Practical Joke Filly Stays Perfect in G1 Natalma
It was an impressive new Grade I winner for Practical Joke on Saturday when Corsia Veloce (2f Practical Joke x Beth’s Bling, by City Zip) stayed undefeated in the Grade I Natalma Stakes.
Coming into this race off a win in the Catch a Glimpse Stakes, the filly broke from the inside gate in the one-mile turf race and retained her rail spot in midpack as she raced keenly through the early stages. The filly slipped through a hole just to the outside of another horse down the backstretch before switching back inside to range up behind the leader.
Finding herself directly behind that runner in the turn, Corsia Veloce spent time looking for a hole before sliding through one in midstretch and working to draw even with the leader. She was where she needed to be inside the final sixteenth and spent the final few strides building her margin to half a length at the line.
“She’s a very easy filly to ride,” said jockey Fraser Aebly. “She does everything right, and she makes you look good.
Trained by Josie Carroll for breeders Glenn Sikura and Mario Serrani, the filly has now won all three of her starts. This victory earned her a start in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“It is so special, and I’ve trained others in the family, which makes it feel even nicer for all of us,” said Carroll. “It’s very exciting. A filly like this, you don’t often go three-for-three with a baby like this, and the way she did it so gamely, it just gives you shivers.”
Corsia Veloce is out of the stakes placed Beth’s Bling, who has produced three winners from four to race. The mare is a third-generation stakes performer and fourth generation stakes producer.
This family also includes Grade II winner and successful sire Too Much Bling, Grade II winner El Kabeir, and seven other stakes winners under Corsia Veloce’s first three dams. There are a further seven stakes performers on the page as well.
This is the fifth North American-foaled Grade I winner for Practical Joke, ranking him 21st among all active North American sires. She is also one of 35 stakes winners for her sire, putting him 32nd among all active sires.