BLAME’s Grade 3 winner Blame Debbie made a winning start to her 4-year-old season on Sunday with a 3 ½ length victory in the Searching S. at Pimlico.
Blame Debbie immediately took a short lead in the 1 ½ mile turf race under Victor Carrasco with the rest of the field attending her closely. The filly set an easy pace on the front with her ears pricked and ignored the horses who attempted to put on pressure on her half way through the race.
With three furlongs to go, Carrasco let his reins out a notch and she pulled away as they rounded the turn. There was never any danger to Blame Debbie’s win as she was given a fairly easily ride in the stretch to win by 3 ½ lengths as the second choice.
Trained by Graham Motion for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Michael Cloonan, and Timothy Thorton, the filly was also co-bred by Thorton with Tony Holmes.
“Once she broke sharp and Victor found himself on the lead, he did a perfect job of slowing it down best he could and she got away with some pretty good fractions,” Motion said. “I think know that she’s won to pretty decent stakes going 1 1/2 mile this is probably her preferred distance. I think she’ll go 1 1/8, 1 ¼ mile but I really think she is a marathoner, especially when she gets fractions like she did today.”
Blame Debbie has now won four of her 12 starts with four other on the board finishes for $278,000 in earnings.
Blame Debbie is one of two winners from three to race out of her dam Jadwa, who is a half-sister to Seeking The Gold’s Group 2 winner Derbaas among three stakes winning siblings. A great-granddaughter of dual Group 1 winner Sierra Madre, Blame Debbie also sees triple Group 1 winner Aljabr under that dam.
BLAME’s seven stakes horses in 2021 are led by stakes winning Saiydabad, who was a close fourth in this month’s Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (G1) in France as well.