Click here for the race’s past performances: Crystal Ball — Shuvee Stakes (G3)
From NYRA: Rockpaperscissors steps up in G1 CCA Oaks; Harvard likely for $120K Curlin
Trainer Rodolphe Brisset said he was pleasantly surprised to see Rockpaperscissors shake off eight months of rust with ease in her last out allowance score against older fillies, and is hoping that the two-time winner can find a little extra in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga Race Course.
Last year, Paris Lights and Crystal Ball led a WinStar Stablemates Racing exacta in the CCA Oaks. Rockpaperscissors will try to make WinStar Stablemates Racing the first owner to notch back to back CCA Oaks victories since Godolphin with It’s Tricky [2011] and Questing [2012].
The lightly-raced daughter of Distorted Humor fired off the bench in her two-turn debut in an off-the-turf allowance tilt on June 21 at Indiana Grand Race Course.
Piloted by Julien Leparoux, Rockpaperscissors appeared rank heading into the first turn as she settled into fifth along the rail. After chasing leisurely fractions down the backstretch, she asserted herself to the front in upper stretch under no coaxing and drew away a 9 ¾ length winner.
“She surprised us a little bit. She was a difficult filly to gallop. It wasn’t our usual pattern of workouts, but we decided to run her. It was just one of those things where we felt that we needed to run more than we need to keep breezing,” Brisset said. “So, we got lucky that the race came off the turf. She actually won very easily and she came back out of that race very good.”
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Race Notification: Rockpaperscissors – Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga on July 24, 2021
Click here for the race’s past performances: Rockpaperscissors — Coaching Club American Oaks (G1)
From the Daily Racing Form: Crystal Ball, with new barn, triumphs in Lady Jacqueline Stakes
Crystal Ball made a sparkling return to stakes company and shone in her debut for a new barn in taking the $250,000 Lady Jacqueline Stakes for fillies and mares Saturday at Thistledown.
The filly also keyed a big day for the ownership team behind WinStar Farm and for jockey Luis Saez, who won three races including a pair of stakes on the day.
Crystal Ball ($6) kindly stalked the pace set by locally based Racinrosemary, a length back through a half-mile in 47.88 seconds and six furlongs in 1:13.44 on the fast main track. She took the lead in upper stretch, with Miss Bigly, who was stalked-placed at Churchill Downs in her most recent outing, coming to her on the outside. Crystal Ball dug in to repel her challenger through the final sixteenth, edging clear by 1 1/4 lengths at the wire. She finished the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.80.
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Crystal Ball breaks through in $250,000 Lady Jacqueline S.
WinStar Stablemates Racing LLC’s Crystal Ball earned her first stakes victory on Saturday at Thistledown with a 1 1/4-length victory in the $250,000 Lady Jacqueline S.
Making her first start for trainer Rodolphe Brisset on Saturday, Crystal Ball came out of the gate running and was battling for the lead into the first turn. Longshot Racinrosemary took command after a quarter-mile and set the pace until Crystal Ball rolled by her with a quarter-mile to go. Miss Bigly presented a challenge in upper stretch, but Crystal Ball shook clear to finish the 1 1/8-miles in 1:51.80 on a fast track.
“She’s been with us a little over five weeks,” said Brisset. “We breezed her every week and she’s been training very well. (Thankfully) we got it done today.”
The 4-year-old filly was just a head back of her fellow Stablemates runner Paris Lights in last year’s Coaching Club American Oaks (G1). She is undefeated in three starts this year and is 4-1-1 in seven lifetime outings, with earnings of $373,608.