USA: Breeders’ Cup winner Pizza Bianca will take her chance in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot after an odds-on victory on Friday on the eve-of-Preakness Stakes card at Pimlico.
Trainer Christophe Clement confirmed the G1 target after the filly rallied wide from off the pace under Jose Ortiz to score decisively by a length and three-quarters at odds of 2-5 in the Hilltop Stakes, a black-type contest worth $100,000.
“I thought she ran well – she had a nice trip and settled well,” Clement said, speaking to the NYRA media team.
Royal Ascot entries: Breeders’ Cup winner Pizza Bianca is part of strong US contingent
“We’ll see how she comes out of it and the plan is to go to the Coronation at Ascot. It’s obviously a very ambitious goal, but why not?”
Pizza Bianca is a homebred daughter of Fastnet Rock owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, whose colours were carried by More Than Real in the 2011 Coronation Stakes.
“She didn’t run that well, but it doesn’t matter – it was an amazing experience,” said Flay. “To me, this is what this is all about. These horses can take you on experiences of a lifetime.”
After beating a field that included subsequent 1,000 Guineas winner Cachet in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filles’ Turf at Del Mar in November, she was beaten into second on her seasonal debut at Aqueduct.
Clement suggested the Pimlico contest was the ideal prep for the trip to Royal Ascot. “It was four weeks from the race at Aqueduct and four weeks to the Coronation,” he said. “Also, it was a mile and the Coronation is run at a mile so it made sense.”
Pizza Bianca will be joined at the royal meeting by Clement-trained stablemate Slipstream, who beat Wesley Ward’s Breeders’ Cup winner Twilight Gleaming in a Listed race on the Keeneland turf in April. The G1 Commonwealth Cup is his target.
• Visit Christophe Clement's website and the Royal Ascot website
Analysis: Baaeed looks brilliant – but is he the new Frankel?
Jay Hovdey’s Favorite Racehorses: Fran’s Valentine – ‘She continued to try so darn hard’
Classic debut: Rogue Millennium set for £30,000 Oaks supplement for Tom Clover
On the road again: record-breaker Mickaelle Michel joins French jockey exodus to US
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires