Applauding ready to make her return after almost a year

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Applauding ready to make her return after almost a year
Ramona S. Bass’s 3-year-old filly, Applauding, won many fans and racegoers hearts when she broke the six furlong Keeneland Polytrack record only in her maiden, that she broke at first attempt, last fall and made a name for herself, but things went wrong, as the unfortunate filly after making one more start went unraced for the entire year.
Nothing specific about what she was suffering from, but trainer Al Stall Jr. puts it as a “systematic” illness. Applauding made one more start, after her record breaking maiden opener in 1 minute and 7.76 seconds, and raced at Fair Grounds race course over dirt for the first time.
She liked it as much as the Keeneland’s Polytrack surface, and went on to down her second career start, an allowance optional claimer of six furlongs on 2 December, 2011.
“She got sick on Jan. 1, like the stroke of a clock,” said Stall. “She had stomach ulcers and lost weight and we just couldn’t get her system right. We trained her for a while down at Fair Grounds and treated her with GastroGard and all that before I finally had to shut her down and send her back to Claiborne Farm to give her 90 days. She took every bit of that time to start looking good, and then finally, boom, she just turned the corner. I’ll go to my grave not knowing what set her back so long.”
Now, the 3-year-old filly Congrats will make her long-awaited return to the races in a second level allowance race with a purse of $54,000 at six furlongs at Churchill Downs on 21 November, 2012.
Running in a field of 10, Applauding will be riding under jockey Joe Rocco Jr. and will break from post number 6.
Bred in Florida by BryLynn Farm, Applauding will be keen to show her field-destroying form on her return, in which she broke her maiden with a nine length romp, and then at Fair Grounds in a first level allowance race romped to a six length victory.
Al Stall Jr. just wants Applauding to show up there and do her thing, and with the filly feeling better, she might have a real good 4-year-old campaign.