In her second start following a nine-month layoff, Klaravich Stables' horse-for-course Technical Analysis returned to the site of three of her six lifetime wins, adding another meaningful victory to her resume in Wednesday's $135,000 De La Rose, restricted to older fillies and mares who have not won a graded sweepstakes in 2023, going one mile over the Saratoga Race Course inner turf in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Technical Analysis arrived from her 5-year-old debut in the one-mile Perfect Sting on July 2 at Belmont Park, where she tracked in second off the early foot of returning rival Evvie Jets and finished second as the heavy favorite in her first start since finishing fourth in Keeneland's Grade 1 First Lady in October. The Kingman bay got the jump on her familiar foe out of the gate in the De La Rose and maintaining her command throughout en route to a 3 1/2-length score.
The De La Rose marked the third straight year where Technical Analysis has garnered stakes glory at Saratoga, where she now boasts a 5-4-1-0 record. A winner of the Grade 3 Lake George and Grade 2 Lake Placid in 2021, she earned a career-high 101 Beyer Speed Figure after winning last year's Grade 2 Ballston Spa following a runner-up effort to stablemate In Italian in the Grade 1 Diana.
Trainer Chad Brown, who earned his fifth De La Rose win, spoke volumes of his Spa specialist and compared her to the fan-favorite “Sultan of Saratoga” Fourstardave, who won at least one race at Saratoga each year from 1987-94.
“Her record [at Saratoga] is she has four wins in five starts here with a good second in the Diana, so she's like my little Fourstardave of Saratoga,” Brown said. “Every year, she just thrives up here and loves it. She's a bit of a nervous horse, and this environment can really bring out the best in horses that are a little challenging mentally. It's big country up here and a lot of trees and cool air in the evenings and such. She's just so calm around the barn and in her training, and I think she's able to reserve a lot of energy for the afternoons.”
Technical Analysis was away well from post 5 and was sent to the front under Jose Ortiz with Regal Realm and Evvie Jets tracking a respective second and third heading into the first turn. Technical Analysis registered the opening quarter-mile in 24.54 seconds over the firm going with Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano angling Evvie Jets to the outside of Regal Realm.
Through a half-mile in 48.49, Ortiz peeked behind his right shoulder to see Regal Realm right off his charge's flank with Evvie Jets launching a bid to the outside widest of all. Technical Analysis received a few nudges from Ortiz around the far turn and responded by drawing off to a one-length advantage at the stretch call. Regal Realm battled with graded stakes winner White Frost for place honors, but there was no reeling in Spa specialist Technical Analysis, who completed the one mile in 1:33.98.
White Frost nosed out Regal Realm for second, with Haughty, Eminent Victor, Evvie Jets and Runaway Rumour completing the order of finish. Main track only entrants Chi Town Lady, Movie Moxy and Sunset Louise were scratched.
Brown, who also saddled Haughty and Eminent Victor, said he was pleasantly surprised to see Technical Analysis alone on the front end.
“I thought it would be a little bit of a duel maybe to get right to the front, but our plan was to go right to the front if we could do it – she's happiest there and she loves Saratoga,” Brown said.
Ortiz, who earned his second De La Rose triumph after piloting last year's Champion Female Turf Horse Regal Glory to victory in 2021, said Technical Analysis was bound to be sharper having already ran once from the layoff.
“The plan was to be aggressive and get the lead today. Last time, the other filly Evvie Jets was able to take the lead on me, but my mare was coming from a layoff,” Ortiz said. “The pace was a little bit hot [last time] and I was on the inside, I didn't want to burn her up so I tried to sit off and close, and the other mare beat me that day. I knew today my mare loves Saratoga. We were very confident, it was second off the layoff, she loves Saratoga, and her best races are here – she's way better two turns. We were very confident we were going to turn the tables on the other one.”
Ortiz has ridden Technical Analysis in all but two of her 14 lifetime starts, which includes a victory in the Grade 3 Gallorette last May at Pimlico in addition to her Spa scores.
“I have a very good record with this mare. She used to be tricky to ride. She loves Saratoga because she lives outside in the pony stall,” Ortiz said. 'It has a lot to do with her loving it here. Of course, we wanted to turn the tables around, but this mare doesn't owe us anything. She has been great to [owner] Seth Klarman, Chad and me. I'm just very grateful for Chad and Mr. Klarman to get me on her and let me build that relationship with her and become very successful with her. I love to ride her and it is kind of tricky, but I know her already.”
Brown said the Grade 2, $300,000 Mohegan Sun Ballston Spa on August 24 would be a quick turnaround, but that his talented mare could still pursue a repeat win in the 1 1/16-mile test to kick off Travers Week stakes action.
“Seeing how much she loves Saratoga, if you're going to go back on short rest somewhere, it would be here,” Brown said.
Gainesway Stable's homebred White Frost picked up black type for the fifth start in a row, entering from a runner-up effort in the Anchorage Overnight on July 2 at Ellis Park.
Jockey Junior Alvarado, who has piloted White Frost in 9-of-11 lifetime starts, said he was expecting more pace up front.
“I had a great trip. The last couple races with her, I've been chasing the speed and taking away a little of her finish. I tried to stick with the plan today and make sure I sat off of it, so I could come with a run,” Alvarado said. “On paper, it looked like there would be more speed than that, but they ended up walking the dog up front. She still ran a great race. I might have probably still finished second, but I might have given my filly a little better chance to win had we got out of there a little more forward at the beginning.”
Technical Analysis returned $3.80 for a $2 win wager and banked $74,250 in victory, which brought her lifetime earnings up to $964,543 through a 14-7-4-1 record.
Bred in Ireland by Rabbah Bloodstock, Technical Analysis is out of the two-time winning Sea the Stars mare Sealife and was bought for $258,109 from the 2019 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
The De La Rose honors Henryk de Kwiatkowski's 1981 Champion Grass Mare, who captured that year's Diana, Athenia and Saranac on the NYRA circuit and also captured the E.P. Taylor and Hollywood Derby. She finished second in that year's Kentucky Oaks to stablemate Heavenly Cause, who also was conditioned by Hall of Famer Woody Stephens. As a broodmare, De La Rose produced Grade 1 winner Conquistarose and graded stakes winner De La Devil.
Live racing resumes on Thursday at Saratoga with a 10-race card, featuring the Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls in Race 8 [5:10 p.m. Eastern]. First post is 1:10 p.m.
Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet 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.
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