Long-Winded Distaffers Meet In CTT And TOC

DEL MAR, CA – While 11 furlongs of serious running is a long way to travel for a racehorse, it’s not unheard of.

Saturday, eight long-winded fillies and mares have signed up to do just that in the CTT and TOC Stakes, an overnight affair that offers a purse of $80,000 and some black type for those who perform well.

A gray mare and a bay mare in the lineup look to have better-than-average chances to pull off the score in the mile and 3/8 marathon, and they would be LNJ Foxwood’s Tapwater (she’s the gray) and Alpha Delta Stables’ Rideforthecause (she’s the bay).

Both are 5-year-olds who have run long before and both have good grass credentials.

Morning line oddsmaker Jon White has hung Rideforthecause as the slight 5/2 favorite in the feature, while Tapwater and Madaket Stables, De Seroux, or Naify’s Neige Blanche are co-second choices at 3/1.

Tapwater is a daughter of the high-line stallion Tapit and has won a trio of races on the green while earning $177,080. She comes out of the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella and will be handled by turf riding ace Umberto Rispoli.

Rideforthecause, by Candy Ride, has won 5 races and more than $360,000. All 5 of her tallies have come on turf and she comes off a grass route score in the Possibly Perfect Stakes at Santa Anita on June 13. She’s conditioned by Mike McCarthy and he’s signed on Mario Gutierrez to do the horsebacking.

Neige Blance is a 4-year-old French-bred by the Irish stallion Anodin and can boast of 4 wins from 12 starts, including a nose victory in the Santa Barbara Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita on May 8. She comes out of the barn of conditioner Leonard Powell, who has named Juan Hernandez to ride.

Here’s the full field for the CTT and TOC from the rail out, with riders and morning line odds:

Neige Blanche; Gary Barber’s Crystalle (Abel Cedillo, 15/1); Amerman Racing’s Catch the Eye (Geovanni Franco, 30/1); Tapwater; Rideforthecause; George and Martha Schwary Racing’s Ippodamia’s Girl (Joe Bravo, 4/1); Haruya Yoshida’s Red Lark (Mike Smith, 6/1), and Glen Hill Farm’s Global Brand (Drayden Van Dyke, 12/1).

The race is named to honor two key elements in the racing community through their representing groups – the trainers (California Thoroughbred Trainers) and the owners (Thoroughbred Owners of California).

First post for Saturday’s 10-race card is at 2 PM.