Trainer zeroed in on the McKinzie filly, a two-time Grade 1 winner, including Saturday’s runaway victory in the CCA Oaks, at the 2024 OBS March sale
When trainer Jorge Abreu started his own training operation in 2016, he did so with the aspirations of any burgeoning trainer: to be competitive on his home circuit and to one day be fortunate enough to train horses that could not just compete but be successful at racing’s highest levels.
Nearly a decade later, the talented sophomore filly Scottish Lassie is the horse Abreu has been waiting and working for, providing him with not just one Grade 1 victory, but a second after taking Saturday’s $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks in grand fashion with a 15 1/2-length stroll under Hall of Famer Joel Rosario. She adds to a second-out graduation in style when taking the Grade 1 Frizette by nine lengths in October at Belmont at the Big A.
“Incredible,” Abreu said. “I knew she was sitting on a big race going into it. She was doing everything so professional and is a pretty straightforward horse. She has a pretty good mind.”
Sunday morning was business as usual in the Abreu barn at Saratoga as strings of trainees visited the Oklahoma training track and main track under the watchful eye of their conditioner, but there was time later in the morning for celebration as the flower blanket from yesterday’s prestigious nine-furlong route for sophomore fillies was draped on Scottish Lassie’s stall webbing with a host of owners and friends surrounding her.
“Ten years…” Abreu reflected as he cradled his beloved filly’s head in his arms. “This is a horse that I picked out at the sale, and for her to win two Grade 1s for me… I don’t have words to describe it.”
One way to describe the performance is “dominant,” with Scottish Lassie taking command early from the sharp-starting Immersive in the first turn as Rosario tested the response of Manny Franco aboard last year’s Champion 2-Year-Old Filly. Immersive stalked within one length of Scottish Lassie as she carved out splits of 23.81 seconds, 48.09, and 1:12.37 over the fast footing.
Approaching the turn, Rosario was a statue atop Scottish Lassie, who effortlessly pulled away from Immersive and cantered down the stretch to trounce her three rivals in a final time of 1:50.23.
Abreu praised the ride from Rosario, who had breezed the daughter of McKinzie twice leading up to the race and rode her for the first time in the afternoon in the CCA Oaks.
“I think Joel did it right. He put a little pressure on Manny to see what his reaction was and Manny made his decision and Joel made his,” Abreu said. “It was the right one. He told me he wasn’t going to go head-to-head with anyone, but if he took the lead comfortably, he would. I don’t give instructions. A guy like him doesn’t need too much instruction.”
Scottish Lassie has a handful of potential targets for the second half of her sophomore campaign for Abreu, who co-owns her with Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish, Corms Racing Stable. Among them are the 10-furlong $600,000 Alabama (G1) presented by Keeneland Sales on August 16 at Saratoga and the Cotillion (G1) in September at Parx Racing. However, Abreu is in no rush to decide and said he will let Scottish Lassie lead the way.
“She looks good, she ate up everything, and is in good shape. I think the Alabama [makes sense], if not, the Cotillion. I’ll let her tell me,” Abreu said. “I don’t want to make any plans right now; I just want her to come out of the race and see how she reacts. If she acts like her normal self, then we can think about it. We’ve still got time to nominate and all that. She does run well fresh, and you never know how much a race like that takes out of them mentally. I’ll do what’s right by her.”
Bred in Kentucky by Winchester Farm, Scottish Lassie was an $85,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training. Her win Saturday boosted her career earnings to $677,560 through a 2-0-3 record from six starts.
