TREAT GENTLY (GB) (Cape Cross [Ire]) hadn’t managed to win back-to-back races
over the course of her career, but the Juddmonte Farms homebred put an end to
that unflattering statistic in Saturday’s $201,750
Robert G. Dick Memorial H. (G3) at Delaware Park. Coming off a 4 1/2-length
triumph in the May 22 Sheepshead Bay S. (G2), the Bill Mott trainee closed
relentlessly to notch her second straight, and stay on a roll.
Ridden for the first time by John Velazquez, Treat Gently was settled in a
tracking fourth through most of the opening mile. The pacesetting Ainamaa (Lemon
Drop Kid) enjoyed a daylight lead through pedestrian splits of :25 1/5, :50 3/5,
1:16 2/5 and 1:41 2/5, with A She’s Adorable (Johar) stalking her in second. A
She’s Adorable was the first to launch her bid, overtaking Ainamaa at the
eighth-pole, but Treat Gently was already on the march on the outside. At the
same time, Gozzip Girl (Dynaformer), the 3-2 favorite, was ranging into
contention along the inside.
Of the foursome, Treat Gently produced the strongest kick, surging 1 1/4
lengths clear to finish 1 3/8 firm-turf miles in 2:19. The 8-5 second choice
returned $5.40, $3.80 and $2.40 while keying the $33 exacta, $397.60 trifecta
and $1,470.80 superfecta (8-6-9-5).
A She’s Adorable mastered Ainamaa by three-quarters of a length for runner-up
honors, and the 6-1 third choice gave back $5.60 and $3.60. Ainamaa outran her
37-1 odds, paying $10.60 to show. Gozzip Girl couldn’t sustain her move in her
first start of the season and checked in another 1 3/4 lengths adrift in fourth.
Liberally (Ire) (Statue of Liberty), Proud Lisa (Proud Citizen), Katara
(Pulpit), Trensa (Giant’s Causeway), Winter’s Circle (Commendable) and Rcuandry
(A.P. Indy) rounded out the order under the wire.
With this third career stakes victory to her credit, Treat Gently’s scorecard
stands at 14-5-4-0,
$482,870. Originally based in France with Andre Fabre, the bay rapidly graduated
from maiden winner to group performer in the summer of 2008. Treat Gently
captured the Prix de Malleret (Fr-G2) in a three-way photo, with Dar Re Mi (GB)
(Singspiel [Ire]) in third. Bookending that victory were a pair of runner-up
efforts in the Prix de Royaumont (Fr-G3) and Prix de la Nonette (Fr-G3). Treat Gently proved herself at the elite level when crossing the wire third in
that season’s Prix Vermeille (Fr-G1), beaten only by the perfect Zarkava and the
improving Dar Re Mi. Unfortunately, she was disqualified after testing positive
for a banned substance. The substance in question, however, was testosterone,
which she was producing internally because of an ovarian tumor. Despite the fact
that she was not administered the substance, but was secreting it naturally
herself, Treat Gently was still stripped of her Group 1 placing.
Following the
well-worn path of past Juddmonte celebrities, Treat Gently was shipped to the
United States to join Bobby Frankel. She made a winning debut for the late Hall
of Famer in an allowance/optional claimer at Belmont last July, but met with a
setback and was not seen again until October. Treat Gently returned in the E.P.
Taylor S. (Can-G1), where she argued the pace, only to fade to sixth.
Transferred to Mott in the wake of Frankel’s death, she rallied for second in
the January 2 San Gorgonio H. (G2) at Santa Anita in her first outing for her
new barn. Treat Gently could not build upon that effort in her next two, tiring
to a distant seventh in the March 21 Santa Ana H. (G2) and winding up a
non-threatening sixth in the April 10 Jenny Wiley, but broke through with her
aforementioned romp in the Sheepshead Bay at Belmont.
Treat Gently hails from one of the most illustrious families in the modern
Stud Book. She is the first registered foal from the winning Kid Gloves (In the
Wings [GB]), who has since produced the French stakes-placed Ideology (Oasis
Dream [GB]) and an unraced sophomore colt named Handheld (Observatory). Kid
Gloves is a half-sister to the blue hen Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi), the dam of
English/French highweight and top sire Dansili (GB) (Danehill), European and
American champion Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill), American champion Intercontinental
(GB) (Danehill), 2009 Canadian Horse of the Year Champs Elysees (GB) (Danehill)
and multiple Grade 1 turf stars Cacique (Ire) (Danehill) and Heat Haze (GB)
(Green Desert). Hasili’s current three-year-old, Deluxe (Storm Cat), finished
second in the May 23 Prix Saint-Alary (Fr-G1) and fourth in the June 13 Prix de
Diane (French Oaks (Fr-G1).
This is also the family of American champion Leroidesanimaux (Brz) (Candy
Stripes), English juvenile co-highweight Three Valleys (Diesis [GB]) and
English/Irish highweight older mare Promising Lead (GB) (Danehill).