Making her first start on dirt, Dad's Crazy took the lead turning for home and drew clear for a 3 1/4-length win against only two rivals in the $156,000 Miss Grillo Stakes (VIDEO) Oct. 4 at Belmont.
Winless in her first three starts, Dad’s Crazy picked a nice time to break her maiden for Todd Pletcher, who trains the 2-year-old Langfuhr filly for Smarch Racing. The one-mile Miss Grillo was taken off turf due to heavy rain in New York. Scheduled as a “Win and You’re In” event, the Breeders’ Cup announced before the race that the winner would not receive an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf because the contest was run off turf.
Originally a grade III, the Miss Grillo automatically lost its graded status due to the surface switch pending a final review by the American Graded Stakes Committee.
Still, it was a nice payday for Dad’s Crazy, a $150,000 2-year-old purchase who is out of the End Sweep mare Charismatic Lady. She was bred in Kentucky by William Harrigan.
“It was too good an opportunity to pass up when the field scratched down," Pletcher said. "She may be a better filly on turf but she had trained well on dirt. It worked out well. We’ll look for something for her towards the end of the meet.”
Breaking under Julien Leparoux, Dad’s Crazy was last through the backstretch while main track-only starter Fuzzy Britches led the way through a :24.30 opening quarter-mile and moderate :48.70 half-mile. Tapitsfly pressed the pace.
Dad’s Crazy came outside of Fuzzy Britches off the turn and took command when they straightened away. The bay filly opened up a 1 1/2-length advantage at the eighth-pole and cruised to the wire with an easy victory.
The final time on a track labeled “good” was 1:40.04. Tapitsfly rallied along the inside to get second, a neck better than Fuzzy Britches.
“Todd told me in the paddock that she’s a difficult horse to get to relax, but she relaxed very well for me today and finished well," Leparoux said. "It was perfect sitting right behind the other two horses today. The main goal was to get her to relax and keep her covered up. I think she will run on anything.”
Dad’s Crazy finished fourth in her debut July 10 on the Belmont turf, then was fifth and second, respectively, in maiden special weight efforts this summer at Saratoga. The win upped her earnings to $107,470.
Sent off as the third choice, the winner paid $10.20. There was no place or show betting.
Check the Label, Hatheer, Smart Seattle, Zodiac Girl, Zilva, and Negligee were all scratched.