Page 220 - Speedhorse February 2020

RACING NEWS
Lou Wooten/Sydney Valentini Handicap-RG2
CAT DADDYS LIL GIRL
by John Moorehouse
Homebred horses usually have a close connection to their owners. For Jimmy Negrete and Jimmy Vazquez, the breeders and
owners of Cat Daddys Lil Girl, this connection is particularly strong.
They named the four-year-old gray filly after Vasquez’s late son, Ryan.
“He was, I think, only 16 years old,” Negrete stated. “He was a roper ... he was really quick, and his grandpa would tell him he was a cat daddy.”
Ryan’s namesake is mighty quick, too. The filly dashed to her second consecutive victory—both in stakes competition—with a 3/4-length win in the $100,000 Lou Wooten/ Sydney Valentini Handicap-RG2 at Sunland Park on Jan. 11.
Cat Daddys Lil Girl now holds six wins in 13 career starts. The $60,000 payday from this victory pushed her total earnings to $305,062. She earned her first stakes victory back in December, winning the New Mexico Fillies and Mares Championship-G1 at Zia Park.
Cat Daddys Lil Girl also has three runner- up finishes in stakes company and has com- peted in a slew of major stakes races.
After qualifying for two restricted graded futurities in her rookie year, Cat Daddys
Lil Girl ended up needing surgery to remove some bone chips. She returned in 2019, finishing second in two stakes—most notably the Zia Derby-RG2.
“She’s getting better as
she gets older,” Negrete said.
“We rested her about three
months [after surgery] and
brought her back. We went
to Farmington, won a good
allowance there against
older horses. She’s been getting better and better since.”
Negrete noted that Cat Daddys Lil Girl has made a habit of starting strong and that continued in this race. She broke well from the 6 gate, pressing early leader Woodys Copy Cat throughout before overtaking her foe in the stretch to secure the win. The 400-yard trip took :19.565, registering an 87 speed index.
Regular rider Mauro Salcedo was in the irons for trainer Cynthia Gonzalez, who has conditioned Cat Daddys Lil Girl since the filly returned from surgery. The filly’s first trainer was James McArthur, who has trained 10 Champions working alongside his wife, Donna.
“He put a really good foundation on this filly,” Negrete said. “Cynthia and her team work really hard at what they do. Our jockey, Mauro Salcedo, he did a fantastic job riding her. Kept her straight. It looked like she had a lot more gas ... he hand rode her most of the way.”
Cat Daddys Lil Girl’s dam, Girlonthego,
has produced a pair of
stakes winners. The most accomplished
is Ryansmanonthemoon. Also named
after Vasquez’s late son, the 2016 gelding has three stakes wins including Zia Park Championship-G1, held in December on the same card where his half-sister won her first stakes.
Negrete and Vasquez also own Girlonthego, herself an accomplished stakes competitor, boasting a victory in the 2014 running of the Zia Futurity-RG1 at Ruidoso.
“She has a lot of heart,” Negrete said of
Cat Daddys Lil Girl. “She always gives it 100 percent. She’s pretty quick out of the gates also, so that helps her out a lot. Her brother ... he’s
Sunland Park $100,000 • 400 yards :19.565 • si 87
Corona Cartel
Big Daddy Cartel
Miss Racy Eyes
CAT DADDYS LIL GIRL, ‘16-f.
Man On The Move
Girlonthego
Devons Wish
218 SPEEDHORSE, February 2020
Cat Daddys Lil Girl and Mauro Salcedo win the Lou Wooten/Sydney Valentini Handicap-RG2 by 3/4-lengths
Coady Photography