Scottish Lassie took over as the field turned for home and powered away impressively to win the $400,000 Frizette Stakes (G1) by nine lengths Oct. 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack, giving trainer Jorge R. Abreu his first graded victory.
Scottish Lassie had finished third in her Sept. 1 debut at Saratoga Race Course. Sent off at 6-1 as a maiden in the one-mile Frizette, she bumped at the start, then sat third early, stalking the pace set by Sorority Stakes winner Social Fortress, who went :22.81, :46.20, and 1:11.73.
Ridden by Jose Lezcano, Scottish Lassie hit the front with about a quarter-mile to go. Under a hand ride, she widened her lead progressively through the lane and hit the wire in 1:36.73.
"I felt comfortable turning for home when Jose looked back to his inside and he knew nobody was coming. I felt very comfortable after that, and she just kept on opening up," said Abreu, who co-owns Scottish Lassie with Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish, and Corms Racing Stable.
Snowyte finished second, and it was another 6 1/2 lengths back to Social Fortress in third.
The win gave first-crop sire McKinzie his second grade 1 winner, joining Chancer McPatrick, winner of the Sept. 2 Hopeful Stakes (G1) and the Champagne Stakes (G1) one race after the Frizette Saturday. McKinzie, a son of 2006 champion 2-year-old male and 2007 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Street Sense , stands at Gainesway Farm near Lexington. A grade 1 winner at ages 2, 3, and 4, McKinzie's stud fee has stood at $30,000 since he began his second career in 2021.
Abreu saddled his first starters in 2016 and has hit the board in two Breeders' Cup races. He trained Stellar Agent to a third-place finish in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) and then Jody's Pride ran second for him, beaten just a neck, in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Barring setback, Abreu will have a chance to better last year's finish, as the Frizette was a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race, providing the winning connections with entry fees, travel expenses, and a guaranteed spot in the gate for the $2 million Breeders' Juvenile Fillies Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
"I had really high expectations of this filly since day one," Abreu said. "I expected her to run a good race today because Jose (Lezcano) was breezing her and she was breezing very good all along. But I didn't know she was going to win by this margin.
"I was expecting a good race today. I know people didn't believe—not in her, in me—because this is the first time I've ever won a graded stakes. You need the quality to win those kinds of races, and I thought I had the horse."
Bred in Kentucky by Winchester Farm, Scottish Lassie is out of the winning Bodemeister mare Bodebabe. She was purchased for $85,000 by Parkland Thoroughbreds from Gene Recio's consignment at the Ocala Breeders' March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.
"It was more important to me for Titi (Abreu's nickname) to win this," said Parkland's Steve Weston. "Titi has been doing this a long time and I've been with him since he left Chad (Brown). He's never won a graded stakes. He's such a good person and he's an incredible horseman."
The Frizette's original 10-filly lineup lost 3-5 morning-line favorite Senza Parole earlier in the week, then trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. scratched one of his two entries—Gulfstream Park first-out maiden winner Paradise City—the morning of the race. Joseph intended to keep Adirondack Stakes (G3) winner The Queens M G in the Frizette, but she was a vet scratch just two minutes to post, lowering the field to seven.
The Frizette also was a Road to the Kentucky Oaks points race, awarding the first five finishers Kentucky Oaks (G1) points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis.
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