SARATOGA STAKES PREVIEWS

By Keith McCalmont

Brown’s fab four headline competitive De La Rose

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown will have a strong hand in Friday’s 17th renewal of the $85,000 De La Rose, saddling four of the eight contenders for the one mile event over the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course.

Brown, who won the De La Rose in 2018 with subsequent champion Uni, will send out a quality quartet headed by Noor Sahara, who will cut back in distance after finishing third against allowance optional claiming company going 1 1/8 miles on June 12 at Belmont Park.

The 4-year-old bay daughter of Lope de Vega made her North American debut last out as the favorite, tracking a slow pace up front, put herself in winning contention but was ultimately passed up in the final strides missing only a neck to Wegetsdamunnys. The effort was her first start of 2020 and first since September 19 where she was fifth against stakes company at Saint-Cloud in France for former trainer Fabrice Chappet.

“It might have been a little far for her,” Brown said of her last effort. “She hadn’t run in a while off that effort so now she has that race under her belt. Cutting her back to a mile should do her some good.”

Owned by Sol Kumin and Jason Monteleone’s Madaket Stable, Sienna Farm, Michael Dubb and Bethlehem Stables, Noor Sahara was a two-time winner in France, going one mile.

Three-time Saratoga leading jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. will pilot Noor Sahara from post 2.

Catch a Bid, winner of last year’s Riskaverse over a yielding inner turf at the Spa, will try to keep her perfect record going one mile intact.

Owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables, the bay daughter of Real Solution made her seasonal debut a winning one last out when leading an easy pace at every point of call in an allowance optional claiming event on June 14 at Churchill Downs. The running style was a different one for Catch a Bid, whose other two victories came when coming from well of the pace. After winning on debut over at Belmont Park last June, Catch a Bid was second to eventual graded stakes-winner Varenka before winning the Riskaverse.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione retains the mount from post 1.

Peter Brant’s Blowout has never finished off the board in eight career starts and will attempt to keep her consistent record unscathed from post 9.

The daughter of Dansili out of French Group 1-winner Beauty Parlour has never been beaten more than three-quarters of a length and will make her first start since finishing second in the Grade 3 Valley View on October 18 at Keeneland.
Blowout will attempt a third stakes victory having won the Wild Applause and the Pebbles over the Widener Turf Course at Belmont Park during her 3-year-old campaign.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, a three-time winner of the De La Rose, will pilot Blowout.

Rounding out the tetrad of Brown’s contenders is Juddmonte Farm’s Viadera, who made her North American debut last out finishing a distant fourth over a yielding turf to stablemate Newspaperofrecord in the Grade 3 Intercontinental at Belmont.

The 4-year-old daughter of Bated Breath was previously conditioned by G.M. Lyons overseas, where she won three starts, two of which took place going one mile. A Great Britain homebred, Viadera is out of the Beat Hollow broodmare Sacred Shield and comes from the same family as Group 1-winner Twice Over.

Jockey Joel Rosario, who sported Juddmonte’s signature turquoise and pink colors when guiding Filimbi to a De La Rose win in 2014, will guide Viadera from post 6.

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables’ Clara Peeters will be making her North American stakes debut in the De La Rose after a half-length allowance optional claiming score going seven furlongs over Belmont’s Widener turf course on June 4.

Trained by Brad Cox, the 4-year-old daughter of Epaulette won twice in Great Britain for former conditioner Gary L. Moore and has placed in her last five outings. She made her United States debut at Fair Grounds on March 19 going one mile and finishing second beaten a neck after a slow start.

Completing the field are Passing Out [post 3, Jose Ortiz], Hogans Holiday [post 7, Ricardo Santana, Jr.] and Xenobia [post 8, Manny Franco].

Bridlewood Cat is entered for the main track only.

The De La Rose pays homage to Henryk de Kwiatkowski’s 1981 Champion Grass Filly who won six graded stakes races over five different tracks, including the Diana at Saratoga and the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby against colts at Hollywood Park. The daughter of English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky was trained by Hall of Famer Woody Stephens.

The De La Rose is slated as Race 7 on Friday’s 10-race card, which offers a first post of 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the 40-day summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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By Ryan Martin —-

Indian Pride seeks first stakes score in contentious Shine Again

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Indian Pride, trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, returns to the scene of her impressive unveiling in search of her first stakes score in Friday’s $85,000 Shine Again, a seven-furlong main track sprint for older fillies and mares at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned and bred by Brereton C. Jones, the 4-year-old Proud Citizen filly is a half-sister to multiple graded-stakes winner Biofuel, who took honors as Canada’s Horse of the Year in 2010.

Indian Pride turned heads in her August 28 debut when eighth lengths the best in a six-furlong maiden sprint won in frontrunning fashion for a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure. She followed up with a prominent third in the Grade 2 Raven Run at Keeneland to close out her juvenile campaign.

The talented bay made her seasonal debut a winning one last out on June 20 at Belmont Park, capturing a 6 1/2-furlong allowance sprint by 2 3/4-lengths under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano.

“She came back off that effort really well,” said Brown. “We’re looking forward to get her going again.”

Indian Pride breezed an easy half-mile in 50.50 seconds on July 10 on Belmont’s dirt training track in preparation for the Shine Again. She will exit post 5 under Castellano.

Cleber J. Massey’s Blamed, a 5-year-old daughter of Blame, boasts a record of nine wins and two seconds from 15 starts and purse earnings of $583,065. A multiple graded-stakes winner, she captured the 2018 Grade 3 Comely at the Big A and the 2019 Grade 3 Royal Delta at Gulfstream Park.

The ultra-consistent bay has already picked up a pair of optional-claiming wins this year scoring at Gulfstream in February and at Oaklawn Park in April. Last out, on June 13 in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park, Blamed made the early running before fading to fourth.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will guide Blamed from post 9.

Heider Family Stables, Madaket Stables and Doheny Racing Stable’s Please Flatter Me, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, sports a ledger of four wins and two seconds from eight starts. The dark bay daughter of Munnings, bred in Pennsylvania by Mary Katherine Haire and purchased for $12,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Winter Mixed Sale, has banked $272,428 for her connections.

Please Flatter Me won all three of her juvenile starts including the Blue Mountain Juvenile Fillies at Penn National and the Gin Talking at Laurel Park. She launched her sophomore season with a fourth in the Busher Invitational at Aqueduct and followed up with a second in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness at Pimlico Race Course won by Covfefe, last year’s Champion Female Sprinter and Champion 3-Year-Old Filly.

Following a win in the Alma North at Laurel Park, Please Flatter Me tried her luck in the Grade 1 Longines Test when seventh to close out her sophomore season.
After finishing second to multiple Grade 1-winner Guarana on June 4 at Churchill Downs in her seasonal debut, Please Flatter Me will look to become a stakes winner at two, three and four in the Shine Again.

“She’s a big filly,” said co-owner Scott Heider of Heider Family Stables. “If you look at her, you don’t think she would be a sprinter. I was happy with her comeback race. She was really running hard there at the end and put some distance between her and the third-place finisher.”

Ricardo Santana, Jr. has the call from post 10.

Michael J. Ryan and Gerry Dilger’s Positive Spirit, now with trainer Michael Stidham, won the 2018 Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct by 10 1/2-lengths to close out her juvenile campaign.

The Pioneerof the Nile bay, bred in Kentucky by Santa Rosa Partners, raced three times in a tumultuous sophomore campaign in which she finished last-of-eight in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds before a prominent second in the Grade 2 Gazelle at the Big A. Sent to post at 44-1 in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks under Manny Franco, Positive Spirit was pinched between rivals at the start before clipping heels with Jaywalk and tumbling to the track unseating her rider.

Out of the graded-stakes winning In Excess mare Above Perfection, Positive Spirit is a half-sister to 2017 Kentucky Derby-winner Always Dreaming and 2009 Grade 1 Spinaway victress Hot Dixie Chick.

Tyler Gaffalione, who guided Positive Spirit to her maiden win in November 2018 at Churchill, has the call from post 3.

Ghost Hollow Farm’s Risky Mandate owns a perfect in-the-money record of 4-2-1-1. Unraced as a 2-year-old, she was a first-out winner at Churchill Downs in June 2019 and followed up with a smart allowance score a month later at Saratoga.

The Tom Amoss-trainee completed her sophomore season with a third in the Grade 2 Prioress at the Spa. Bred in Kentucky by her owners, the Strong Mandate bay rallied to finish second last out in her seasonal debut in a June 28 optional-claiming sprint at Churchill.

David Cohen will pilot Risky Mandate for the first time from post 2.

Saul J. Kupferberg’s Honor Way, a 6-year-old Caleb’s Posse bay trained by Charlton Baker, is also in search of her first stakes win while making her 36th career start. Bred in Kentucky by Candy Meadows, the multiple stakes placed mare has compiled a record of 10-6-7 with purse earnings of $494,692.
She arrives at the Shine Again from a rallying half-length score in an optional-claiming sprint on June 14 at Belmont.

Honor Way will exit post 7 under Manny Franco.

Rounding out the field are Estilo Femenino [post 1, Junior Alvarado], Bella Ciao [post 4, Jose Lezcano], Joy Epifora [post 6, Jose Ortiz] and Slimey [post 8, Joel Rosario].

The Shine Again is slated as Race 9 on Friday’s 10-race card, which offers a first post of 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the 40-day summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.