LBD Stable, Manganaro Bloodstock and David Ingordo's dual Grade 1-placed Tarabi scored her first stakes victory in Thursday's $135,000 Wilton and will now turn her focus back to Grade 1 company once again for the $500,000 Longines Test on August 6 at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Cherie DeVaux, the daughter of First Samurai made her second start since finishing a game third behind Champion 2-Year-Old Echo Zulu in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in November at Del Mar. She arrived from a runner-up finish in an optional claimer on June 18 at Churchill Downs and improved to secure the one-mile Wilton by three-quarters of a length over Goddess of Fire in a final time of 1:38.53.
DeVaux said she is pleased to start the Saratoga meet on a high note.
“So far, so good,” DeVaux said of how the bay filly came back from the effort. “Any win is special, so it being a stakes makes it extra special.”
Tarabi has shown steady improvement throughout her five lifetime outings, never finishing off-the-board and amassing over $370,000 in earnings. DeVaux said her race at Churchill helped set her up for stakes success.
“She was training really well. She came out of her race at Churchill in really good order and got what she needed out of that, which was some fitness and getting the rust off of her from the layoff,” said DeVaux. “She moved forward, and that's what we were hoping for. She's an improving horse and each start she takes a step forward. She's been pretty consistent.”
The Wilton was Tarabi's second time over the Saratoga main track, the first being a runner-up effort to Echo Zulu in the Grade 1 Spinaway last year.
DeVaux said the seven-furlong Grade 1, Longines Test will be next for Tarabi, where she will likely encounter the talented Grade 1 Acorn winner Matareya.
“We're going to point her towards the Test,” DeVaux said. “She likes the track and she's had two very nice races over it. Matareya is an accomplished filly and is one of the top horses in the division, so Tarabi has to be just as good or better to be running there. [The Wilton] gives us confidence.”
The Wilton was the second Saratoga stakes win for DeVaux, who captured last year's Shine Again with Bayerness for owner Belladonna Racing. A 5-year-old daughter of Bayern, Bayerness was last seen finishing an even fifth behind Lady Rocket in the Grade 3 Chicago on June 25 at Churchill. She won the Roxelana on April 30 in her first start since her one-length Shine Again coup last August.
“She's a filly that sometimes gets a bit muscle sore, so we stopped to let her heal herself and brought her back,” DeVaux said of the eight-month respite.
It is possible Baynerness could make a return appearance at Saratoga this summer, but DeVaux said she will need some time to figure out what's next for her.
“I'm not sure. We ran her at Churchill and she was quite disappointing. There was no excuse for it, so we'll have to weigh our options with her,” said DeVaux. “If she's training really well, we could point her for something up here, but we'll just take it week by week with her right now.”
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