Miss Match ready to race again this time in the Hollywood Turf Cup for trainer Neil Drysdale
The 6-year-old mare after a disappointing run in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic where she finished 9th and last at Churchill Downs over at 1 1/8 miles on 4 November, 2011, has been pointed toward the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup on 19 November, 2011, at Hollywood Park.
Trained by Neil Drysdale for owner Matthew Cloros, My Miss Match will make her first appearance on grass after a span of 2 years, but she has been regularly running over the dirt and synthetic surfaces.
The Argentina bred daughter of Indygo Shiner, out of mare Miss Simpatia by Southern Halo, Miss Match changed her trainer’s mind when he sent Bourbon Bay and Miss Match out to work 13 November.
The work from Miss Match was so encouraging at Hollywood Park that Neil Drysdale decided to send Miss Match along with Bourbon Bay to start in the first Grade 1 race of the fall meet.
She must have done something extraordinary to change Drysdale’s mind to send her out just fifteen days after her disappointing performance in the Breeders’ Cup.
“She didn’t even run three furlongs the other day,” Drysdale said.
Miss Match will be sent to the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup teamed up with the Breeders’ Cup Classic winning jockey, Mike Smith, which could in the end prove out to be the winning factor for a female runner.
It has been almost 20 years since the last time a female runner won the Hollywood Turf Cup. Miss Alleged was the last filly to defeat males in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf 1991 and then went to win the Hollywood Turf Cup in the same season.
This year Miss Match has run 6 races, with a single win and 5 off the board finishes. Her lone win of the season came in her season opener, the Santa Margarita at Santa Anita Park where she defeated Switch and Vision in Gold to top the 1 1/8 mile distance in 1 minute and 47.33 seconds.
Apart from Bourbon Bay, Miss Match will be up against the likes of Falcon Rock, Goldwaki, Norvsky, Ashtar and Sanagas in the Hollywood Turf Cup.
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