Brocknardini split horses at the top of the Laurel Park turf course and rolled home a 2 ¼-length winner in Saturday’s $150,000 Selima S.
This was the first stakes win for the 2-year-old daughter of Palace Malice, who erased the memory of a horribly troubled trip in the Natalma S. (G1) just two weeks ago at Woodbine. Brocknardini was a sharp debut winner on Aug. 2 over the Saratoga lawn, and is now 2-0-0 in three starts and has earned $138,770 for Thomas and Daryn Brockley.
The bay filly was in no hurry out of the gate and set several lengths off the pacesetter Carmelina, who led the field through a tepid half-mile in :51.26. The pace noticeably quickened coming into the stretch, when Brocknardini found an opening in the four path. She came through with vigor and swept past the field to win going away in 1:47.45 over a good turf course.
“She actually broke better than I thought. Not that I thought she’d break bad, but I thought she’d be a little slower early to get going and she actually broke really well and put herself in really good position and made my job a lot easier,” winning rider Joe Rocco, Jr. said. “I just tried to point her in the right direction. I was able to get out to where I thought the ground would be a little firmer down the stretch and I had a lot of horse to go to the wire.”
Brocknardini will now make her next start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), Nov. 3 at Santa Anita Park. She will attempt to become the second Breeders’ Cup winner for Palace Malice, following Structor’s win in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1), also at Santa Anita.
Brocknardini was bred by Thirty Year Farm and her female family tasted Breeders’ Cup success as well. Fourth dam My Flag and her daughter Storm Flag Flying both won the Juvenile Fillies (G1).
