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American TV icon and celebrity chef Bobby Flay is eager to win the Coronation Stakes during the 2022 Royal Ascot week with his star filly Pizza Bianca next month.
The Gr.1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner is set to take on the likes of Cachet and Homeless Songs for the Gr.1 prize on June 17.
The owner-breeder has a distinct passion for racing young fillies on the turf and, as such, describes the Coronation as the race he wishes to win most. He tried to no avail in 2011 with More Than Real but believes next month’s runner has an excellent chance following a recent confidence-booster in the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico.
Flay, best known for popular American competitive cookery shows Beat Bobby Flay and Iron Chef, said: “She’ll be up against the best three-year-old filly milers in the world but I feel she fits in that group. If I didn’t think she did, I wouldn’t send her. Anything can happen but we won’t need the biggest surprise in the world, a small surprise will do.
Pizza Bianca’s name was formed from a combination of an inspired trip to Rome and her dam’s name White Hot. Flay paid Gn.1.25m for the dam, a half-sister to Derby winner Pour Moi no less, and takes great pleasure from reaping the rewards of his breeding operation.
While he is accustomed to the high-pressure environment of a professional kitchen, he believes success at Royal Ascot – where he describes the culinary offering as like “menus from the most exclusive wedding ever” – would provide a much greater thrill.
Watch Pizza Bianca in the Gr.1 Juvenile Fillies Turf (2021)