This 'Cat' can route

Jolie the Cat entered Saturday’s Tiffany Lass with plenty of positives.

She had fared well against top maidens at Churchill Downs and Saratoga in a pair of races over the summer before returning from a little more than a four-month break to run fast in a winning maiden race at Fair Grounds. Her conditioner, Steve Asmussen, has campaigned such 3-year-old fillies as Summerly to wins in major Kentucky Oaks preps at Fair Grounds, and her 88 Beyer Speed Figure earned in that maiden victory in early December was among the best in Saturday’s field.

The biggest thing working against her was her experience around two turns – she had none. And being by the stallion Tale of the Cat left plenty of questions and concerns as to her ability to handle the one-mile trip, as the son of Storm Cat predominantly throws horses that prefer shorter distances.

Even jockey Shaun Bridgmohan and his agent must have been skeptical, as they likely had their pick between Jolie the Cat and another Asmussen runner, Diamondaire, in the Tiffany Lass.

After all, Jolie the Cat had raced at the better tracks against better competition and had run faster, but Diamondaire owned a win around two turns and had the profile of a distance-loving filly being by Distorted Humor.

Bridgmohan rode Diamondaire and jockey James Graham proceeded to take the Tiffany Lass field gate-to-wire with an impressive win aboard Jolie the Cat.

To be fair, Tale of the Cat is a versatile sire who has shown he can get top-class route performers if paired with the right mix of stamina on the bottom side. Jolie the Cat is out of a mare by Pleasant Colony, who is as big of a stamina influence as you’ll see in a modern-day pedigree. Her dam is also a half-sister to millionaire and top-class distance horse Jolie’s Halo (trained by Happy Alter for the late Arthur Appleton).

Saturday, Jolie the Cat ran precisely to that pedigree, flashing the early brilliance on the front-end she inherited from her sire, and stretching out that speed around the second turn with the stamina inherited from her female family.

I was particularly impressed with Jolie the Cat’s effort in the stretch. It is true that she did not set a torrid pace early in the race – but the favorite was on her flank stalking her every move, so she hardly had things her own way. When Tizaqueena moved up in the stretch and got on even terms with her it was serious question-and-answer time for Jolie the Cat.

Her response when challenged was fantastic. She seemed to be gawking a little bit entering the stretch, as she was running with her head cocked and on her wrong lead when Tizaqueena collared her briefly. But when Graham switched to the left-handed whip, she swapped over to her right lead and really leveled off nicely to finish going away from Tizaqueena and the rest of her rivals.

The performance earned her an 89 Beyer Speed Figure, which is very competitive in the current Kentucky Oaks picture when considering Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and likely 2-year-old champ Indian Blessing just earned a 91 Beyer for winning the Santa Ynez on Sunday.