Like Mother, Like Daughter – Hope Road Emulates Dam to Claim Ballerina

[Wandering Eyes]

It's not often a Grade I-winning mare recreates her success in her offspring, but that's exactly what happened when Hope Road (Quality Road) crossed the line in the GI Ballerina Stakes five years after her dam won the race in 2018.

Tracking the early pacesetter initially from third but inching closer to Scylla (Tapit) on the turn as that one posted :22.31 and a half in :44.56, Hope Road loomed the danger entering the lane. Turning for home on even terms, Hope Road overhauled that longtime leader in midstretch and gamely kept going late to win. The final time was 1:21.93.

The victress is out of 2018 Ballerina winner Marley's Freedom (Blame), who hit the board at the highest level on two more occasions afterwards and collected three more graded wins before she retired in 2019.

Hope Road was last seen May 26 running third in the GIII Winning Colors Stakes at Churchill Downs.

O/B-Cicero Farms (KY); T-Bob Baffert.

 

HOPE ROAD gets her first Grade 1 win in the @RWCatskills Ballerina Stakes with @jose93_ortiz aboard for trainer @BobBaffert. pic.twitter.com/C3ubfHsXWT

— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) August 23, 2025

The post Like Mother, Like Daughter – Hope Road Emulates Dam to Claim Ballerina appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article