Sea Calisi Earns Breeders’ Cup Ticket With Victory in G1 Beverly D.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (August 13, 2016) – Owner Martin Schwartz captured a record 4^th win in Grade I $700,000 Beverly D. on Aug. 13 when Florent Geroux piloted Sea Calisi (FR) to a perfectly timed finish at Arlington International Racecourse, earning her a “Win and You’re In” spot in the gate of the $2,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

Riding for trainer Chad Brown and with three wins on the card already under his belt, the French jockey got the 4-year-old filly to break cleanly from post 13, and then settled her toward the rear of the largest field (14) in the race’s history while moving inwards to save ground. Racing three paths off the rail on the turn, the pair waited patiently as the leaders set early fractions of 23.71, 47.68 and 1:12.58. Making up ground on the turn as they hit the mile marker in 1:36.28, the daughter of Youmzain (IRE) swung five wide entering the stretch and focused in on Empyrean Stables’ front-running Mike Stidham trainee Zipessa, who had taken the lead after the first half mile. Sea Calisi gained on the eventual third-place finisher while holding off a fast closing run from Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey’s Al’s Gal, who could only get within half a length of the winner at the wire for trainer Mike Maker. The final time for the race was 1:54.93. The victory was Geroux’s third in a graded stakes that day, and he would add a fourth to that number in the nightcap, totaling five wins on the card.

“[Brown] is one of the hottest trainers in North America right now, and number one on turf,” Geroux commented after the race. “I went to visit him when I was in Saratoga and asked if he could give me some horses since I’m doing quite good on the turf. We agreed to come here together and he gave me those very nice horses to ride. Turf horses are push button, just sit back, pull the trigger and they are there when you need them. She’s a very nice filly, definitely no distance problem at all – she can win at longer if we have to. We got helped a lot today with the pace maker, it was good for that, she needed some pace and clean trip and it worked out good.”

Corey Lanerie, aboard Al’s Gal from post two, tracked behind Sea Calisi through the early stages of the 1 3/16 miles turf stake, but had to find his way through traffic in the stretch before getting a clear running path on the 5-year-old daughter of English Channel and shortening winning margin.

“It was a good trip,” Lanerie said. “She rated kindly toward the rear. I tracked the winner all the way, and she angled out and went around. I was lucky enough to get through inside and angled back out, but just couldn’t get it today.”

Jockey Joe Bravo was able to keep the speedy Zipessa running on well for third, 1¼ lengths behind Al’s Gal. The 4-year-old filly by City Zip broke smartly while tracking the leaders, gained a 2½ length advantage entering the stretch, but was run down late.

“Awesome filly, I’d say she’s got a big future ahead of her,” Bravo remarked. “No hidden secrets, she’s a frontrunner, but you put 1:23 on her, rabbit against her and she still gets beat two lengths? She’s got a great future.”

Brown teamed up with Schwartz to win his first Beverly D. victory in the 2011 with Stacelita (FR). This was the third win for the trainer, who was promoted to victor in 2015 with Watsdachances following a disqualification of the original winner. Schwartz also earned wins in the filly and mare stake with Angara (GB) in 2005 and Gorella (FR) in 2006.

Sent off as the even-money wagering favorite at post time, Sea Calisi returned $4.20, $3.40 and $2.60 to her backers. Al’s Gal paid $10.40 and $6.40, while Zipessa returned $7.40. With the winner’s share of $386,400 Sea Calisi raised her lifetime earnings to $825,513 with four wins in 10 career starts.

Tuttipaesi (IRE), Faufiler (IRE), No Fault of Mine, Pretty Girl (ARG), Secret Someone, Personal Diary, Coolmore (IRE), Marypop (FR), Ballydoyle (IRE), Lots o’ Lex and Elusive Million (IRE) completed the order of finish.

GRADE I BEVERLY D. STAKES QUOTES

Florent Geroux (jockey, Sea Calisi, winner):  [Chad Brown] is one of the hottest trainers in North America right now, and number one on turf. I went to visit him when I was in Saratoga and asked if he could give me some horses since I’m doing quite good on the turf. We agreed to come here together and he gave me those very nice horses to ride. Turf horses are push button, just sit back, pull the trigger and they are there when you need them. She’s a very nice filly, definitely no distance problem at all – she can win at longer if we have to. We got helped a lot today with the pace maker, it was good for that, she needed some pace and clean trip and it worked out good.”

Chad Brown (trainer, Sea Calisi, winner): “I’m lucky to have this filly. She came to me in good shape. Michele Zerolo found her, they work well as a team, together Marty and Michele. They find these wonderful horses for us to work with, I’m just lucky to have her.”

Martin Schwartz (owner, Sea Calisi, winner): “It’s a great place, a great race and great people. It’s a beautiful racetrack, a fair surface, other than being out in the parking lot to start, Florent with his beautiful ride overcame that. We couldn’t be more overjoyed.”

Corey Lanerie (jockey, Al’s Gal, second): “It was a good trip. She rated kindly toward the rear. I tracked the winner all the way, and she angled out and went around. I was lucky enough to get through inside and angled back out, but just couldn’t get it today.”

Joe Bravo (jockey, Zipessa, third): “Awesome filly, I’d say she’s got a big future ahead of her. No hidden secrets, she’s a frontrunner, but you put 1:23 on her, rabbit against her and she still gets beat two lengths? She’s got a great future.”

Christopher DeCarlo (jockey, Tuttipaesi, fourth): “I had a great trip. I sat behind the leaders, and when I hit the turn I was able to keep my position without losing any ground. She really ran as hard as she could.”

Jose Valdivia, Jr. (jockey, Faufiler, fifth): “From the 13 post, I had one of the best trips. I was over on the fence and on the second turn I just tipped out two or three wide. My filly just struggled with the ground a little bit.”

William Buick (jockey, No Fault of Mine, sixth): “She ran great, traveled very well. To be honest with you, we didn’t get much luck in the straight. She’s a nice filly.”

Robby Albarado (jockey, Secret Someone, seventh): “I had a good trip, she just probably doesn’t want to go this far.”

Arlington International Racecourse