And Tell Me Nolies nabs Chandelier, Cave Rock cruises in American Pharoah

Oct 09, 2022 J. Keeler Johnson

The Road to the Kentucky Oaks and the Road to the Kentucky Derby
ran parallel at Santa Anita for a pair of Saturday stakes awarding “Win and
You’re In” berths to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

First up
was the 1 1/16-mile Chandelier S. (G2) for two-year-old fillies, a Kentucky
Oaks prep worth 10-4-3-2-1 points to the top five finishers. And Tell
Me Nolies entered as the most accomplished filly based off
a victory in the Del Mar Debutante S. (G1), but bettors allowed the Peter
Miller trainee to start as an 8-1 longshot behind impressive maiden winner
Justique (6-5) and Del Mar Debutante runner-up Home Cooking (3-2).

Bettors
shouldn’t have underestimated And Tell Me Nolies. She wasn’t in any hurry
to get going early on, settling in fifth place behind fractions of :22.85
and :46.71 set by Naughty Lottie, but the bay filly was ready to roll
down the homestretch. Seizing command under jockey Ramon Vazquez, And Tell Me
Nolies led by 1 1/2 lengths with a furlong remaining, then dug deep to
withstand a challenge from Uncontrollable and prevail by three-quarters of a
length.

And Tell
Me Nolies stopped the timer in 1:46.15 while Justique, Ice Dancing, Home
Cooking, Naughty Lottie, and Huntingcoco trailed the field. The top four
finishers all earned Road to the Kentucky Oaks qualification points, but the
fifth-place point was vacated since Home Cooking is trained by Bob Baffert,
whose runners are ineligible to earn Oaks and Derby qualification points since
he’s currently suspended by Churchill Downs Inc.

By virtue
of winning a Grade 1 and a Grade 2 already this season, And Tell Me Nolies has seized
leadership of the two-year-old filly division and can sew up a championship
title if she wins the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Keeneland,
to which the Chandelier awarded its Win and You’re In berth.

Much the
same can be said of Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner Cave Rock,
who picked up a second straight Grade 1 title when cruising to victory in Santa
Anita’s American Pharoah S. (G1) In a race that saw few changes in position
over 1 1/16 miles, Cave Rock set splits of :22.96, :46.82, and 1:11.07 before
pulling away to defeat the pace-tracking duo of National Treasure and Hejazi by
5 1/4 lengths, reaching the finish line in a quick 1:43.05 under little urging
from jockey Juan Hernandez.

Gandolfini
finished fourth by a wide margin over Man Child, Skinner, Macnamara, and
Odonata. The American Pharoah intended to award Kentucky Derby qualification
points on a 10-4-3-2-1 basis, but since the top four finishers are all trained
by Baffert, the only runner to earn a Kentucky Derby qualification point was
Man Child. However, Cave Rock did secure a Win and You’re In berth to the Nov.
4 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

The
victories by And Tell Me Nolies and Cave Rock marked a big day for the late
stallion Arrogate, a champion and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) hero who sired
both the Chandelier and American Pharoah winners. And Tell Me Nolies was bred
by Lara Run and races in the colors of Peter Redekop B. C., while Cave Rock
(bred by Anne and Ronnie Scheffer Racing) campaigns for the partnership of
Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman.