Immersive ready for G1 Coaching Club American Oaks Inv.; G3 Caress Preview

Posted On 14 Jul 2025

By Christian Abdo —-

Immersive ready for G1 Coaching Club American Oaks Inv.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Immersive is set for her second start off the layoff in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks, a nine-furlong invitational for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the Nyquist bay was last year’s Champion 2-Year-Old Filly following a trio of Grade 1 victories, including the seven-furlong Spinaway here, as well as the 1 1/16-mile Alcibiades at Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar – all under returning rider Manny Franco.

After her 4-for-4 campaign, Immersive was given some time off due to bone bruising, according to a January news release from Godolphin. Nevertheless, Cox and Godolphin went on to win the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks with Good Cheer as Immersive readied for her return in the 1 1/16-mile Monomoy Girl on June 14 at Churchill Downs.

There, Immersive stalked and briefly took over to the inside of the pacesetting Anna’s Promise at the top of the lane while returning rival Take Charge Milady simultaneously moved to the outside. Immersive and Take Charge Milady locked horns for a fierce stretch duel, with the latter prevailing by a neck in a final time of 1:43.17.

“She’s doing very well,” said Cox, who has won this race with Monomoy Girl [2018] and Wet Paint [2023]. “She needed her last run in the Monomoy Girl. She ran a great race and galloped out well. I feel like she’s every bit as good this year as she was last year. I really think she’ll move forward off that run.”

Godolphin has won this event with Jilbab [2002], Music Note [2008], It’s Tricky [2011], Questing [2012] and Wet Paint [2023].

Immersive [post 1, Manny Franco], out of the winning Bernardini mare Gap Year, has earned in excess of $1.6 million via a 5-4-1-0 record. Her second dam, the Grade 1-winning Awesome Again mare Dubai Escapade, is a half-sister to Grade 1-winning millionaire Madcap Escapade.

Hall of Famer Mark Casse sends out the field’s other local Grade 1-victor in La Cara [post 6, Dylan Davis], who earned that designation over course and distance when wiring the $500,000 DK Horse Acorn last out on June 6.

La Cara, a Kentucky homebred for Tracy Farmer, took the Grade 1 Ashland in pacesetting fashion in April at Keeneland before trying to employ those same tactics when ninth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks over a wet, fast and sealed strip in May at Churchill Downs.

With a third consecutive frontrunning trip under returning rider Dylan Davis in the Acorn, La Cara floated over the sloppy and sealed going en route to a three-length score over Grade 2-winner Look Forward, registering a career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure in victory.

“She likes her job and she loves to train,” said Casse. “She didn’t like the slop at Churchill Downs, but before her last race, Dylan said to me, ‘this is a different type of slop.’ She handled it great.”

La Cara graduated by eight lengths fourth-out sprinting seven furlongs in August here, in a maiden where subsequent dual Grade 1-placed Quickick was third. Casse said it is nice to know the Street Sense bay has handled a fast and an off-track at the Spa.

“We know that one of the best races she has run in her life was when she broke her maiden here,” said Casse. “That was on a dry racetrack at Saratoga. So, she likes Saratoga, as do I.”

La Cara, who holds an 11-5-2-0 record with over $1.1 million in earnings, is out of the Bernardini mare Cara Caterina, a full-sister to dual Grade 1-winning millionaire To Honor and Serve and Grade 1-winner Angela Renee.

Conditioner Jorge Abreu adds another Grade 1-winner to the mix with Scottish Lassie [post 3, Joel Rosario], the dominant victor of the one-turn mile Frizette as a second-out maiden in October at Belmont at the Big A.

The McKinzie dark bay seeks her first win since the Frizette, capping her juvenile campaign with a fourth to Immersive in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies ahead of a pair of thirds so far this year– behind Cassiar and returning foe Dry Powder in a one-turn mile optional claimer in May at Belmont at the Big A and last out to La Cara in the Acorn.

“She came out of her last race in great shape, I’ve liked what I’ve seen,” said Abreu. “We just need luck. She was in good position last time, but maybe got a little tired. The allowance race before at Aqueduct, draw a line through that. I’m not going to make too many excuses, because I like her going into this race a lot.”

Scottish Lassie was an $85,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training out of the winning Bodemeister mare Bodebabe, a half-sister to stakes-winner Windmill and stakes-placed Ignitis. She is campaigned by Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish, Corms Racing Stable and Abreu.

Trainer Kenny McPeek looks for a title defense with Take Charge Milady [post 4, Kendrick Carmouche] after capturing this event last year with subsequent Horse of the Year and divisional Champion Thorpedo Anna.

Take Charge Milady strutted her best stuff last out when upsetting Immersive in the Monomoy Girl. The Take Charge Indy dark bay was previously off-the-board in the Kentucky Oaks after starting poorly, following a closing 1 1/4-length second to La Cara in the Ashland.

Take Charge Milady’s 8-3-2-0 record includes a 5 3/4-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Listed Martha Washington in January at Oaklawn Park. She was a $60,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of the winning Scat Daddy mare Price too High, and she is campaigned by James Ball, Sherri McPeek’s Magdalena Racing and Kenneth Rhodes.

Stonehaven Steading’s Kentucky homebred Sweet Seraphine [post 2, Jose Ortiz] closed under Irad Ortiz, Jr. to beat Dry Powder by a head in the one-turn mile restricted Wilton last out on June 22 at Belmont at the Big A.

Trained by Cherie DeVaux, the Quality Road bay entered that race from an even tighter nose score when graduating at the same distance second-out under Jose Ortiz in May at Churchill Downs, which came off a more than nine-month layoff.

“She’s doing good,” said DeVaux. “The Wilton was kind of a quick turnaround coming off the layoff. She’s got a good pedigree and she has to improve to be at this level, but sometimes you feel like if you can hit the board, it’s definitely worth a shot.”

Sweet Seraphine was bought back for $900,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the winning Bernardini mare Venetian Sonata, who also produced graded stakes-winner Moonlight d’Oro and graded stakes-placed Olive Branch.

Rounding out the field is Gold Square’s Dry Powder [post 5, Jose Lezcano], the last-out Wilton runner-up for trainer Chad Summers. The Gun Runner dark bay, a $525,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, graduated on debut ahead of two prominent seconds at Belmont at the Big A.

The CCA Oaks is slated as Race 10 on Saturday’s 12-race card, which also includes the Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt [Race 11] and the Grade 3 Caress [Race 9]. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, 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 summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Pipsy leads Intercontinental rematch in G3 Caress

By Mary Eddy

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Woodford Thoroughbreds’ Pipsy leads a competitive renewal of the Grade 3, $175,000 Caress as the top-five finishers of the Grade 2 Intercontinental will line up once again in Saturday’s 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for older fillies and mares at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Will Walden, Pipsy earned the second graded victory of her career last out when wiring the 5 1/2-furlong Intercontinental on June 5 at the Spa, taking command early under Jose Ortiz and bravely turning back a host of pursuers in the lane to score by a half-length over Future Is Now. She earned a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure, tied for the second-best figure in the field.

“That was a good group of fillies she beat, and when you’re going against that caliber of fillies, you’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game every time,” Walden said. “We’re confident Pipsy will bring hers, but it is Saratoga and it’s a tough place to win races. We couldn’t be happier with the way she’s doing.”

While Pipsy set the pace last time, she was a stalking winner of a 5 1/2-furlong allowance in April at Keeneland when coming from 1 1/2 lengths back to post the two-length score over Bling.

“She trained over in Europe, and that’s how they’re trained to rate – behind horses – so if you try to sit head-and-head with them, she’s going to be keen and aggressive. You saw in that race at Keeneland that she tucked in behind a filly from the outside post that came and crossed over in front of her. As soon as she did that, she [Pipsy] shut right off, and that was a new dimension we didn’t realize she had. We think she’s very versatile.”

Walden added the 4-year-old Kodiac bay has trained professionally into her next challenge.

“She’s pretty straightforward to train, and she does a maintenance half every week. She goes early, has her little routine, and if horses could dapple out on their ears, she’d have them there, too,” Walden said, with a laugh. “I love the way she’s coming into this. We know she loves the turf course here and we’re confident.”

Pipsy, who made the grade as a sophomore in the Grade 3 Soaring Softly at Belmont at the Big A, will emerge from post 6 in rein to Ortiz.

The Estate of R. Larry Johnson’s Future Is Now [post 7, Paco Lopez] looks to turn the tables on Pipsy after her hard-fought second in the Intercontinental, a race she won last year by a head over Roses for Debra.

Trained by Michael Trombetta, the Great Notion mare holds a consistent 4-2-1-1 record at the Spa, led by her wins in the Intercontinental and Listed Smart N Fancy last year. She also finished a half-length third in this event last year behind Dontlookbackatall.

“She seems to appreciate that course. When they run good at a particular place, you just stick with it,” Trombetta said. “It’s the same with Keeneland, she seems to enjoy that course as well.

“She’s got some quality to her and she’s a very determined kind of horse,” he added. “She tries hard and those kinds of horses are hard to find.”

In the Intercontinental, Future Is Now reverted back to stalking tactics after a pacesetting win in the Grade 3 Giant’s Causeway in April at Keeneland. She sat 1 1/2 lengths behind Pipsy through the first quarter-mile before running up on heels at the half-mile call and taking up a bit before settling again to make her late bid.

Trombetta said he was pleased with the performance.

“It was a good effort. We didn’t get the exact result that we would have liked, but she ran a really good race,” Trombetta said. “I don’t know whether it was the course or seeing something she hadn’t seen before that distracted her, but she’s trained well since and we’re looking forward to coming back.”

Bred in Maryland by the late R. Larry Johnson, Future Is Now boasts a 16-8-2-1 record with $788,410 in total purse earnings.

Martin Schwartz and Michael O’Callaghan’s Kairyu completed the trifecta in the Intercontinental, landing 1 1/4 lengths behind Pipsy and three-quarter lengths back of Future Is Now in her first effort off a nearly eight-month layoff. She tracked in second under Flavien Prat and showed good energy as she vied for command at the stretch call, but was ultimately outkicked and settled for the minor awards for trainer Cherie DeVaux.

“She’s doing great and is training well. It was a good effort off the layoff and she’s had plenty of time to get over it,” DeVaux said. “She took the jump forward from three to four and she’s doing everything she’s supposed to do.”

The 4-year-old Kuroshio filly put together a respectable sophomore campaign with a pair of stakes seconds in four outings, landing a half-length back of Pipsy in the Soaring Softly and three-quarter-lengths behind returning rival Twirling Queen in the Listed Coronation Cup in July over course and distance.

Kairyu, a Group 3-winner in her native Ireland, will emerge from post 4 in rein to Kendrick Carmouche.

Tracy Farmer’s Time to Dazzle [post 8, Dylan Davis] exits a fourth in the Intercontinental, an effort that awarded her a career-best 91 Beyer. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the daughter of Not This Time rallied from off-the-pace to finish a nose back of Kairyu in her first effort at this distance.

The 4-year-old gray looks to add to previous graded success in Woodbine Racetrack’s one-mile Grade 3 Ontario Colleen last July, which marked her most recent win. Her best result since was a one-length second to On Command in the six-furlong Listed License Fee in May at Belmont at the Big A.

Completing the field are multiple graded stakes-placed and Intercontinental fifth-place finisher Pandora’s Gift [post 5, Joel Rosario] for trainer Miguel Clement; graded stakes-winners Toupie [post 1, Manny Franco] for trainer Graham Motion and Zeitlos [post 2, Junior Alvarado] for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen; and the pair of multiple stakes-winning and Intercontinental ninth-place finisher Twirling Queen [post 3, Emisael Jaramillo] and four-time-winner and stakes-debuting Obstreperous [post 9, Ricardo Santana, Jr.] for conditioner Jose D’Angelo.

Halina’s Forte, Little Prankster and the aptly-named Caress are entered for the main track-only.

The Caress is slated as Race 9 on Saturday’s 12-race program, which features the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks in Race 10 and the Grade 2, $400,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt in Race 11. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

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