Visit the Celtic Princess Wears TDN Website: Royal Heroine www.thoroughbreddailynews.com Crown - p6 TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011 For information about TDN, call 732-747-8060. ALL SMILES > DAN= EXPLODES ON TURF IN FIRECRACKER Celebrity chef Bobby Flay=s Her Smile (Include) gave Morton Fink=s homebred Wise Dan (Wiseman=s Ferry) her owner his first Grade I victory with a determined relished his first taste of turf in the GII Firecracker H. at last-to-first rally in the GI Prioress S. at Belmont Churchill Downs yesterday, Monday. AYes, first Grade 1!@ said a stalking and pouncing his jubilant Flay. AIt was awesome, a way to a 14-1 upset in the great feeling.@ A 7-1 shot in a Kentucky oval=s traditional contentious group of six sophomore July 4 feature. The GIII fillies, the Virginia-bred sat well off a Phoenix S. winner was 2 hot pace before shooting through on 3/4 lengths clear of favored the rail like a bottle rocket to out-kick Baryshnikov (Empire Maker), Amy Tarrant=s GII Forward Gal S. who stuck his neck in front winner Pomeroys Pistol (Pomeroy) of Strike Impact (Smart and earn the half-length decision. Strike) to secure the place Wise Dan Streaks to Victory Favored Alienation (Rock Hard Ten) spot. Tom McCarthy=s Reed Palmer/Churchill Downs was another 3 1/2 lengths back in MGISW General Quarters Flay and Her Smile third, and a neck in front of Quantum (Sky Mesa) faded to seventh in the field of 10. AWow! Adam Coglianese Miss (Smoke Glacken). AI think she=s He ran huge,@ beamed winning conditioner Charlie a versatile filly--obviously, the key Lopresti. A[Jockey] Jon [Court] rode him perfectly and was the set-up,@ said trainer Todd Pletcher. AToday, we that=s what this horse has needed all along. He had him were talking :21 and :44 and change. We wanted to be sit back and just make one big run. I wanted that kind back off the pace and make one run. We were able to of a race. I didn=t want him in a speed duel. He needed save ground and come up the fence--it couldn=t have to learn how to relax, and he=s grown up and matured.@ worked out any better.@ Cont. p2 Cont. p4 Monday, Belmont Park PRIORESS S.-GI, $250,000, BEL, 7-4, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:09 2/5, ft. TDN TODAY 1--s@HER SMILE, 116, f, 3, by Include Headline News.................... 10 pages 1st Dam: Hepburn, by Capote 2nd Dam: Favored Lady, by Fappiano 3rd Dam: Applause, by Shecky Greene O-Bobby Flay; B-William M Backer (VA); T-Todd A Pletcher; J-Javier Castellano; $150,000. Lifetime Record: 10-4-2-2, $316,360. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Conceived at LANTERN HILL FARM 2--Pomeroys Pistol, 120, f, 3, Pomeroy- - Prettyatthetable, by Point Given. ($22,000 RNA yrl '09 OBSAUG). O/T-Amy Tarrant; B-Hardacre Farm LLC (FL); $50,000. 3--Alienation, 118, f, 3, Rock Hard Ten--Alienated, by Gone West. ($60,000 2yo >10 OBSAPR; $42,000 RNA yrl '09 KEESEP). O-Natalie Baffert & George Bolton; B-White Fox Farm (KY); T-Bob Baffert; $25,000. Margins: HF, 3HF, NK. Odds: 7.10, 5.90, 1.70. Also Ran: Quantum Miss, Roman Treasure, Our Year. Click for the brisnet.com chart, the brisnet.com PPs o r the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Taylor Made. TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 7/5/11 • PAGE 2 of 10 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Prioress cont. Her Smile began her career at two for breeder William FEATURE PRESENTATION • G1 PRIORESS M. Backer with a 4-3-1-0 record, culminating in a victory in the restricted Donna Freyer S. at Parx Racing in November. She wintered at Tampa Bay Downs, finishing fourth over the turf in the Feb. 12 Florida Oaks and a close-up third back on the main track in the Suncoast S. a month later. The dark bay ventured up to Aqueduct to be second in the GIII Comely S. Apr. 9, and was subsequently purchased by Flay Flay=s Recipe for Grade I Success... and transferred to Todd Pletcher. Horsephotos Her Smile, purchased for an undisclosed sum earlier Her Smile failed to make an this spring, rewarded her new owner, celebrity chef impact in her first try for the Bobby Flay, with his first victory at the Grade I level. new connections, checking in 11th in the GI Kentucky With Classic aspirations in mind, the filly--who was Oaks under the Twin Spires May 6. But she came with runner-up in the Apr. 9 GIII Comely S.--was brought to a late run last time to be third in the one-mile GI Acorn Flay=s attention by Jerry Brown=s Thoro-Graph three S., contested over a muddy surface here on Belmont weeks before the May 6 GI Kentucky Oaks. When I Stakes Day, June 11. A Reined in by pilot Javier Castellano after breaking initially bought her, my thought was initially GI from the rail, Her Smile bided her time four lengths Kentucky Oaks, GI Mother Goose S. and GI Alabama behind Pomeroys Pistol, who was traveling second-to- S.--I can tell you right now, the Prioress was never in last, as Roman Treasure (Roman Ruler) and Quantum the plans,@ said Flay. AShe was flying under the radar Miss slugged it out through an opening quarter in with the rest of the Oaks fillies, so we thought we :21.78. The eventual winner came off the rail around might have a chance to buy her. We went back and the turn to pass a fast-fading Our Year (Grand Slam), forth while we were trying to buy her, and Bradley and was a closer fifth behind the two pacesetters and Weisbord did a fantastic job negotiating the deal and Alienation, who were three-abreast at the head of the getting the horse from Maryland to [trainer] Todd lane after posting a half in :44.55. Her Smile appeared [Pletcher]=s barn at Churchill.@ full of run, but Javier Castellano had to locate the right As for the initial impression of the filly soon after her seam to go through as the speed horses began to grow arrival at the Pletcher barn, Flay recalled, ATodd thought leg weary directly in front of her. The rail opened up she was very sound, a very straightforward filly to train around the eighth pole, and Her Smile spurted through and he thought she would be better down the line.@ the gap at the first sight of daylight to take command, Following a third place-finish in her latest start in the holding the runner-up at bay late. June 11 GI Acorn S., the team was faced with the task AIt was a jockey=s dream trip,@ said Castellano. AThey of selecting an ideal race for the filly. Cont. p3 were burning speed, and they backed up really quick to me at some point. I had to choose the best direction to take, and I=m glad it opened along the rail. It was a short cut--the best way to go. I got very lucky, and my filly went through a tiny hole and got it done. I knew if Follow the TDN on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thetdn I could get through, I=d win the race.@ TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 7/5/11 • PAGE 3 of 10 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Recipe for Success cont. AJust this morning, Todd and I were still trying to figure out whether she wanted to go shorter or longer,@ admitted Flay. AThe choice was to run her in the GII Delaware Oaks on Saturday or run in the Prioress. We were both really confused about which way to go with her and, if Todd is confused, then I=m really confused. Basically, Todd felt her sweet spot is seven furlongs, and it might be a good idea to throw her in this race and see how she runs, because the [GI] Test S. [Aug. 6] is in a month at Saratoga. He also felt her running style suited this race, so we decided to run here.@ Last season, Her Smile showed an affinity for a shorter trip, reeling off three straight victories, including the 6 1/2-furlong restricted Donna Freyer S. at Parx Racing Nov. 14. While having failed to visit the winner=s circle in five subsequent starts at a mile or further, the filly had hit the board in three of those outings. Despite the lack of Horsephotos check marks in the win column, Flay insisted his newest stable star is not a one-trick pony. AI don=t think she=s a one-dimensional sprinter,@ he said. AI think it was very helpful to us today that the horses up front went so quick, which obviously helped her. I think she might race at seven furlongs and a mile.@ Following successes like More Than Real (More than Ready)=s victory in last November=s GII Breeders= Cup Juvenile Filly Turf and a score by Super Espresso (Medaglia d=Oro) in this spring=s GIII Allaire Dupont Distaff S., Flay indicated that Her Smile=s win marks the continued evolution of his program. AI=ve been a lot more focused over the last few years,@ Flay explained. ABasically, my plan is to buy fillies that can run and have good pedigrees. It=s great when you have a filly that can do both, which is not always the case.