Before the connections of Claire high hopes from the two-time 1st place winner of the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) competition on November 5 at KeenelandThey will first send some good thoughts her way before the gate opens.
As a cross for Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet stables, Clairiere takes down the champions Malathaat and Letruska to win the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) on June 11 at Belmont Park and followed by a clear victory in Shuvee Staking (G2) on July 24th at Racecourse Saratoga.
But all that winning momentum will be halted in Individual Stakes (G1) — specifically before the start of that 1/8 kilometer race on August 27 in Saratoga.
The chart tells the story of a race that never really began for Clairiere, who was a 7-5 favorite that day: “Clairere got very rough in the gate and banged on the front of the stall twice. , started by the assistant with the right shoulder, contacted by the head of the jockey leaving the gate, leaning towards the tracks early, lagging behind while sluggish on the inside, lagging behind under some shock coax, saved under stronger encouragement at the last turn, brought into the crop outside of the long and non-threatening marker.”
She raced last in field five. Following up on that effort, Racing Hall of Fame coach Steve Asmussen put even more effort into learning the gate to make sure it didn’t happen 1/8 mile ahead of Distaff 1.
“It caught us off guard,” Asmussen said. “We’re proud of the way they act and how well they’ve been in school. It’s 100% our responsibility. We feel that we have that facility covered (for now).
“If we were lucky enough to have success in Distaff, we would be extremely pleased that it happened last time and not this time.”
