SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The Queens M G won’t be sneaking up on any horseplayers this afternoon the way she did on Saratoga’s opening day when she pulled a 44-1 upset in the listed Schuylerville Stakes.
C Two Racing Stable and Mathis Stable’s The Queens M G will look to double her second Spa stakes score in today’s feature, the Grade 3, $200,000 Adirondack, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies.
Trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., the Thousand Words dark bay will be making her third Saratoga start. She was last in a field of seven as the mutuel favorite in the Astoria in June during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. She rebounded with authority from that performance last out with a stalking score as the longest shot on the board in the six-furlong Schuylerville, drawing clear to a 2 3/4-length victory over Sherbini.
Initially trained and owned by Israel Acevedo, The Queens M G was purchased privately after a memorable debut at Keeneland, where she overcame an awkward start before making the lead through splits of 22.30 seconds and 45.84. She stayed on stubbornly to score at odds of 45-1 in a final time of 52.44, outdueling next-out Kentucky Juvenile-winner West Memorial by a head.
Joseph said he was relieved to see The Queens M G return to form in the Schuylerville.
“Going into that race, I didn’t know what to expect. I was just hoping to run a decent race and have something to build on, but she exceeded expectations,” Joseph said. “That was a big improvement.
The race before was disappointing because she had trained decent into the race, and we thought she was a good filly — and her form had worked out well with the filly she beat first time out (West Memorial) winning a stakes.”
Joseph said the filly has bounced out of her stakes score in good order, posting an easy half-mile breeze in 50.25 seconds July 27 over the Spa main track. Both of The Queens M G’s wins have come out of the outermost post 11, and she will have the outside draw again today when exiting post 9 under returning rider Dylan Davis. She is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.
Mrs. John Magnier and Linda Shanahan’s regally bred White Sands (post 8, Frankie Dettori, 3-1) will look to keep her perfect record intact for trainer Wesley Ward and is favored on the morning line.
The Into Mischief bay has shown the way through a pair of 5 1/2-furlong sprints by a combined 23 1/4 lengths, rolling to a 9 1/2-length debut score in May at Belterra Park and following last out with a 13 3/4-length victory over males in the Prairie Gold Juvenile on July 6 at Prairie Meadows.
White Sands is a half-sister to 2021 Champion Male Sprinter Jackie’s Warrior, who won five races at Saratoga, led by Grade 1 wins in 2020 Hopeful, the 2021 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, and the 2022 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap.
Hit The Bid Racing Stable, Morplay Racing, and Randall Hartley’s Italian Soiree (post 2, Flavien Prat, 9-2) will make her stakes debut for trainer John Terranova.
The Uncle Mo bay, a $600,000 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase, won her debut. In that race, she veered in at the start and impeded a pair of rivals before chasing the pace five-wide down the backstretch of the 5 1/2-furlong sprint on July 4 at Belmont at the Big A. She brought her best late in the turn and took command inside the three-sixteenths to draw clear for a 5 1/4-length score.
Italian Soiree has breezed back twice, including a half-mile effort working inside of 3-year-old New York-bred maiden winner Hagrid’s Flame in 49.77 on July 21 over the Saratoga main track.
“She was always a touch ahead of her company, she was doing great,” Terranova said. “I wanted an older horse who was a winner to push her a little bit — just keep her tuned in. She was just kind of playing with him. She is a very nice filly, and you know we are just grateful to have her. She looks like a talented runner.”
Dream Team One Racing Stable’s Kentucky homebred Anakarina (post 7, Tyler Gaffalione, 12-1) graduated at second asking with a gate-to-wire score in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight on June 26 at Churchill Downs Trained by Dallas Stewart, the Vekoma chestnut’s maiden score avenged a troubled May 17 debut at the Louisville oval where she broke awkwardly and finished fifth.
Whatintheliteral (post 1, John Velazquez, 8-1) is also looking for her second Spa stakes win, having posted a game head score over Aoraki win the aforementioned Astoria. Trained by Jena Antonucci for owners horseOlogy and Craig Steinhart, the Lord Nelson dark bay was fractious in the gate ahead of the Schuylerville and stumbled badly at the break, unseating Hall of Famer Javier Castellano.
Whatintheliteral made her first two starts with rallying efforts in 4 1/2-furlong maiden sprints at Keeneland, including a fifth in her April 7 debut won by The Queens M G and a close third on April 24 when three-quarters of a length back of the victorious Tapit First.
Rounding out a talented field are maiden winners Atomic City (post 3, Luis Saez, 8-1) for trainer Eddie Kenneally, Dare to Breeze (post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 8-1) for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, Aguas de Cristal (post 6, Javier Castellano) for conditioner Jorge Delgado, and the Jamie Ness-trained Social Fortress (post 5, Ricardo Santana, Jr.).
Originally Published: August 3, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
Source link : https://www.saratogian.com/2024/08/03/horse-racing-the-queens-m-g-seeks-second-spa-score-of-the-summer/
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Publish date : 2024-08-03 23:02:40
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