By Andrea Branchini
6th-Pimlico, $50,120, Msw, 9-24, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:10.88, ft. WHISKEY AND RYE (f, 2, Maclean's Music–Ava G, by Afternoon Deelites) Sales history: $150,000 2yo '20 EASMAY. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $25,200. O-Mens Grille Racing; B-Alex Venneri Racing, LLC (KY); T-Hamilton A. Smith.
The brave 2-year-old winning filly WHISKEY AND RYE carries another ingenious name derived from the famous song “American Pie” by Don McLean, an American singer-songwriter who had his very great day in the sun in the early '70s. “And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye/Singin' this'll be the day that I die” go the lyrics of the refrain of that classic hit. The dam AVA G has an interesting and suggestive name in her own right, being by AFTERNOON DEELITES out of AFFIRMED MISS, and adds a bit of glamour to it all. The divine Ava Lavinia Gardner was a screen legend in the '50s, breaking many hearts–including Frank Sinatra's, who notoriously was no shrinking violet.
An Italian native, Andrea Branchini now lives in Lexington, Ky., where he works in the equine transport industry.
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