Relishing every step of the 1 ¼ miles as well as the dirt, Runnymede-bred Pinch Pie rallied to gain third in the historic $500,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on August 20. In the process, she became the fourth Grade/Group 1 performer from her remarkable crop bred and raised at the farm.
With the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale only weeks away, Runnymede’s recent record at the venue is superlative. From the 24 yearlings the farm offered in its 2009 consignment, including Pinch Pie, 16.7% have won or placed at the very highest level of racing, a phenomenal accomplishment and far above national and international standards.
Runnymede’s other Grade/Group 1 runners from that crop, whose members are now three-year-olds, include Norfolk Stakes (G1) winner Jaycito; Rogue Romance, who finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) after winning the Bourbon Stakes (G3), and Laughing Lashes, a Group 2 winner in Ireland who finished third in this year’s Irish classic One Thousand Guineas (G1) and second in the 2010 Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1).
Another member of that sterling crop, Bizzy Caroline, who was withdrawn from the 2009 Keeneland auction after incurring a minor injury, won the Regret Stakes (G3) in June at Churchill Downs.
Pinch Pie, a daughter of Victory Gallop out of the Olympio mare Romp and Stomp, was sold to trainer Tony Dutrow for $65,000 at the 2009 Keeneland September sale. Dutrow was ecstatic after watching the bay filly pass Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Plum Pretty and also outrun Queen’s Plate winner Inglorious and Kentucky Oaks runner-up St. John’s River in the Alabama.
“I am so happy with how well she finished up,” Dutrow said immediately after sending out Pinch Pie for owners Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables and Stuart Grant.
“We were believing our filly would run good,” he added the next morning while looking ahead to more top races. “She seems to have come back from the race excellent; she showed energy in the round pen today. Now that I’ve seen her take on better competition, I can look around at other possibilities.”
Royal Delta won the Alabama, with multiple Grade 1 winner It’s Tricky finishing second, just ahead of Pinch Pie. Click here to watch the race video.
Winner of the Desert Vixen Stakes at Monmouth Park in her most recent effort prior to the Alabama, Pinch Pie has won three of eight starts and placed three times while earning $155,012.
Runnymede will offer Pinch Pie’s athletic half sister by Proud Citizen at this year’s Keeneland September sale. The chestnut filly—also a half sister to a pair of stakes-placed runners, Rogue Victory and One in a Romp, who each have earned more than $220,000—is catalogued as Hip 243.
“I love taking fillies like this to the sale; it is just about impossible to fault her conformation, and I know everyone will be in awe when they see how she travels,” said Runnymede General Manager Martin O’Dowd. “She is so willing and honest in her sales prep—she seems to enjoy the challenging workout each morning.”
Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Volponi is a half brother to Romp and Stomp, the dam of Pinch Pie, Rogue Victory, One in a Romp and the yearling. Romp and Stomp currently is in foal to champion Street Sense.