By Alan Carasso
Peter Brant's Salimah (Ire) (El Kabeir), the first American starter for her Yeomanstown Stud-based sire and former 'TDN Rising Star', matched that feat with a highly impressive debut success Saturday afternoon at Tampa Bay Downs.
As skinny as 4-5 in the latter stages of the wagering, the Peter Brant runner eased out all the way to 7-5 and was 13-10 when the gates flew. Off to a hesitant beginning beneath Samy Camacho, Salimah was allowed to find a rhythm and raced with just two of her rivals behind her as they hit the first turn. Quietly ridden through the middle stages and guided out into the clear, the filly–a gray like her sire–was consigned to a four- and five-wide run on the turn and was flushed out into the seven or eight path at the top of the lane. But continuing on undaunted, Salimah leveled off beautifully down the center of the course, hit the front under a full head of steam at the furlong grounds and widened with every stride to score by a good five lengths in a time that belies the strength of the peformance.
Bred by Yeomanstown Stud out of the stakes-winning Promised Money, a mare by the nursery's stalwart stallion Dark Angel (Ire), Salimah–a half-sister to the Group 3-placed Fivethousandtoone (Ire) (Frankel {GB})–cost Brant and company 180,000gns at the 2020 Tattersalls October Yearlings Sale, easily the most expensive of 60 first-crop yearlings by El Kabeir that season. A half-sister to SW Beldale Memory (Ire) (Camacho {GB), Promised Money is the dam of a 2-year-old colt by the outstanding Lope de Vega (Ire) and a yearling filly by Invincible Army (Ire).
El Kabeir cost Zayat Stables co-salestopping $250,000 at the 2013 OBS August Yearling Sale and earned his 'Rising Star' when hosing up by 10 3/4 lengths at second asking at Saratoga in 2014. He closed his freshman campaign with a game success in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. and celebrated the turn of the calendar with a 4 3/4-length romp in the GIII Jerome S. at Aqueduct. He added a convincing score in the GIII Gotham S. and was also a good third to Frosted in the 2015 GI Wood Memorial S. His first crop to the races has now yielded 18 winners in nine jurisdictions, including Group 2 scorer Don Chicco (GB) and other stakes winner Masekela (Ire) and Sa Filonzana (Ire). El Kabeir is standing his fifth year at stud for a fee of €6,000.
10th-Tampa Bay Downs, $25,150, Msw, 1-22, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:38.52, fm, 4 3/4 lengths.
SALIMAH (IRE) (f, 3, El Kabeir–Promised Money {Ire} {SW-Ire, SP-Eng}, by Dark Angel {Ire}) Sales history: 180,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $14,500. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
O-Peter M Brant; B-Yeomanstown Stud (IRE); T-Chad C Brown.
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