Pretty N Cool captures Matron

Pretty N Cool pulled out a one-length victory in the $200,000 Matron S. (G2) on Sunday at Belmont Park with jockey Martin Garcia aboard.

The Bob Baffert-trained daughter of Scat Daddy took command soon after the start and proceeded through splits of :22.39, :44.96 and :56.85 while being hounded by Constellation to her inside and Libreta on the outside.

Libreta backed up drastically entering the stretch, eventually finishing last in the six-filly field, but Constellation refused to back down. Pretty N Cool dug in, though, and inched away to stop the clock in 1:09.73 as the 4-5 favorite.

Constellation held second by a length over Tonasah, who in turn had that same margin on Wave of Glory in fourth. It was another 2 1/4 lengths back to Island Saint, who had only Libreat beat on the wire.

Pretty N Cool got back to her winning ways in this spot for owners Karl Watson, Mike Pegram and Paul Weitman after suffering her first loss from three career starts last out in the Del Mar Debutante S. (G1). The gray miss was 5 1/4 lengths behind Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) contender Songbird in that event, which came one race after her 2 3/4-length score in the Sorrento S. (G2).

Both those races, as well as Pretty N Cool’s 4 1/2-length maiden victory on July 19, took place at Del Mar, meaning Sunday’s effort came in her first start outside of California.

Pretty N Cool photo courtesy of NYRA/Joe Labozzetta/Adam Coglianese Photography

MATRON QUOTES

Bob Baffert (winning trainer of Pretty N Cool): "We were confident. We knew going in she was doing really well and six furlongs is her distance. She has a lot of quality ran like we thought she ran. She's pretty fast. She could have rated but (jockey Martin Garcia) just kept her where she was comfortable. She was doing it the right way and he knows her really well, which is why we had him ride her."

Martin Garcia (winning jockey aboard Pretty N Cool): "I got a really good trip. Good horse, she's fast and then I was just in perfect position. When I asked her to go she took off, and she was a little from company but in the end she was playing around. When I asked her to go, she just took off."