With the three top choices out of the seven fillies in the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (USA-G1) field in his stable, the odds were pretty good that Bob Baffert would be the trainer of the winner. The surprise came in which one actually got the job done. Brilliant maiden winner Explora was made the odds-on favorite with Sorrento Stakes (USA-G3) winner Himika getting the nod as second choice, but it was Bottle of Rouge who defied her 9-1 odds and ran out the winner by a length after showing commendable determination in a duel with Explora; Himika settled for fourth after failing to peg back Explora with her own challenge.
Now the winner of two of her three starts, Bottle of Rouge padded her bankroll to a total of $240,000. She is the fifth stakes winner and first graded stakes winner for 2019 American champion older dirt male Vino Rosso, whose oldest runners are 4-year-olds. The son of Curlin and the Street Cry mare Mythical Bride stands at Spendthrift Farm, and the connection between his name (meaning “red wine” in Italian) and that of his daughter is obvious.
On the distaff side, Bottle of Rouge was bred by Kathie Maybee, who acquired the filly’s dam Blues Corner after the mare failed to change hands on a US$19,000 bid at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February mixed sale. For Maybee, Blues Corner has produced Golden Line (by Cross Traffic), a winner in Saudi Arabia, and Visceral, a 4-year-old Violence colt who has been unplaced in two starts. She was barren in 2022 and since producing Bottle of Rouge has given birth to a yearling full sister to the Debutante winner and a 2025 filly by Yaupon,
As Visceral and Bottle of Rouge sold for US$150,000 between them as weanlings, Maybee has not done badly with Blues Corner, whose bargain price reflected both an indifferent race record (one third from five starts) and an unfashionable sire in Bluegrass Cat. Now the broodmare sire of 25 stakes winners, Bluegrass Cat was a much better racehorse than stallion, winning the 2006 Haskell Invitational Stakes (USA-G1) and running second in that year’s Kentucky Derby (USA-G1), Belmont Stakes (USA-G1), and Travers Stakes (USA-G1). Although he was the leading New York-based sire of 2013, much more had been expected of him given his splendid pedigree; a son of Storm Cat, he belonged to an excellent branch of the La Troienne family tracing back through 1971 American champion 2-year-old filly Numbered Account.
A half sister to 2012 Philip. H. Iselin Stakes (USA-G3) winner San Pablo (by Jump Start) and to Grade 2-placed Slider (by Prenup), Blues Corner is out of Hunt’s Corner, a winning daughter of Silver Ghost. Sired by Mr. Prospector from the high-class race mare Misty Gallore (by Halo), Silver Ghost had a temper rivaling Halo’s but had speed as well, setting a track record for 6.5 furlongs at Belmont in 1985. He parlayed that speed and his fine pedigree into a quite useful career at stud, becoming the sire of the Grade 1-winning fillies Dreams Gallore, Love Lock, and Lunar Spook and the broodmare sire of 2024 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Puca.
Hunt’s Corner is a half sister to stakes-placed Twist the Facts (by Known Fact), dam of listed stakes winner Spin Zone (by Wild Zone), and is out of Treacherous Twist, a winning daughter of the useful speed sire Torsion and a half sister to stakes winner Turning Pleasant (by Pleasant Colony). The next dam in Bottle of Rouge’s tail-female line, Treacherous Turn (by Turn-to), is out of Treachery, by the good Mahmoud son Promised Land and a half sister to 1960 American champion 2-year-old male and 1970 American champion sire Hail to Reason (by Turn-to).
Although Bottle of Rouge is arguably the best runner produced by her direct female line since Hail to Reason, she would have to go a long way to be his match. Still, with a Grade 1 win over the track in the leadup to this year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1), a championship may not be out of her reach—and an Eclipse Award would be a good reason for her connections to raise a toast to her. With a bottle of red, of course.
Now the winner of two of her three starts, Bottle of Rouge padded her bankroll to a total of $240,000. She is the fifth stakes winner and first graded stakes winner for 2019 American champion older dirt male Vino Rosso, whose oldest runners are 4-year-olds. The son of Curlin and the Street Cry mare Mythical Bride stands at Spendthrift Farm, and the connection between his name (meaning “red wine” in Italian) and that of his daughter is obvious.
On the distaff side, Bottle of Rouge was bred by Kathie Maybee, who acquired the filly’s dam Blues Corner after the mare failed to change hands on a US$19,000 bid at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February mixed sale. For Maybee, Blues Corner has produced Golden Line (by Cross Traffic), a winner in Saudi Arabia, and Visceral, a 4-year-old Violence colt who has been unplaced in two starts. She was barren in 2022 and since producing Bottle of Rouge has given birth to a yearling full sister to the Debutante winner and a 2025 filly by Yaupon,
As Visceral and Bottle of Rouge sold for US$150,000 between them as weanlings, Maybee has not done badly with Blues Corner, whose bargain price reflected both an indifferent race record (one third from five starts) and an unfashionable sire in Bluegrass Cat. Now the broodmare sire of 25 stakes winners, Bluegrass Cat was a much better racehorse than stallion, winning the 2006 Haskell Invitational Stakes (USA-G1) and running second in that year’s Kentucky Derby (USA-G1), Belmont Stakes (USA-G1), and Travers Stakes (USA-G1). Although he was the leading New York-based sire of 2013, much more had been expected of him given his splendid pedigree; a son of Storm Cat, he belonged to an excellent branch of the La Troienne family tracing back through 1971 American champion 2-year-old filly Numbered Account.
A half sister to 2012 Philip. H. Iselin Stakes (USA-G3) winner San Pablo (by Jump Start) and to Grade 2-placed Slider (by Prenup), Blues Corner is out of Hunt’s Corner, a winning daughter of Silver Ghost. Sired by Mr. Prospector from the high-class race mare Misty Gallore (by Halo), Silver Ghost had a temper rivaling Halo’s but had speed as well, setting a track record for 6.5 furlongs at Belmont in 1985. He parlayed that speed and his fine pedigree into a quite useful career at stud, becoming the sire of the Grade 1-winning fillies Dreams Gallore, Love Lock, and Lunar Spook and the broodmare sire of 2024 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Puca.
Hunt’s Corner is a half sister to stakes-placed Twist the Facts (by Known Fact), dam of listed stakes winner Spin Zone (by Wild Zone), and is out of Treacherous Twist, a winning daughter of the useful speed sire Torsion and a half sister to stakes winner Turning Pleasant (by Pleasant Colony). The next dam in Bottle of Rouge’s tail-female line, Treacherous Turn (by Turn-to), is out of Treachery, by the good Mahmoud son Promised Land and a half sister to 1960 American champion 2-year-old male and 1970 American champion sire Hail to Reason (by Turn-to).
Although Bottle of Rouge is arguably the best runner produced by her direct female line since Hail to Reason, she would have to go a long way to be his match. Still, with a Grade 1 win over the track in the leadup to this year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1), a championship may not be out of her reach—and an Eclipse Award would be a good reason for her connections to raise a toast to her. With a bottle of red, of course.
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