Favored at 9-5 while making her return to stakes company in Saturday's Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs, Breeze Easy's Curlin's Catch (Curlin) split horses decisively at the entrance to the home stretch and powered clear to score by daylight.
Beaten for speed in a scratched-down field of seven, the Ontario-bred raced slightly worse than midfield through the opening stages with a couple of rivals behind. Ridden quietly down the backstretch, she caught the eye when rallying between rivals three furlongs out, took an inside path into the lane and ran out a convincing winner. Pacesetting Be Sneaky (Into Mischief) set a moderate tempo and held for second ahead of Il Malocchio (Souper Speedy) in third.
A debut second two-turning over the Woodbine synthetic Oct. 11, the Sam-Son-bred filly was a low-odds fifth in the restricted Princess Elizabeth S. Oct. 31 before getting some time off. The $180,000 KEESEP yearling turned $440,000 OBSAPR breezer made her first appearance on the dirt in a one-mile event at Gulfstream Jan. 3, leading throughout to score by 2 3/4 lengths.
Curlin's Catch is one of three winners from six to race from her dam, Canada's Sovereign Award-winning juvenile filly of 2006. The winner, the 74th at stakes level for her sire, is bred on the very potent cross over A.P. Indy-line mares that has been responsible for the likes of champion Stellar Wind, other Grade I winners Global Campaign and Paris Lights and other graded winners Tenfold, Point of Honor and Malathaat. Catch the Thrill, who RNAd for $180,000 at KEENOV in 2018, produced a full-sister to Curlin's Catch in 2019. She was most recently bred to Curlin's Grade I-winning son Connect.
SUNCOAST S., $100,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 2-6, 3yo, f, 1m 40y, 1:40.89, ft.
1–CURLIN'S CATCH, 118, f, 3, by Curlin
1st Dam: Catch the Thrill (Ch. 2yo Filly-Can, SW, $290,167), by A.P. Indy
1nd Dam: Catch the Ring, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Radiant Ring, by Halo
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. ($180,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP; $430,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR). O-Breeze Easy LLC; B-Sam-Son Farm (ON); T-Mark E Casse; J-Antonio A Gallardo. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0, $103,454. *1/2 to Chic Thrill (Smart Strike), SP, $159,375.
2–Be Sneaky, 118, f, 3, Into Mischief–Bella Castani, by Big Brown. O-Lael Stables; B-M Roy Jackson (KY); T-Arnaud Delacour. $20,000.
3–Il Malocchio, 118, f, 3, Souper Speedy–Egbert Bay, by Sligo Bay (Ire). O/B-Franco S Meli (ON); T-Kenneth G McPeek. $10,000.
Margins: 4HF, HF, 3/4. Odds: 1.80, 4.80, 4.00.
Also Ran: Special Princess, Feeling Mischief, Roll Up Mo Money, Scenic Overlook. Scratched: Gulf Coast, Honorifique, Jade Empress.
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