Oaklawn Barn Notes: Lightly Raced Ce Ce Arrives for Apple Blossom

By Jennifer Hoyt —-

Lightly Raced Ce Ce Arrives for Apple Blossom

The $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) for older fillies and mares has attracted a strong contender for prominent California breeder/owner Bo Hirsch in lightly raced Ce Ce.

Trained by Mike McCarthy, Ce Ce is unbeaten in two starts this year, including a 3 ¼-length score over Grade 1 winner Hard Not to Love in the $400,000 Beholder Mile (G1) March 14 at Santa Anita. She was a 4 ¼-length allowance winner of her 4-year-old debut Feb. 17 at Santa Anita.

Ce Ce is by Elusive Quality – sire of 2004 Arkansas Derby winner Smarty Jones – out of Hirsch’s blue hen mare Miss Houdini, the dam of 2009 Arkansas Derby winner Papa Clem. Papa Clem, also campaigned by Hirsch, ran fourth in the Kentucky Derby and retired a multiple graded stakes winner of $1,121,190. Papa Clem is by Smart Strike.

“Plenty of pedigree,” McCarthy said Tuesday afternoon. “Bo Hirsch is a longtime breeder, so he’s cultivated that family. This is kind of, obviously, an extension of that, going back through Miss Houdini and back on through these mares that have been in either his father’s racing stable, broodmare band, or his.”

Ce Ce will be making just her sixth career start in the Apple Blossom, a 1 1/16-event that is among the country’s signature two-turn events for older fillies and mares. Ce Ce didn’t race at 2 and was a 2 ¼-length winner of her April 12, 2019, career debut at Santa Anita. After finishing second in a first-level allowance race, McCarthy thought enough of Ce Ce to send her to New York for the $700,000 Acorn Stakes (G1) last June at Belmont Park. After finishing fourth in the Acorn, Ce Ce didn’t run again last year because of an injury. She has returned with sparkling victories at 6 ½ furlongs and a mile this year.

“Her comeback race, I thought she would run well,” McCarthy said. “She actually ran a little bit better than I thought she would, first time back. I gave her every excuse out of that race to tell me she did not want to run in the Beholder and she just kept on getting better and better with every work leading up to that race, so I had no hesitation of running her in that spot. She beat a very nice filly in Hard Not to Love. The way she did it, I thought was very impressive. Certainly, second race back off a layoff, to win a Grade 1, kind of tells you a lot about her.”

Overall, Ce Ce has a 3-1-0 mark from five starts and earnings of $366,600.

The Southern California-based McCarthy has started only two horses at Oaklawn, both in 2018. He saddled City of Light to win the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses, handing eventual champion older dirt male Accelerate his only 2018 loss. City of Light went on to win the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in 2018 and concluded his career with a victory in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) in January 2019 at Gulfstream Park.

Staying Put, for Now

Millionaire Grade 1 winner Tom’s d’Etat is scheduled to remain at Oaklawn before shipping to Churchill Downs in late April, trainer Al Stall shortly after the horse’s sparkling comeback victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Oaklawn Mile.

Under confident handling from Joel Rosario, Tom’s d’Etat collared Grade 1 winner Improbable approaching the finish line to win by a measured three-quarters of a length. Tom’s d’Etat ran the mile over a sealed, wet-fast surface in a meet-best 1:35.83 and paid $3.60 as the heavy favorite. He was making his first start since winning the $600,000 Clark Stakes (G1) Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs.

Tom’s d’Etat is scheduled to return to the track Thursday, trainer Chelsey Coady said Wednesday morning. Tom’s d’Etat has been under Coady’s care since arriving late last month in Hot Springs. Churchill Downs, his normal homebase, isn’t scheduled to open for training until April 28 (the original date was March 17). Its spring meet was to begin April 25.

“He’ll stay at Oaklawn and just lightly train,” said Stall, who is based at Fair Grounds during the winter. “Churchill put out the new date (April 28), which I think is kind of firm, so he’ll just play around and freshen. The grass is starting to come out over there at Oaklawn by our barn and he’ll get plenty of that. He’ll just get over this race and lightly train and head to Kentucky.”

Stall said Tom’s d’Etat is not a candidate for the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) May 2, the biggest local two-turn event for older horses, and instead will target races still scheduled, as of now, at the Churchill Downs spring meeting – $150,000 Blame Stakes May 30 and the $700,000 Stephen Foster (G2) June 27. Both races are 1 1/8 miles. The Stephen Foster is a “Win and You’re In” event for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland, the year-end goal for Tom’s d’Etat.

“It’s a prestigious race that Blame won when it was a Grade 1 and it feeds you into something like the Whitney very well, so that would be a nice race to get to,” Stall said. “There’s a Stephen Foster prep night (May 30), if Churchill is up and running, and ironically, there’s a brand new race that they hung up called the Blame, older horses a mile and an eighth. We’re not going to go looking for a fight. We’d like to stay home as much as possible, with the Breeders’ Cup being at Keeneland, and obviously a little trip up to Saratoga. He’s got an incredible record up there. We’re just very, very happy to get this race over with.”

The $1 million Whitney (G1) is Aug. 8 at Saratoga, where Tom’s d’Etat has won 3 of 4 career starts, including the $100,000 Alydar Stakes in 2019.

Stall is best known for training Blame, who won the Stephen Foster, Whitney and Breeders’ Cup Classic en route to an Eclipse Award in 2010 as the country’s champion older male.

The Oaklawn Mile marked the 10th victory in 17 lifetime starts for Tom’s d’Etat and increased his earnings to $1,326,572. The son of Smart Strike was making his 7-year-old debut owner Gayle Benson (G M B Racing).

Finish Lines

Post positions were to be drawn Wednesday for Saturday’s $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles and $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older horses at 6 furlongs. … Six-time Oaklawn riding champion Ricardo Santana Jr. is appealing a suspension (10 racing days) that was scheduled to begin Friday, according to agent, Ruben Munoz. Stewards cited Santana for an incident in the seventh race April 5. … Through Saturday, Day 46 of the scheduled 57-day season, Santana was locked in a four-way battle for leading rider. Joe Talamo topped the standings (43 victories), followed by Santana (41) and defending champion David Cohen and Martin Garcia (40). … Through Saturday, 304 claims at the meet had totaled $5,640,250.