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Champion 3yo Dirt Filly

Corinna

3yo filly - A.P. Indy x Deputy Minister x Buckpasser

OWNER/TRAINER – Catullus (Catullus)

RECORD: 2009: 11 / 5-0-3
LIFETIME EARNINGS: $1,672,970

2009 Stakes:

WON: The New Yorker (G1), The Great Dane (G1), Spiel Begann (G2), The Radiant (G2), Pompous Capote Stakes

3RD: Lool Oaks (G1), Breeders Bowl Dirt Marathon (G1), The North Country Derby (G3)

 

Poetry In Marathon Motion

By- Topicount


There are many potential sources for the name Corinna, but when your stable's name is Catullus, I'll assume that this copper chestnut miss was named for the female Greek poet, Corinna, whom, legend had it, beat the male poet Pindar in several competitions.  This name proved prophetic, as Corinna would prove to be both poetry in motion on the track, and defeated the boys on more than one occasion en route to championship honors.   Interestingly enough, Rags to Riches, who beat the boys in the Belmont Stakes also has the A.P. Indy x Deputy Minister cross.  Perhaps it was fate.


As a youngster, the royally bred Corinna showed the efficient, fluid stride of a marathoner that her fans have come to know and love.  Not the tallest filly, she has the heart of a lion, and even when she didn't make it to the wire first, she gave it her all.  Stable hopes were high that Corinna would live up to her lineage, and she has.  From the very beginning, Corinna would roll out of the gate slowly, then try to reel her rivals in during the stretch.  She was talented enough at two to break her maiden going five furlongs, and the Grade 2 Red Fish Blue Fish at 6 1/2 panels.  She tried a route only once that year, in the Breeders' Bowl Juvenile Fillies, where she belatedly closed from eleventh to seventh.  


It is unclear whether Corinna's connections simply elected to give her time off after the Breeders' Bowl, or if she sustained an injury during the running of that race, but in any event, it was more than nine weeks later before Corinna returned to the racing wars.  Her seasonal debut came in the 7 1/2 furlong Pompous Capote, where Corinna was made the favorite in a small four horse field.  Despite the small field, there was a lively pace up front and Corinna aimed for the pacesetters like a rocket missile, coming from 7 1/4 lengths back to win by a widening 1 1/2 lengths, and earning a 93 SF.  Next came a return to routes, and graded stakes, in the G3 Myocardial Infarction Stakes.  Valdestale, heroine of the G2 Margarine, was the lukewarm favorite in the 14 horse field, with Corinna a narrow second choice.  Once again, she broke slowly, and after languishing back in 11th, she waited until the final furlong to make her move, which left her too much to do.  The chestnut would finish fourth, beaten a little over 2 lengths for all the money.


Once again, the filly was given a nine week break, before returning to the racing wars in the G1 lool Oaks.  Bettors were a little concerned about the layoff, and there were still lingering doubts about whether Corinna was a filly with a late kick that was more effective sprinting than routing, despite her classic distance pedigree.  The chestnut was let go at 12-1 in the 14 horse field, with eight of her rivals favored over her.  Touch, who was coming off a second place finish in the G2 Miss Bonnie (101 SF), was the tepid 11-2 favorite).  No surprises here, Corinna broke 13th of 14, where she would lag until a little past the halfway point.  Her jockey began to work on her, and she started rolling a little sooner than usual, but it was only good enough for third, beaten just a length for the win.  Still, she had posted a 101 SF in the process.  While Corinna's record was better in sprints, her speed figures were better routing.


After that peformance, most trainers would have been Kentucky bound, relishing the extra 1 1/16th of a mile.  Catullus took the road less travelled, and that appears to have made all the difference.  Instead of running in the Oaks, Corinna took on the boys going 11 furlongs in the G2 Spiel Begann.    Future graded stakes winners Elusive High and Pit Bully Ted were also in the field.  The chestnut filly was respected at 8-1, but not favored.  The pace was slow in the early going, and the smallish chesnut was able to stick closer than normally, checking in eighth in the early going.  With a quarter mile to go, she had moved up to third, with her best kick yet to come.  In the final furlong, she would pass the stubborn pace setter Oil Platform, to dominate by 3 1/2 lengths and put up an eye-catching 105 SF.  Just like that, a marathoner had been born.
Corinna bounced back with a fury, and so, in surprising move, she was wheeled back two weeks later in the Black Middle Flower.  In that race, she ran well, but could only close for seventh.  Part of that was probably the effects of running lights out two weeks' earlier, but part of that was probably the shorter distance.  It was a surprise to some, but it shouldn't have been, given her performance in the Spiel, when she showed up in the entry box in the G1 New Yorker.   The race was missing some of its usual sparkle, as both the Derby and Middle Jewel winners were absent, but the filly's entry created some much needed interest.   Corinna was sent off at nearly 10-1, her odds probably inflated because no filly had ever won the New Yorker.  The chestnut would prove her doubters wrong.   Seventh early, by the backstretch, the daughter of Belmont winner A.P. Indy showed she was going to make a race out of it, and coming down the stretch, to the roar of the crowd, the filly emphatically established her place in history, wining by two lengths with a solid 107 SF.  


She would once again be given plenty of time to recover from those heroics, and it would be 2 1/2 months before her would reappear in the entry box.  Corinna would square off against the boys again, this time in the 11 furlong North Country Derby-G3.  This time, Corinna would be favored, but the long layoff proved to be just a tad much, as her furious late charge would fall short by 3 1/4 lengths.


Still, with the much needed conditioning under her belt, Corinna would face older rivals for the first time in The Great Dane - G1.  Equinics heroine Tough As Steel, who was coming off a smashing win, was favored, and somewhat surprisingly, Catullus' filly was dismissed at 9-1.  The chestnut made those doubters pay, though, once again demonstrating that famous late kick to float past her rivals and win by 3 1/2 lengths (107 SF).  She made it look just that easy.
Next came a tilt at the Breeders' Bowl Dirt Marathon, taking on all comers.  Inexplicably, despite her exploits and sharp speed figures, Corinna was dismissed at nearly 18-1.  Favoritism went to Taharka, who had two sizzling graded stakes wins, including a 116 SF at the Dirt Marathon distance.  As it turned out, when Lightwork faltered early, Chase the Sky was left alone on the lead and made the most of it, coasting home to a four length win.  Corinna was closing gamely, but would just miss second by a 1/4, leaving a field of talented males, including older males, in her wake.  


The A.P. Indy miss would wheel back three weeks later in the G2 Radiant Stakes, this time against older fillies.  She would be made the second choice, behind Early Morning Rain, and would break just ahead of that rival.  For whatever reason, Corinna uncharacteristically grabbed the bit between her teeth, and 1 1/4 miles in, she was already in second, just a head behind the leader, and still going strong.  The copper miss would end up 3 1/2 lengths to the good over her older rivals, posting a 110 SF, and once again emphasizing that she was one of the best marathoners in training, regardless of age or gender.  


She would race once more, but was injured during the running of the race, pulling up in the stretch.  A silence fell over the DelPenn crowd as the game chestnut was vanned off.  It looks like she will be okay, and I look forward to her return to the racing wars.


Typically, champion 3yo filly honors are based on traditional 3yo filly races, and the Breeders' Bowl Distaff.  In this case, Catullus broke the mold with Corinna, and her unusual path and dominating performances against males going longer distances could not be denied.  Congratulations to Corinna and her connections!