Sweet Repent’s body of work looks more impressive now than ever, even though the Florida-bred filly hasn’t run since January. That’s because a horse she beat twice recently, Florida-bred Jessica Is Back, stepped up to win Calder Casino & Race Course’s lone Grade 1 event, the Princess Rooney Handicap, at its Summit of Speed on July 10.
Sweet Repent became a graded stakes winner herself in December, rallying to beat Florida-bred Amazing by a nose in the Stage Door Betty Handicap (G3) at Calder. A month prior, she defeated Jessica Is Back by 3 ¼ lengths in the $200,000 Elmer Heubeck Distaff Handicap at Calder, and she returned in January to beat that same rival by 3 ¾ lengths in the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Distaff at Gulfstream Park.
Sweet Repent, a daughter of Repent bred by Pembroke Pines’ Roger and Nikki Schick, has stretched her winning streak to five races. Though she ran in rich races this winter, her connections have chosen an easier spot for her return from a layoff of almost six months – the $65,000 Nancy’s Glitter Handicap at Calder on Saturday. The 1 1⁄16-mile race drew a field of seven fillies and mares, all Florida-breds.
Sweet Repent, owned by Buongiorno A Tutti Stable, has breezed six times at Calder in recent weeks to prepare for her return, including three bullet workouts. Her most recent work was July 13, when she handily covered five furlongs in a bullet 1:01 2⁄5 seconds. Despite those strong workouts, trainer David Braddy said his filly could have gone even faster.
“She’s been training good, and I hope she’s fit enough, but I guess all trainers hope that,” Braddy said. “I think she is, but the pressure is on. She’s the kind of filly that doesn’t work all that fast in the morning. Some horses light the track up and then let you down the day of the race, and she’s the opposite. She just does what she has to do, and you’re never really sure where you’re at with her.”
Sweet Repent, out of the Formal Dinner mare Sweet Babe, has won seven of her 13 starts for $464,190, making her the richest horse entered in the Nancy’s Glitter Handicap. She’ll carry the high weight of 121 pounds, conceding four to 11 pounds to her rivals.
Sweet Repent drew the No. 2 post and will have usual rider Manoel Cruz aboard. She earned stakes victories at Saturday’s 1 1⁄16-mile distance in the Stage Door Betty, Elmer Heubeck Distaff and the $75,000 Judy’s Red Shoes Stakes at Calder in September. The 4-year-old filly usually can be found close to the pace early in her races, and Braddy expects her to employ that same strategy Saturday.
“I’d like to see her be fairly close to the front, not too far back,” Braddy said. “I think she knows how to run. She kind of knows that she’s supposed to settle and run at the end. I think this is a good spot for us to start back.”
Sweet Repent is 6-for-9 on Calder’s main track, with no finishes out of the money.
The field also includes Dolce Pentimento, Sweet Repent’s 3-year-old full sister. The filly races for the same connections and will be trying for her first win in her fifth start. Also entered in the race are Trip for A. J., Even Road, Miss Aristocrat, Joanie’s Catch and Glotona.
Glotona has had the misfortune of facing the talented Dash Dot Dash in three consecutive stakes races, finishing second to that rival in the $50,000 Take D’Tour and Emergency Nurse stakes and most recently running third behind her in the $50,000 Our Dear Peggy Stakes last Saturday.
Joanie’s Catch, a homebred for trainer Barry Rose, ranks second in the field with $384,733 in earnings even though she’s won only two of her 22 starts. The 3-year-old filly won the $51,000 Brave Raj Stakes at Calder in September to begin a streak of 10 straight in-the-money finishes in stakes races. She most recently was sixth in the Azalea Stakes (G3) at Calder on July 10.
Trip for A. J. most recently won the $55,000 Noble Robyn Stakes going 1 1⁄16 miles on Calder’s grass course last month after Florida-bred Regina Twain was disqualified for interference during their stretch duel. Trip for A. J. had finished a nose behind her rival.
• Saturday’s card at Calder also features the $55,000 Band Is Passing Stakes, a 7 ½-furlong turf test that drew a field of 13 3-year-olds and up.
The richest horse in the field is Florida-bred Jet Propulsion, the winner of the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Turf at Gulfstream Park in January. The 7-year-old, gelded son of Get Away Farm stallion Double Honor has won 13 of his 49 starts for $593,853.
Jet Propulsion, a homebred for Farnsworth Farms, has made four consecutive starts in graded events for trainer Marty Wolfson, most recently finishing last after setting the pace in the Manhattan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park last month.
The field also includes Florida-breds Wingedlie and Dream Maestro, the top two finishers from the $55,000 Finallymadeit Stakes on Calder’s main track July 4; Causeway’s Kin, the runner-up in Calder’s Memorial Day Handicap (G3) two starts back; Florida-bred Mean Sax, the winner of the $55,000 Mecke Stakes on the Calder lawn in May; and Grand Cash and Florida-breds Dinner in Odem and Fearless Eagle, the top three finishers from the $50,000 Blazing Sword Stakes on Calder’s grass course last month.
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– Photo of Florida-bred Sweet Repent by Adam Coglianese
