Perfectly Chic recaptures magic for Pentland and McClure
by Matthew Lomon
Sometimes the best plan is the one that already worked.
That was the logic behind trainer John Pentland, driver Bob McClure, and Steve Mihalic’s decision to pull the trigger on Perfectly Chic — a well-built Betterthancheddar filly out of the Badlands Hanover mare Fit N Bad — at the 2023 Harrisburg Yearling Sale.
“When I found her, the conversation between Bob and I was pretty easy, and Steve was not reluctant at all,” Pentland said. “I remember Bob telling me how Steve asked him, ‘John seems really sure about her, what do you think?’ He goes, ‘We won the O’Brien Award with her sister, Steve. She’s a good-looking filly, let’s get her.’”
Hoping to recapture the magic Pentland and McClure spun with Lauras Love, who earned Canada’s top 3-year-old pacing filly honors in 2020, the trio was willing to spend upwards of $25,000 on her full sister.
Closing the deal, however, required less than half.
“We got her for $12,000 and it just seemed silly,” Pentland said. “There were a ton of nice horses selling that time of day on Wednesday, but she was a really nicely built, solid filly, big rear end on her, and she was really correct.”
Pentland and McClure’s initial observations proved well-reasoned from the get-go.
While training down under the veteran horsemen, Perfectly Chic looked the part of a top filly, flashing her effortless ability and star potential.
But there was, as Pentland categorized it, “one big glitch.”
“She was just incredibly hot,” he said. “It was going to jeopardize her season for sure.”
Instead of letting the problem fester, the savvy conditioner with over three decades in the standardbred game proactively sought a solution.
“I had read an article about a bit that Dr. Ian Moore tried on Stockade Seelster,” Pentland said. “I found the bit, put it on her and it worked like magic.”
Pentland affixed the magic bit before Perfectly Chic’s second qualifier, which came last June at Mohawk.
The Dorchester, ON-based trainer, like his prized pupil, also needed a helping hand.
“Everybody was in a hurry that day and I said to Ian, ‘Can you come over and check this bit to make sure I have it right?’” Pentland said. “He said, ‘John, I’m in a hurry, but alright, I’ll come over.’
“He looked at it and saw the way I had it on, and said, ‘You’ve got this thing entirely wrong. This isn’t how it works. This is how it works.’”
After a lesson in equipment fitting from the Hall of Fame horseman, Pentland and Perfectly Chic were ready for takeoff.
“She’s worn that bit ever since, and she’s a Cadillac to drive with it,” Pentland said. “I think that’s a pivotal part of her story – the talent was there; it was just getting her hung up right. The light didn’t just go on. She was good right away. It was simply being able to manage her.”
Perfectly Chic made seven starts as a rookie, finishing with two wins — a half-length victory in the Battle of the Belles elimination at Grand River and breakthrough stakes score in the Eternal Camnation at Mohawk — to go with four seconds.
Pentland credited McClure, who was in the race bike for all but one of Perfectly Chic’s first-year starts, for being a steadying force in her development as a young racehorse.
“Bob’s the kind of guy who relishes in teaching a young horse to become a horse and to not overdrive them and not put them in positions where they’re going to fail,” Pentland said. “She’s a filly who definitely needed that. She could have been ruined. I think in that way, probably more than any other one way, that’s how they meshed – she needed that guidance, and he loves to provide that guidance.”
The bay kicked off her second professional season with Pentland and McClure at the beginning of May with a fourth.
After landing inside the top three in three of five subsequent starts, Perfectly Chic tracked down her first win of the campaign when it mattered most.
Sent off as the even-money choice in a $140,000 Gold Leg of the Ontario Sires Stakes, Perfectly Chic blazed around the Mohawk dirt in 1:50.4 to secure her first OSS triumph by 2½ lengths on June 21.
With reigning Horse of the Year Chantilly absent, Perfectly Chic made the most of her chance.
“She knocked at the door every race,” Pentland said. “Her and Paul Cameron’s filly [Wickedpace] were the best of the rest, as they say.
“Our filly has always been a good doer. She obviously had some problems last year, but she’s always taken care of herself, eating well and maintaining weight. She’s always ready for an opportunity, and the 21st of June was the opportunity, and she was ready for it.”
The character win helped vault Perfectly Chic towards the top of the OSS 3-year-old pacing filly standings – a spot she now holds after a second on Aug. 24 at Rideau Carleton Raceway.
Standing at 1-2-1 from four starts in the series, the reliable racer’s consistency has been an easy point of praise for Pentland.
“She’s there every single week,” he said. “When she’s called on, she’s ready to perform. To me, not once has she thrown in a bad race. I’ve never gone home going ‘Oh my god, well I got to sort this out.’ She just shows up every week.”
Perfectly Chic showed up and then some last time out in the $158,225 Simcoe at Mohawk.
Under McClure’s command, the even-money favorite controlled the pace and strode with confidence to resist her late challengers for the determined tally.
Pentland was, once again, wowed. But this time, for a different reason.
“I was impressed because it was a different style of racing, and I sure don’t think that’s her style,” he said. “She’s never learned it either, so it was impressive. [Trainer] Chantal Mitchell’s filly [Outtathisworld Deo] is racing outstanding and had clear room up the inside and she got us the week before in Ottawa. Chantal’s done a terrific job with that filly.
“It was a gutsy effort on the front for a horse that isn’t used to being on the front.”
Perfectly Chic’s resolve and willingness to perform night-in, night-out reminds Pentland of another tough-minded Betterthancheddar filly he coached a few years back, Powerful Chris.
The bay out of the Western Hanover mare Cell Power was going to show up rain or shine, peak condition or not, and deliver – no different than Perfectly Chic.
“[Perfectly Chic is] just a no-nonsense horse that’s very strong,” Pentland said. “She’s not as big as Powerful Chris but she’s really strong and never throws a bad race.
“These ones don’t get sick and lose a race. They don’t lose a race cause they’re a little sore. In fact, they don’t even let you know they’re sore. You can’t teach that to a horse; you can’t teach it to a person.”
As Pentland prepares his standout student for one more Gold leg [Oct. 2] and the Super Final [Oct. 11] before she heads off to race in Indiana, he will tell you that the story of Perfectly Chic is not complete without mention of Gracie Barr.
The multi-talented young horsewoman not only named Perfectly Chic but was also heavily involved with her sister, Lauras Love after her grandfather, Russell Baker, bought a 10 per cent stake in Lauras Love from Pentland on Barr’s behalf.
When it was time to find a groom for Perfectly Chic, Pentland said choosing Barr was a “no-brainer.”
“Gracie’s worked for me ever since Lauras Love,” he said. “She’s been the groom on this horse [Perfectly Chic] and she’s been a key part of her success all along.”
