Beach Haven Thoroughbreds, Medallion Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, and Barry Fowler's Maracuja stutter-stepped at the start of Saturday's Grade 1 Alabama and endured a difficult inside trip over a good and harrowed track en route to finishing seventh at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The Honor Code bay, who upset the previously undefeated Malathaat in the Grade 1 CCA Oaks in her prior start under a brilliant ride by Ricardo Santana, Jr., was hemmed in by that rival in the Alabama before coming up empty in the stretch run.
“She got pinned down on the inside, taking dirt. It was kind of a rough trip,” trainer Rob Atras said. “Ricardo tried to get her outside a couple times and wasn't able to.
“I think if we'd got a good outside trip, she'd probably have run a lot better, but Ricardo said she struggled the whole way around,” he added. “I don't want to make any excuses. That's racing. She came out of it good.”
The Canadian-born conditioner is enjoying a formidable summer campaign at the Spa with a record of 33-10-4-0, highlighted by his first Grade 1 win last month.
Atras said he'll consider a number of options for his star filly's next start.
“I think the filly is a little better off with five or six weeks between races,” Atras said. “We'll see. I won't make plans for another week or so after we see how she comes out of it.”
Atras said Dennis Narlinger's graded-stakes placed Sadie Lady will enjoy a freshening following her fourth-place finish in the Union Avenue on August 19 at the Spa.
“Last year, around this time of year, she just wasn't the same kind of horse,” Atras said. “We'll send her down to Florida for 30-60 days and freshen her up and bring her back in the fall.”
The 5-year-old Freud mare won 4-of-7 starts last season and added to her ledger this year with stakes scores in the six-furlong Correction in March at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., against open company and the Dancin Renee for state-breds in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Bred in the Empire State by JMJ Racing Stables, Sadie Lady was a game second in the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Vagrancy in May at Belmont Park.
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