Will race Oct. 30 in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf
LEXINGTON, KY (Oct. 7, 2015) — Larkin Armstrong’s heavily favored Harmonize rallied from the back of the pack and outdueled Sapphire Kitten in the stretch by a neck to win the 25th running of the $150,000 JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3) for 2-year-old fillies before a Wednesday afternoon crowd of 9,685.
The victory secured Harmonize a spot in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) to be run at a mile here on Oct. 30.
Trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, Harmonize covered the 1 1/16 miles on a firm turf course in 1:44.19. It was the third victory in the race for Mott, who also won with Stylelistick in 2001 and Bail Out Becky in the second division of the 1994 running.
Longshot Carleigh Belle opened a daylight advantage as she led the field of 14 through fractions of 22.44, 47.02 and 1:13.51. At the top of the stretch, things changed quickly as the field closed in with Sapphire Kitten moving five wide and Harmonize widest of all to hook up at the eighth pole on the front end.
The two rapidly pulled away from the pack with Harmonize narrowly prevailing at the wire.
A 2014 Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate, Harmonize is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Scat Daddy out of the Sky Mesa mare Mesa Fresca. The victory was worth $90,000 and increased Harmonize’s earnings to $166,600, with a record of 3-2-1-0.
Harmonize returned $4, $2.80 and $2.40. Sapphire Kitten, ridden by Julien Leparoux, returned $7.20 and $5.60 with Outsider Art finishing 4½ lengths back in third under Drayden Van Dyke and paying $7 to show.
It was three-quarters of a length back to Lilly’s Dream in fourth. She was followed in order by Family Tree, Inconclusive, Clare View, Moms Choice, Theory of Change, Delicate Lady, Precious Love, Come to Mischief, Tia Flor and Carleigh Belle.
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