BY BROCK SHERIDAN
A winner of her first two races by a combined nine-and-a-quarter lengths, Live Oak Plantation homebred Ultimate Love is the 3-1 morning line favorite for Saturday’s $125,000 Selima Stakes at Laurel Park. Trained by Michael Trombetta, the Florida-bred daughter of Curlin is among 11 2-year-old fillies entered to go a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf.
Ultimate Love was introduced with a smart two-and-a-three-quarters of a length win against maiden special weight fillies going a mile on the turf Colonial Downs on July 24, circling four-wide between horses in the turn before drawing clear in the stretch.
Although impressive in her first race, she improved in her next start to win by six-and-three-quarters lengths against first condition, $62,500 optional claiming fillies at Laurel Park on Sept. 5, again going a mile on the grass. She split rivals coming out of the far turn before sprinting away to a dominating victory for an 81 Beyer Speed Figure that is tops among her Selima counterparts. Ultimate Love has earned $71,400 in her two starts.
Ultimate Love is out of Tsunami of Love, by Bernardini and is a half-sister to two winners, including Oceans of Love, by More Than Ready—an allowance winner around two turns on the Woodbine turf.
Jorge Ruiz, who rode Ultimate Love in her first race, has the riding assignment for the Selima. They have post three.
Amberia (Ire) makes her first start in North America for trainer Graham Motion and is the 7-2 second choice in the program.
A winner of a restricted maiden stakes going seven furlongs on the turf at Leicester in Great Britian in her first race on June 3, Amberia was then fourth three weeks later in the US$54,700 Empress Fillies Stakes going six furlongs on the turf at Newmarket. In one race since, the daughter of Coulsty (Ire) was last of 10 in the six-furlong Princess Margaret (Group 3) at Ascot on July 26.
Amberia has post eight and will be ridden by Victor Carrasco.
Other contenders include Celebrity Warrior (Ire), a Todd Pletcher-trained daughter of Saxon Warrior (Jpn) who was second in a maiden special weight for fillies on the turf at Saratoga Race Course in her only start; and Oscar’s Encore, who exits a sixth-place finish in the $996,000 Juvenile Fillies on the grass at Kentucky Downs most recently.
Mychel Sanchez will ride Celebrity Warrior from post one and Frankie Pennington will guide Oscar’s Encore from post six. They are both 9-2 on the morning line.
Rounding out the field are Lovely Grey with Axel Concepcion riding, Spitfire has Christopher Elliott taking the call, Horacio Karamanos will guide Sweet Little Lila (Ire), Autonome and jockey Kevin Gomez, She’s Country will have Jevian Toledo up, My Lady Jbella will have Forest Boyce in the saddle and Beach Ballad will carry J.G. Torrealba.
Return to the September 26 issue of Wire to Wire
