Fille d’Esprit Takes Shot at $100,000 Distaff

Originally published by the Maryland Jockey Club – Oct. 19, 2022 

When she ran in last year’s $100,00 Maryland Million Distaff, C J I Phoenix Group and No Guts No Glory Farm’s Fille d’Esprit hadn’t raced in more than 10 months. She returns Saturday with a foundation of 10 races under her including a trio of stakes wins that has trainer and co-owner Jerry Robb feeling good about a shot at redemption.

Claimed for $10,000 in August 2020 following her third career start after going unraced at 2 and 3, Fille d’Esprit ended her 4-year-old campaign on a four-race win streak. Robb was unable to bring her back until last year’s Distaff, facing the likes of multiple stakes winners Street Lute, her stablemate, Malibu Beauty and Hello Beautiful, who made history as just the seventh horse to win three Maryland Million races.

“Last year the Maryland Million was her first race off that long layoff. She had a different rider on her and she didn’t break good, and nothing went good that day,” Robb said. “I think we’ll see a whole different filly this year.”

Fille d’Esprit owns three wins, three seconds and two thirds in 2022, and earned the top spot in the filly and mare 3-year-old and up dirt sprint division of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series. She finished with 32 points, six shy of Deciding Vote for the overall MATCH Series title.

“She’s been a wonderful horse for us all along,” Robb said. “She should have won the MATCH Series championship but I bypassed the first [sprint] race with her because I had three of them for it. I ran two of them in it and ran her in the mile race and she finished second. She only ended up losing by a few points. Other than that, every race that we’ve put her in she’s shown up.”

Though she has run well at tracks such as Parx, Charles Town, Colonial Downs, Penn National and historic Pimlico Race Course, Fille d’Esprit has thrived on her home course of Laurel, where she is 8-for-15 lifetime. Overall she has 10 wins from 21 starts and is less than $2,000 away from $500,00 in purse earnings.

“I think she’s getting better as she’s getting older. From the day I’ve had her, each race has been better and better,” Robb said. “Looking at this race, I have to believe she’s one of the favorites in there.”

ZWP Stable, Inc. and Non Stop Stable’s Malibu Beauty will be a formidable foe, having finished third or better in 16 of 22 career starts with seven wins including the 2021 Miss Disco at Laurel and July 6 Peach Blossom. Most recently, the 4-year-old Buffum filly was a front-running eight-length winner of the 1 1/16-mile George Rosenberger Memorial Oct. 1; like the one-mile Peach Blossom, it was rained off the grass to Delaware Park’s main track.

Both Malibu Beauty and Liberty House Racing’s Courageous Girl were pre-entered in and under consideration for the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic before the connections settled on the Distaff. Courageous Girl, third in the seven-furlong La Verdad against New York-breds Jan. 2 at Aqueduct, exits a 3 ½-length optional claiming allowance triumph July 21 at Delaware going a mile and 70 yards.

Mario Serey Jr. owned-and-trained Breviary and Robert D. Bone’s Fool Yourself respectively ran first and third in the 1 1/16-mile Timonium Distaff Aug. 27 – a race where Malibu Beauty was second. Breviary has raced twice since, finishing fourth in the Oct. 1 Twixt at Laurel, while Fool Yourself has yet to race back.

Also entered are Pepe Stable’s Bourbon Wildcat, last out winner of an off-the-turf 5 ½-furlong allowance Oct. 7 at Laurel; Warwick Stable’s twice stakes-placed Sweet Gracie; Francis Poggi and Greycross Stable’s Wicked Hot, a maiden and allowance winner last spring at Pimlico that ran second by a half-length in an open Saratoga allowance two starts back; and Diana McClure owned-and-trained Summer Odds.

Maryland-breds on the also-eligible list are Holly Hill Stables’ Edie Meeny Miny Mo, winner of the six-furlong Regret July 2 at Monmouth Park; and R B’s Star, popular winner of a restricted six-furlong allowance Sept. 25 at Pimlico for Bone and co-owner Edward J. Brown Jr.’s.