Big Brown filly Kiss to Remember will be given a chance to turn the tables on Unbridled Forever in the Breeders’ Cup after a courageous one-length second to that filly in the G1 Ballerina Stakes (1400m) at Saratoga on Saturday.
The first two home were steadied at the back of the field before Kiss to Remember angled into the clear to collar the leaders in the straight. But her challenge was compromised when Irad Ortiz Jr. lost his whip as the fillies raced at close quarters passing the furlong.
Unbridled Forever flew down the outside for a one-length victory to book an automatic spot in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (1400m) on October 31.
Kiss to Remember’s connections – trainer Martin Wolfson and Miller Racing Stables – have also targeted the $1 million grand-final at Keeneland.
The Big Brown filly had banked her first black-type wins in the LR Battle of New Orleans Stakes and LR Pago Hop Stakes at Fair Grounds last year and travelled to Saratoga off a seven-length victory in the LR Monroe Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Kiss to Remember (4f Big Brown – Taft Lil Queen by Irish Open) was bred by the Big Brown Syndicate in partnership with Maryland breeder Charles McGinnes and is from a stakes winning mare related to Group 1 winners Spun Sugar (Oaklawn Apple Blossom Hcp) and Daaher (Aqueduct Cigar Mile).
