Sent off at overlaid odds of 13-1 from a 5-1 morning line, Ironhorse Racing Stable's Beauty of the Sea (Bucchero) was given a perfect ride by Jairo Rendon and held off My Sweet Affair (Twirling Candy) and Love Appeals (Speightstown)–each scratched out of Friday's rained-off Coronation Cup S.–to become the first black-type winner for her Florida-based stallion, also campaigned by Ironhorse.
Nicely drawn in gate two, the Florida-bred broke with them, but eased back to sit just behind a strong pace set by Coronation Cup entrant Bosserati (Holy Boss) with two-time course-and-distance winner Lady Irvine (Accelerate) not far behind. Committed to an inside run around the turn, Beauty of the Sea came after and collared Bosserati in upper stretch, but was confronted either side by My Sweet Affair at the fence and Love Appeals one path to her outside. Any of the three had claims at the sixteenth pole, but Beauty of the Sea fought on bravely from between the two market leaders and was home narrowly best.
#2 BEAUTY OF THE SEA upsets the $100,000 Blue Sparkler Stakes (race 9) at @MonmouthPark. Filly by @Buccherostud is trained by Joseph Orseno and was ridden by Jairo Rendon. Congratulations to owner @racingwithihr pic.twitter.com/tqIBxoYKXL
— TVG (@TVG) July 15, 2023
Unplaced in a single juvenile appearance over the Gulfstream main track, Beauty of the Sea was runner-up in a five-furlong turf maiden in Hallandale Apr. 7 and donned cap and gown over that same track and trip May 5. No better than a 4-1 chance in her first start against winners over the Gulfstream synthetic June 3, she gamely split horses late and went on to punch her ticket to stakes company with a two-length success.
“We sent her here with this race in mind,” said winning trainer Joe Orseno. “She handled the turf so well so we figured let's keep her on the turf and see where we can go with it. “Jairo never panicked. I thought she would be laying right off the leaders. But he sat back there and when she moved up I saw she was running. It was just a question of the heavyweights coming at her. They were coming too, but we held them off.”
Harlan Malter, managing partner of Ironhorse Racing, made the trip in from California and will be on hand Sunday at Woodbine, where Bucchero's son Mattingly is a live chance in Sunday's Victoria S.
“I always referred to her as my mini-Bucchero,” Malter said. “To win the first stakes for him that sort of way is everything I thought of what Bucchero could be as a stallion. It means an enormous amount to me and my partners and we think that this filly is the first of many stakes winners to come for Bucchero.”
One of 36 winners from 58 starters for Bucchero, Beauty of the Sea, a $29,000 OBS June buyback last year, hails from the female family of the nails-tough Second of June (Louis Quatorze), Grade I winner Any Given Saturday (Distorted Humor) and GSW Bohemian Lady (Carson City). The unraced Belong to Sea, the only daughter of Poseidon's Warrior to have a foal of racing age, is also the dam of the 2-year-old colt Little Starships (Gone Astray). Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
In the fall of 2020 I was pinching myself that I was actually driving around Ocala seeing 1st crop foals of BUCCHERO. Just having one on the ground was a dream come true. This little filly was an absolute firecracker 🧨, small but VERY mighty. Today, she won The Blue Sparkler 🎆 pic.twitter.com/3dlmVuaAQY
— Harlan Malter (@HarlanMalter) July 15, 2023
BLUE SPARKLER S., $104,000, Monmouth, 7-15, 3yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.68, fm.
1–BEAUTY OF THE SEA, 116, f, 3, by Bucchero
1st Dam: Belong to Sea, by Poseidon's Warrior
2nd Dam: Niebla, by Belong to Me
3rd Dam: Whow, by Spectacular Bid
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. ($29,000 RNA 2yo '22 OBSOPN). O-Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC; B-Shade Tree Thoroughbreds Inc (FL); T-Joseph F Orseno; J-Jairo Rendon. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0, $118,960. *First stakes winner for second-crop sire (by Kantharos).
2–My Sweet Affair, 116, f, 3, Twirling Candy–Illicit Affair, by Midnight Lute. ($72,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-R A Hill Stable & Gatsas Stables; B-Highclere Inc, Dr Amy Rabanal & Constance Wickes (KY); T-George Weaver. $20,000.
3–Love Appeals, 118, f, 3, Speightstown–Gioia Stella, by Medaglia d'Oro. 1ST BLACK-TYPE. O/B-Moyglare Stud Farm Ltd (KY); T-Christophe Clement. $10,000.
Margins: HD, NK, 2 3/4. Odds: 13.10, 2.50, 2.50.
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