Pinnacle Racing and Bill Kaplan’s Musical Romance, winner of the
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), was back on the track
earlier this week and doing “fantastic,” according to co-owner and
trainer Bill Kaplan.
“She couldn’t have come out any better,” said Kaplan from his Calder
stable. “She ran 14 times this year and she seems to get better each
time she runs and I don’t think she’s anywhere near her best.”
Kaplan said he plans to train the 4-year-old filly up to the January 28
Florida Sunshine Millions at Gulfstream in the $150,000 Filly &
Mare Sprint. The daughter of Concorde’s Tune, purchased for $22,000 by
Kaplan, has won nine of 33 starts and $1.2 million.
Kaplan believes his 4-year-old filly deserves strong consideration for
an Eclipse Award after racing across five different tracks – dirt, turf
and synthetic – and racing from January through November. Musical
Romance won the Presque Isle Masters (G1) and was beaten a neck by Sassy
Image in the Princess Rooney (G1).
“There’s no doubt in my mind she’s a deserving Eclipse winner,” Kaplan
said. “She’s really an incredible filly. Just look at her record. We
experimented running her long early in the year, but since she’s been
sprinting every race she’s run has been dynamic. She got nipped by Sassy
Image only because she never saw her coming. Since she started
sprinting nine races back, she’s exploded.”