Belmont at Aqueduct: Scottish Lassie gets 1st win in Frizette

Scottish Lassie graduated from the maiden ranks and punched her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup with a decisive upset win in Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at Belmont at the Big A.

The Frizette, a one-turn mile, is a win-and-you’re-in affair for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to be contested at 1 1/16 miles on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Not only did Scottish Lassie earn a guaranteed spot in the starting gate with the Frizette score, she also tallied 10 qualifying points on the leaderboard for the 2025 Kentucky Oaks.

An elated Jorge Abreu, who secured his first graded win as a trainer, said, “I was expecting a good race today. I know people didn’t believe, not in her, in me, because this is the first time I’ve ever won a graded stakes. You need the quality to win those kinds of races, and I thought I had the horse.”

In making only her second career start, the daughter of McKinzie was content under Jose Lezcano to rate behind the quick splits of 22.81 seconds, 46.20, and 1:11.73 set by Social Fortress with mutuel favorite Snowyte right behind her. But once they raced out of the bend in the one-turn mile event, Lezcano gave Scottish Lassie her cue and she spurted to the front.

From there, Scottish Lassie drew off under a strong hand ride through the lane to win by an impressive nine lengths in a final time of 1:36.73 on the fast track. Snowyte, the only other maiden in the field, was the clear runner-up, 6 1/2 lengths in front of Social Fortress.

It was three-quarter lengths back to Another Cleeshay in fourth with Icona Mama, Whatintheliteral and Pondering rounding out the order of finish. The field was reduced to seven by the pre-race scratches of Senza Parole and Paradise City followed by The Queens M G after New York Racing Association veterinarians observed blood from the nose, not via the lungs, as she approached the gate.

“I had really high expectations of this filly since day one,” Abreu said. “I expected her to run a good race today because Jose was breezing her and she was breezing very good all along. But I didn’t know she was going to win by this margin.

“I felt comfortable turning for home when Jose looked back to his inside and he knew nobody was coming,” Abreu said. “I felt very comfortable after that, and she just kept on opening up.”

Lezcano said he had full confidence in the filly, based upon their time together in morning training.

“I’ve been working the filly, and she worked fantastic, every work better and better, galloped out like she didn’t do nothing,” Lezcano said. “All the time I joke with Titi (Abreu) and say, ‘I don’t like her.’ He laughs and looked at me and (I said), ‘I’m joking.’ She really does everything right, every work.

“The last work and every work I do is easy. She goes fast. She does it the right way, not rank or anything like that. “It looked like she settled perfect,” Lezcano added. “The longer she goes, the faster she can go. She finished fantastic today.”

Joel Rosario, jockey of runner-up Snowyte, made no excuses for the Danny Gargan trainee making just her second career start.

“It looked like the winner ran a monster race, but she ran well,” Rosario said. “There was a lot of speed, and it looked like she was fine behind horses for a little bit. She learned something from it.”

Scottish Lassie, bred in Kentucky by Winchester Farm, was bought at auction in March as a 2-year-old in training for $85,000 by the partnership of Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish, Corms Racing Stable, and Abreu. She returned $15 for a $2 wager.

Scottish Lassie finished a game third behind runner-up Snowyte in her Sept. 1 debut at Saratoga in a seven-furlong sprint won by Quickick, who exited that effort to finish second in Friday’s Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland.

Co-owner Steve Weston of Parkland Thoroughbreds was thrilled, but more for his trainer, a former assistant to Chad Brown, than himself.

“It was more important to me for Titi to win this. Titi has been doing this a long time and I’ve been with him since he left Chad. He’s never won a graded stakes. He’s such a good person and he’s an incredible horseman,” Weston said. “We all agreed that if we had won that (first) race, what would we have done? Go to the Frizette. OK, so, let’s pretend we won and go to the Frizette. If we don’t win, then we can go back and win a maiden at any time. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The way she ran today, she could compete with any other 2-year-old in the country.”

Scottish Lassie will get her chance to do just that in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies next and Abreu has his shot to improve on his runner-up effort with Jody’s Pride in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies: “I hope so,” he said. “Let’s see how she comes out of it. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

Scottish Lassie upped her career earnings to $232,000 with the $220,000 winner’s share of the purse and her record stands at 2: 1-0-1.

Back on grass, Senbei wins Turf Sprint

Senbei rallied in the stretch, overtaking three challengers from the far outside in surging to the wire a 1 1/4-length winner in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint at Belmont at the Big A.

Senbei captured the six-furlong outer turf sprint for 3-year-olds and up, and finished on the board for the fourth time in six starts on the turf since trainer Christophe Clement elected to move him off the main track.

Senbei, under jockey Manny Franco, was content to sit in fifth position as Determined Kingdom slightly outpaced 2-1 favorite Nothing Better to lead the eight-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 22.10 seconds and the half in 44.37 over the firm footing.

Out of the turn, Nothing Better made a move to Determined Kingdom’s outside. But Senbei, who had won multiple stakes on dirt, including the 2021 Funny Cide, earned the distinction with Gold Fever in 2022 of being a multi-surface stakes-winner, charging from the far outside to overtake Alogon, Determined Kingdom and Nothing Better and completing the course in 1:07.74.

Nothing Better held off Alogon by a half-length for runner-up honors while Son of a Birch came in fourth. Determined Kingdom, Mischievous Angel, Axthelm and Maya Prince completed the order of finish. Outlaw Kid, who was entered in the Nearctic (G2) on Saturday at Woodbine, was scratched, along with main-track only entrant Prince of Jericho.

“I had a great trip,” Franco said. “My horse broke OK and those three horses went to the lead and I just stayed behind them. He was traveling nice and on the bridle. When I hit the clear at the quarter pole, I have to give credit to the horses in front because they were tough to go by, but my horse did it. They didn’t come back at all, but my horse ran them down.

“He gave me a nice turn of foot,” Franco said. “When I hit the clear, he just explodes.”

Senbei returned $10 on a $2 win bet, improving his career earnings to $640,000. Overall, the 5-year-old Candy Ride gelding has won five stakes and moved his career ledger to 17: 7-2-1.

“It worked out perfect,” Clement said. “It was a great ride by Manny, patient, saved ground and exploded in the stretch. Manny rode him with a lot of confidence.

“Senbei is a good horse,” Clement said. “As a young horse, he was very good on dirt. He lost his form a bit on dirt, and the grass brought him back. He’s been running very well on grass, maybe more on firmer turf than softer turf. He’s not always lucky. In turf racing, you need a bit of racing luck, but today he was very impressive.”

Nothing Better finished second in a stakes race for the third consecutive time following the Select in August at Monmouth Park and the Da Hoss in September at Colonial Downs.

“My horse is very fast, a sprinter,” said Nothing Better jockey Jorge Ruiz. “(Determined Kingdom) put too much pressure on my horse. The horse broke sharp and went to the lead, but it’s too much pressure. When he came up to me, we were going too fast.”

Clement said the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 2 at Del Mar would be the ideal next spot if possible, but the listed, six-furlong $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship on Nov. 9 also could be a possible target.

“I’ve got Big Invasion as well for the same owners. I have to decide if they both stay here or do we ship one of them,” Clement said. “I don’t know if we can get in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint or if either of them has done enough to get there. I’ll need to think about it and make a plan.”