Cotillion Stakes (Grade 1) (BC)- $1,000.000 Purse
PRX- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
September 26, 2020
The Cotillion Stakes offers an automatic spot into the BC Distaff for its winner, but in reality we will see several of these horses running in that race in a little more than a month. The timing of this race, plus the size of the purse makes it a popular race year after year, and this time will be no exception. Winners of recent elite races, such as the Ballerina, Mother Goose, Alabama, and the Acorn are here, and those are all different horses that won them. The only thing we are probably missing here is the reigning KYO winner, but we will get the one that just missed the headbob to finish second in that race. Last year, Cardi B was a bit of a surprise winner of the race for Gdp Inc and she has since been retired. Now, let;s take a look at our fantastic field of thirteen hoping to shine in the Cotillion.
#1- Run Fitchew (Night Rider Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- The look of the race starts off with a filly that has not been running against the caliber of horses that she is seeing here. Her last two races have been grade 3’s, and on the grass to boot. She did not win either of them, and has not been able to win a race since almost a year to the day, the 23rd of September last year in the mud. She has not always been close either, so this does seem like ambitious placement. We shall see.
#2- Ms Pea (Aer Stables, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- The filly sported blinkers for her last race, doing so for the first time since early in her career, and pulled off the win in the Grade 1 Ballerina at SAR. Since not running that well in March at the Grade 2 FG Oaks, we have seen her form change for the better, and with more consistency. Perhaps the blinkers put her over the top in getting that win in a big race. Though, maybe it was the distance. She seems to like the seven furlong trip.
#3- Tell It Like It Is (Nakamura Stables, ridden by S Ryan)- She appeared in the KYO as one of the favorites for that race, and narrowly missed, placing second. Since then, she has continued to be highly effective, running second in the Acorn to follow that up, then winning the DEL Oaks. Perhaps, that race was a bit of a drop down, but she still took care of business. She comes here off of the Alabama, where she was fifth and making up ground late. Might need to make a statement here if she wanted to be considered one of the ones to beat for the BC Distaff.
#4- Flawed Justice (YME Stable, ridden by K J Desormeaux)- A three race winning streak in overnights led to her getting a chance at the $500.000 WO Oaks in June, and she stepped up and finished second there. Her next race would result in her first graded win, coming in the Grade 3 Pitcher Stakes, and then in her last, we saw her run third in the Grade 1 Alabama. She has raced seven times for her career, and has never finished out of the money. It is appealing that she just seems to be hitting her stride right now, so she may still have a lot more upside, and must be watched closely here.
#5- Miss Steel Mazula (Nakamura Stables, ridden by Mar Garcia)- Over her eight race career, she has managed to win half of them. Unfortunately for the trainer, the other half has seen her miss the board entirely. Her last result was ugly, placing 11th in the mud at the Grade 2 DEL Handicap. Do we blame that on the track condition? Her form seemed to be excellent going in, so the mud certainly did play a role. However, this is still a big test for her regardless as she never faced a full field of this caliber.
#6- Pink N Bold (Iolaus Racing, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- Won three in a row when she was dropped into a claimer by Oquinn Farm, and Iolaus was on the ball to get her for $20.000. This has certainly panned out, as she has now won two of three with her new trainer, first getting a win in the $200.000 Melair Stakes for CA-breds, and then showing that she could do it against unrestricted company as well when she won the Grade 3 MTH Oaks on the first day of August. Overall, she has won five of seven races, and you really have to like that she has always been able to step up to the level of her competition. Naturally, that is required of her again.
#7- Dream Woman (Mb Stables, ridden by R M Hernandez)- Two starts ago, Dream Woman went to BEL and captured the Grade 2 Mother Goose. That was a victory that followed up a win in the Grade 3 Allaire Distaff Stakes at PIM, so she seemed to really be heating up at that time. Since then, she has only made one start, and it would be a disappointment, placing seventh in the Grade 1 Hirsch in an effort that is a little hard to figure out. However, the one that needs to do that is Mb Stables, and he is the master at doing that. She will probably bounce back, but still faces a very big challenge.
#8- The Belle Tolls (Allinthegate, ridden by J R Velazquez)- After an excellent two year old season, the Perfect Command filly has raced four times this year, a number that seems a little low. Because of that, she has fallen off the radar a little bit when talking about the elites of this division due to seeing the others more often. The Belle Tolls still has managed to win two of those races, and that includes her last start. That start ws interesting more so because it was done on the grass, in the Grade 2 San Clemente in July. That is the only time she has raced since placing fourth in the KYO.
#9- Coconut Princess (Rampage Stable, ridden by J Rosario)- We saw this filly on several occasions during KYO prep season, but was not able to make the field, and the trainer therefore targeted the Black Eyed Susan at PIM. She ran fourth in that race, and has been running against what you could consider more the second tier of the division then the likes that she will see her. Finally picked up her first win of 2020 in her last start, coming in the Grade 3 Pines Stakes, a $100.000 race. If you’re wondering where KYO winner Bite The Bullet has been, she was one of those Coconut Princess beat that day.
#10- Pocono Fashion (Nakamura Stables, ridden by G Franco)- The third of three horses in the field by Nakamura Stables, and a horse that has been in the top four in all ten of her career races thus far. She comes here after running up at beautiful Saratoga Race Course, and placing third in the Grade 1 CCA Oaks, and then fourth in the Alabama. Those were her first two graded races, and they came after several ungraded stakes. She does not have that one signature win to be impressed by yet, and maybe it is only natural for her to do that not too far from the Poconos?
#11- Precise Performance (Mb Stables, ridden by D Davis)- The filly has been one of the top three year olds all year, scoring two wins during the preps for the KYO, the Grade 2 Santa Ynez, then the Grade 2 FG Oaks. In the KYO itself, Precise Performance finished within a length of her winning stablemate, but that was only good enough for fifth. Her last two races have seen her change things up tactically, and that has been highly successful. She went wire to wire in the Grade 3 IND Oaks, but if that race does not impress you, she did the same in the Grade 1 Alabama. Will the plan be the same from this post, though?
#12- Odd Trek (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by E Jaramillo)- The only surprise with this filly is that she has been on the shelf for two months, having last run in the Grade 1 CCA Oaks. She won that race, and that represented her fourth win in five races, following up a win in the Acorn. Despite everything going well, she took August off, with a scratch in the Alabama playing a role in that. Everything seemed to be going well for her going into that race, including a win from post 12, and it is interesting that she was not entered into something else to fill the gap after that. She is certainly fresh, and will be expected to run well.
#13- Starship Twister (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by P Lopez)- Starting on the outside, we have a newcomer to these ranks. Starship Twister makes her graded debut, and does it in style here in the Grade 1 Cotillion, coming off the heels of a $16.400 allowance win at FE. Has attempted two ungraded stakes in her career, and managed second in one of them, but the jump is a big one, for sure.
Prediction: 11-3-10-4
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
