, and we look to move forward from here.”
Photo courtesy Adam Coglianese Photography.
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