Pessin Confident Bell's The One Will Fire Fresh in The Madison

Lothenbach Stables’ Bell’s the One gave trainer Neil Pessin his first Grade 1 victory when she won the Derby City Distaff (G1) in September at Churchill Downs.

Pessin believes that total will double Saturday when Bell’s the One makes her first start of 2021.

“I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but I think she will win. She’s the best horse,” Pessin said Thursday morning.

Third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) here last fall, Bell’s the One received some time off before rejoining Pessin’s barn at Fair Grounds, where she has had a steady work pattern since early February.

“She didn’t miss a beat,” Pessin said of preparations for her return to the races that was to begin in the Madison. “She worked well Sunday (a bullet :47 half-mile), got here Tuesday night and had a walk day yesterday.”

Pessin has part of Bell’s the One’s campaign mapped out.

“I know the first two (the Madison and the May 1 Derby City Distaff) and the last one (a return to the Breeders’ Cup),” Pessin said. “We will work backward from the Breeders’ Cup after the second race.”