Cheermeister Wires Sweetest Chant

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Teresa and David Palmer’s Cheermeister broke alertly and never surrendered the lead, taking the field gate to wire in Saturday’s $100,000 Sweetest Chant Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

Breaking sharply from post 4 under Emisael Jaramillo at 7/1 odds, Cheermeister hustled her way to the front, safely clearing her inner rivals heading into the clubhouse turn. Given space from Moana’s Tale in second, Cheermeister posted opening fractions of :24.24, :49.57, and 1:13.64.

Still in hand as she emerged onto the front stretch, Cheermeister was soon put to a drive and responded immediately. Though the cavalry came charging inside the final 1/16 of a mile, it proved too little, too late.

Trained by Armando De La Cerda, Cheermeister crossed 3/4 of a length clear in a final time of 1:40.25 for the mile-long event over the good turf course.

“She’s been kind of a farm favorite,” David Palmer said. “We broke her and trained her at Winner’s Circle Thoroughbreds. Hats off to Jaramillo. He did a great job, and of course, Armando does a great job. She’s a special filly. It’s just a matter of bringing her along slowly and letting her develop.”

Micheline closed from last to head Ivyetsu for second, with She’s My Type 3/4 of a length behind in fourth. Moral Reasoning, the 3/2 favorite, was within range at the 1/8 pole but flattened out in the stretch and just nosed out Reluctant Bride for fifth.

Moana’s Tale weakened steadily before crossing in seventh, completing the order of finish. Sunset Promise was a trainer scratch, while Filly Jean King was a main track only entry.

Cheermeister’s win was her second at the stakes level, having won the local Wait a While Stakes on November 30. The 3-year-old daughter of Bodemeister now sports an overall record of 4-3-0-0 with $129,200 earned.

“I thought she was going to win last time (in the Ginger Brew Stakes), but she got very nervous in the gate and in the paddock, too,” De La Cerda said. “There were a lot of people and it made the horse nervous. I knew I had to work with her at the gate, so we worked last week a couple times and we went to the paddock and she was much better this time. She’s a nice filly.”

Cheermeister returned $17.20 to win, $8.40 to place, and $7 to show. Micheline brought back $12 to place and $8.40 to show, while Ivyetsu paid $9.40 to show.