For a horse who already has accomplished as much as Catch a Glimpse, she gives every indication that there’s even more there. But her natural talent already has taken her a long way, and did so again on Saturday.
Despite racing greenly entering the stretch and failing to change leads until the shadow of the wire, Catch a Glimpse rolled to her fourth straight victory, taking the Grade 3, $150,000 Herecomesthebride Stakes at Gulfstream Park, as the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner kicked off her 2016 campaign.
“She was going so fast around the turn she came out a little bit,” said Norman Casse, the son of and assistant to Catch a Glimpse’s trainer, Mark Casse. He said in terms of maturity, Catch a Glimpse is “still not 100 percent.”
But she’s a gifted runner for sure. Catch a Glimpse left her rivals at the top of the stretch with a devastating turn of foot that carried her to an insurmountable lead at midstretch. After six furlongs in 1:13.97, Catch a Glimpse threw down a 22.94-second quarter-mile that no one could match, and she crossed the wire in 1:42.63 for 1-1/16 miles on firm turf.
Catch a Glimpse ($3.20), under Florent Geroux, finished 2-1/2 lengths in front of Lira, who beat third-place Gone Away by 1-3/4 lengths. Hold Harmless was fourth and was followed by Pulled the Goalie, Andreya’s Reward, Vieja Luna, and Wedding Dress.
Catch a Glimpse lost her debut, which was rained off the turf at Saratoga, but has won all four of her races since, all on turf, including the Breeders’ Cup. She is favored to win the Sovereign Award for both Horse of the Year and champion 2-year-old filly in Canada.
Her first appearance of the year Saturday was earlier than expected. She had been penciled in for a return next month at Tampa Bay Downs in the Florida Oaks, “but her last work was so awesome, she showed she was ready to go, so we thought, ‘Why wait on her?’ ” Norman Casse said.
Catch a Glimpse, by City Zip, is owned by a partnership that includes Gary Barber, Michael James Ambler, and Windways Farm.
Courtesy of ESPN