She needed the entire length of the homestretch to do so, but Cassis Violeta was all heart when just getting up at the wire to nip Reitha by a nose to win the G3 Clasico Cotejo de Potrancas at Club Hipico in Chile on Friday, 5 April.
The two-year-old Midshipman filly not only kept her record perfect but became a Graded Stakes winner in just her second start.
Breaking alertly out of the starting gate, Cassis Violeta took a stalking position in second, just off the flank of the early leader, Magic Flame. As the field entered the long home straight, Reitha shot through an opening along the rail to take the lead over a tiring Magic Flame, as Cassis Violeta was set down for the drive from third.
Reitha opened up a bit through the final furlong, but Cassis Violeta refused to surrender as she relentlessly cut into Reitha’s lead. The two fillies hit the wire together, with a photo determining that Cassis Violeta pipped her rival by a nose.
Cassis Violeta was bred in Chile by Haras Don Alberto and is the third foal and third winner out of the Henrythenavigator mare, Cristolina. Cassis Violeta hails from the immediate family of Champions and full-siblings Crystal Clear (Champion 3-year-old filly in Chile, G1 Las Oaks) and Crystal House (Chilean Horse of the Year, Champion 3-year-old filly, G1 El Ensayo-Chilean Derby).
Midshipman has the distinction of being the only stallion with multiple juvenile Stakes winners at Saratoga in 2023 – two-time Stakes winner, Amidst Waves, and Ship Cadet, winner of the Listed Skidmore College Stakes.
Midshipman is standing at Jonabell Farm for $15,000, stands and nurses, for 2024.
