Breeding, Cambron Equine, and Team Hanley's Haughty made every pole a winning one in Saturday's $200,000 Lake Placid (G2), a 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.
Haughty, by the late Empire Maker, was one of four contenders for trainer Chad Brown, who won the Lake Placid for the fourth consecutive time following scores with Rushing Fall [2018], Regal Glory [2019; dead heat with Varenka], and Technical Analysis [2021]. The Lake Placid was not contested in 2020.
The Brown-trained Dolce Zel broke alertly under Irad Ortiz Jr., but it was the Jose Ortiz-piloted Haughty, who took command through fractions of :24.52 and :48.80 over the firm footing with Sail By tracking in second position.
Dolce Zel advanced up the rail approaching the turn as With The Moonlight, who stumbled at the start from the inside post under Luis Saez, launched her wide bid. Haughty enjoyed a 1 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call as Dolce Zel angled off the rail and With The Moonlight sped past the Brown-conditioned Consumer Spending. But Haughty was game to the wire to turn back With The Moonlight for a three-quarter length score in a final time of 1:41.16.
Dolce Zel completed the trifecta with Consumer Spending, Eminent Victor and Sail By rounding out the order of finish. Koala Princess and Canisy, who is entered in Thursday's $135,000 Riskaverse, scratched.
Brown praised the forward ride from Ortiz, who picked up the mount from Joel Rosario, and rode a prominent race after mutuel favorite With The Moonlight's gate mishap.
“I thought With The Moonlight would go and our plan was to get right next to her. When she didn't break early, Jose just took the initiative and went,” Brown said. “I'm very grateful. Joel Rosario was sick today and couldn't ride. Jose filled in for us and did a fabulous job and we hope Joel gets better soon.”
Jose Ortiz said he expected to be close to the pace.
“It was a six-horse field so I've got to break,” he said. “We [Chad Brown] got three other horses in the race, so I got the most speed of all of them and I was supposed to be forward, but the two-horse [Sail By] didn't go to the lead as expected so I took it and she ran a huge race. She came out running and hit another gear at the eighth-pole and I was very happy with her.”
Haughty won three of her first four starts, including a close third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) in November at Del Mar and a 4 3/4-length score in the one-mile Penn Oaks over soft going in June at Penn National. She entered from an off-the-board effort in the 10-furlong Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) on July 9 at Belmont Park.
“She was a bit unlucky in the Breeders' Cup on short rest and a wide trip in there. I thought maybe she could've won the race as a 2-year-old,” Brown said. “We had been waiting for the right race to get her back in form. She had a couple of excuses this year. She ran on very soft turf at Penn and I ran her too far in the Belmont Oaks. We have her at a distance that she's comfortable with today, and she delivered.”
The Charlie Appleby-trained Godolphin homebred With The Moonlight was returning on 13 day's rest from her prominent score in the Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G3) under William Buick on August 7 at the Spa. That effort came on the heels of a similarly forward runner-up effort in the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) on July 9 in her North American debut.
Chris Connett, traveling assistant for Appleby, said the stumbled beginning was unfortunate.
“That wasn't the game plan. Ideally, we wanted to be on the pace if not leading,” Connett said. “Unfortunately, she was a step slow away from the gate and when you draw the one hole and get away slightly slow, it makes it very difficult to be on the pace. She still ran a very big race. She closed from way off the pace on a slow, easy fractions for the horse in front. She ran a big race. The team will see how she comes out of this race and go from there.”
Saez said With The Moonlight was unable to close when asked.
“She had the one hole but broke a step slow and first time we made the move at the top of the stretch, she got there but couldn't get by,” Saez said.
Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds, Haughty banked $110,000 while improving her record to 3-0-2 from six career starts. She returned $13.40 for a $2 win ticket.
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