Triple Eclipse Award champion Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat) registered his
first North American winner as a freshman sire Friday when Most Inspiring
dominated the
5TH
race at Woodbine. His first overall winner was Genis, an export to Russia
who won at Rostov-on-Don May 11.
The 7-2 second choice in her unveiling, the Daniel Vella pupil broke like a
shot, but eased back to stalk through fractions of :23.36 and :46.58. Most
Inspiring was full of run behind the leader entering the stretch, and jockey
Luis Contreras altered course for clear sailing on the fence. Punching through
decisively despite still appearing a tad green, Most Inspiring drew off by 3 1/4
lengths. She completed the six-furlong maiden special weight in 1:10.36 on the
firm turf.
Most Inspiring maintained the perfect record of her 20-year-old dam, Chemise
(Secret Hello), whose 13 racing-age foals are all winners. Four of them are
stakes performers — multiple Grade 3-placed Hello Lover (Not for Love) as well
as stakes heroines Coquettish (Not for Love), Dress Grey (Lion Hearted) and Miss
Lombardi (Unbridled Jet). The mare’s leading earner with $301,670 in the bank,
Miss Lombardi is herself the dam of stakes scorer Miss Bullistic (Bullsbay).
Bred by Corner Farm and John Behrendt in Virginia, Most Inspiring was
purchased by her current owner, Derek Chin, for $57,000 as a Fasig-Tipton
Kentucky October yearling.
Gio Ponti reigned as the champion turf and older male of 2009 and repeated as
turf champion in 2010, amassing $6,169,800 in earnings from a record of
29-12-10-1. Eleven of those victories came in stakes, and no fewer than seven at
the Grade 1 level, from a mile to 11 furlongs. That septet includes the
Arlington Million (G1), Manhattan (G1), Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1), and repeat
wins in both the Man o’ War (G1) and the Shadwell Turf Mile (G1).
Of his 11 stakes placings, two stand out: runner-up efforts to the legendary
Zenyatta and Goldikova in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and 2010 Breeders’
Cup Mile (G1), respectively.
Gio Ponti is a half-brother to Grade 1-placed multiple stakes winner Bon Jovi
Girl (Malibu Moon), multiple Grade 3-placed stakes scorer Fisher Pond (A.P.
Indy), and current Grade 3-placed stakes victress Antonia Autumn (Bernstein).
They were all produced by the stakes-placed Alydar mare Chipeta Springs, a
daughter of Argentine Group 1 star Salt Spring (Salt Marsh), from the further
family of Hall of Famer Cigar (Palace Music).
A Castleton Lyons homebred, the 10-year-old Gio Ponti stands at the
Lexington, Kentucky, farm for $15,000, live foal.
For video of the Woodbine race and speculation about what the near future may
hold for Most Inspiring, see the TwinSpires.com
blog post.