Lady Shipman was one of the stars of last summer, rattling off four straight dominant stakes victories at Monmouth and Saratoga before suffering a head defeat in the Buffalo Trace Franklin County S. at Keeneland Oct. 9 and losing a tough neck decision in the Oct. 31 GI Twinspires Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. The chestnut filly was then switched to Kiaran McLaughlin's barn and given a brief respite, from which she returned to a facile score in the Ladies' Turf Sprint S. at Gulfstream. Sent to Dubai for the G1 Al Quoz Sprint S. off that effort, she broke slowly and never seemed comfortable when finishing seventh, still only 2 3/4 lengths back.
Back in New York for this stateside return, Lady Shipman was away sharply and dueled for the lead with Shrinking Violet through a :22.14 quarter-mile. Poking her head in front of that foe on the turn, she shook clear into the stretch, clicked off a :44.37 half and, when given her cue by Irad Ortiz, Jr., kicked away strongly in the last three-sixteenths, coming home an easy winner once again.
“She was training great up to this race and ran great,” assistant trainer Joe Lee said. “You never know how much a trip like that, shipping there [Dubai] and back, will impact a horse. But Kiaran's program had her settled and we worked her when she was ready. She was a complete pro in the paddock and was so calm and cool.”
Ortiz said a clean start was all his filly needed.
“Her last race in Dubai,” the 23-year-old rider recalled, “she kind of missed the break and I had to rush her early to get her involved and she still only lost by two lengths. Today, when she broke, it was clean and she was comfortable going all the way. She did it easy. I didn't really notice any difference in her between the race in Dubai and today. She's just a really talented horse.”
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LICENSE FEE S., $95,000, BEL, 5-1, 4yo/up, f/m, 6fT, 1:07.49, gd.
1–LADY SHIPMAN, 119, f, 4, Midshipman–Sumthingtotalkabt,
by Mutakddim. ($35,000 RNA 2yo '14 OBSAPR). O-Ranlo
Investments LLC; B-Randall E Lowe (KY); T-Kiaran P.
McLaughlin; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $60,000. Lifetime Record:
GISP, 15-10-2-2, $643,905.
2–Zindaya, 117, m, 5, More Than Ready–Aristocratic Lady, by
Kris S.. ($145,000 RNA Ylg '12 KEESEP; $550,000 4yo '15
KEENOV). O-e Five Racing Thoroughbreds; B-Grapestock LLC
(KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $20,000.[bullet ad=”vinery-sales-grad”][bullet ad=”stonestreet-trainingalum”]3–Shrinking Violet, 118, m, 6, Congaree–Lets Get Cozzy, by
Cozzene. ($4,000 Wlg '10 KEENOV). O-Wesley A. Ward;
B-Ashbrittle Stud (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward. $10,000.
Margins: 2 3/4, 1, 5 1/4. Odds: 0.55, 2.25, 4.10.
Also Ran: Vicki's Dancer. Scratched: Disco Barbie, Momameamaria, Monster Sleeping.
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