Beauty of the Sea First Stakes Winner for Bucchero

Beauty of the Sea, ch, 3/f
Bucchero — Belong to Sea, by Poseidon’s Warrior

Owner: Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC
Breeder: Shade Tree Thoroughbreds Inc (FL)
Trainer: Joseph F. Orseno
Jockey: Jairo Rendon

Pedigree Notes

Let go at 13-1 off two straight wins against lesser competition, Beauty of the Sea took command in mid-stretch and then held off a pair of closers—one on the inside, the other on the outside—for a head victory in the $104,000 Blue Sparkler Stakes July 15 at Monmouth Park.

Ridden by Jairo Rendon, Beauty of the Sea became the first stakes winner for sire Bucchero. Ironhorse Racing Stable, the 3-year-old filly’s owners, also campaigned Bucchero, now a second-crop sire who stands for $5,000 at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Morriston, Fla.

The winning time for the 5 1/2 furlongs over a firm turf course was 1:02.68.

Her sire also ran some of his best races in grass sprints, notably capturing the 2017-18 Woodford Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland..

“After she broke her maiden so convincingly and easily—and I had another filly in the race that she beat easily—I thought `OK, she’s got some talent. Now we have to see how much,'” said Orseno, now six wins shy of 2,000 for his career. “She handled that (first level optional claimer) easily in her next start, and when she did that, there were a couple of older horses in there, I thought if we kept her with 3-year-olds we would have a chance in a stakes race.

“I did not expect this race to come up as tough as it did.”

With Florent Geroux in from Saratoga just to ride Love Appeals , and with Plentitude  coming in 2-for-2 lifetime, trainer Christophe Clement’s duo looked particularly dangerous in the field of eight 3-year-old fillies.

Rendon had Beauty of the Sea sitting third early as Bosserati  raced through a first quarter in :21.51, reaching the half in :44.15. Rendon had moved Beauty of the Sea outside by then, with the two taking control in mid-stretch and then holding off runner-up My Sweet Affair  on the inside and Love Appeals on the outside. My Sweet Affair held off Love Appeals by a neck to claim second.

“I saw her races at Gulfstream and it seemed like she liked being just off the speed and she quickens at the end,” Rendon said. “She has class and she has a big heart. I just wanted to sit behind the speed and let her get her feet. I was a little worried when I went outside with her because I knew the others were coming. But we got there. She made it.”

Beauty of the Sea now has a 3-1-0 record from five starts and is 2-for-3 sprinting on the grass. She paid $28.20 to win.