It was a second Grade 1 winner for the on-fire MCKINZIE on Saturday when Scottish Lassie punched a ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with a nine-length maiden breaking win in the Frizette S. (G1) at Aqueduct.
Making her second career start in the one-mile dirt race, Scottish Lassie was among the first out of the gate before Jose Lezcano had her race wide down the backstretch. The filly settled into the third position a few lengths behind the leader as Social Fortress opened up on the field.
That pacesetter had to deal with the field closing in on her around the turn with Scottish Lassie looming large on the outside. It didn’t take long for the winner to collar that runner, and she was quickly by as they turned into the stretch. There was no chance for anyone to catch her with Scottish Lassie easily galloping home with plenty left in the tank.
SCOTTISH LASSIE is going to the @BreedersCup! 🏆 The 2YO daughter of @Gainesway stallion McKinzie wins the Grade 1 Frizette & 10 points towards the Kentucky Oaks with Jose Lezcano up for trainer Jorge Abreu. pic.twitter.com/qzdAWsSz07
— NYRA (🌳) (@TheNYRA) October 5, 2024
“I’ve been working the filly and she worked fantastic, every work better and better – galloped out like she didn’t do nothing,” Lezcano said. “All the time I joke with [trainer Jose Abreu] and say, ‘I don’t like her.’ He laughs and looked at me and [I said], ‘I’m joking.’ She really does everything right every work. The last work and every work I do is easy. She goes fast. She does it the right way, not rank or anything like that.”
Racing for Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish, and Corms Racing Stable, she is also co-owned by her trainer Jose Abreu. The Winchester Farm-bred started her career with a third place finish in a Saratoga Maiden Special Weight last month.
“I had really high expectations of this filly since Day One,” said Abreu. “I expected her to run a good race today because Jose [Lezcano] was breezing her and she was breezing very good all along. But I didn’t know she was going to win by this margin.”
Scottish Lassie is the second winner from two to race out of the winning Bodemeister mare Bodebabe. That mare is a half-sister to the stakes winner Windmill and stakes placed Ignitis with another half-sister producing the stakes placed Rumble Strip Ron.
Under Scottish Lassie’s third dam are the Grade 1 winners Tara’s Tango and Visionaire, who are two of five different graded stakes winners out of the stakes-placed Scarlet Tango. That mare’s other stakes winners also includes Grade 3 winner and three-time Grade 1-placed Scarlet Strike.
MCKINZIE is now the sire of four Grade 1 performers with two of those winning at the level.