Alabama | Horse Racing Free Tips

Malathaat Back To Magnificent Best in Alabama

A slight bobble at the break of Saturday's GI Alabama S. at Saratoga may have cost 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) some early position and consigned her to a four- and five-wide trip. But the good ones rise to the occasion when the chips are down and the daughter of fellow 'Rising Star' Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy) called on her considerable class and edged clear late to lead home a 1-2 not only for her superstar sire, but also for breeder Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Farm. Clairiere closed strongly from the back of the field to outfinish Army Wife (Declaration of War) to complete the exacta.

Off to that studder-step beginning from gate six in the field of seven, Malathaat was allowed to find her footing by John Velazquez and raced with only 'Rising Star' Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map) behind her as the Alabama field raced under the line for the first time.

On the business end, longshot Played Hard (Into Mischief) cut out the early fractions in advance of Army Wife, as Velazquez settled the odds-on choice on the flank of her GI CCA Oaks conqueror Maracuja (Honor Code), having improved a spot turning down the backstretch.

Played Hard remained in control after six furlongs in 1:13.27, a demanding-enough split over a strip downgraded to good following mid-afternoon rains, and Malathaat was asked to take closer order around the turn. Forced to cover a stack of ground, the Shadwell colorbearer nevertheless loomed a threat outside of the rallying Army Wife in upper stretch, fought her way past that foe with an eighth of a mile to race and proved a shade too classy in the finish. Clairiere followed the eventual winner's move into the lane and attacked the line for second. Malathaat traveled 41 feet (about 4 1/4 lengths) farther than Clairiere and 20 feet more (just over two lengths) more than Army Wife.

Named a 'Rising Star' off a fast-finishing maiden win over seven furlongs at Belmont Oct. 9, Malathaat wired the field in the Nov. 6 Tempted S. by nearly eight lengths and employed off-pace tactics to take the GII Demoiselle S. by 3/4 of a length Dec. 5. A $1.05-million Keeneland September purchase by the late Sheikh Hamdan's operation, Malathaat was on a trajectory to make her seasonal return in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks Mar. 27–a race won by Crazy Beautiful–but the passing of Sheikh Hamdan a few days prior led to a start in the GI Central Bank Ashland S. at Keeneland the following weekend instead. Overcoming a similarly wide passage to just best Pass the Champagne (Flatter), she battled for every yard to just hold off next-out GI Acorn S. winner Search Results (Flatter) in the GI Kentucky Oaks Apr. 30 and just failed to last in the CCA Oaks after being pestered on the front end for the entirety of that nine-furlong trip.

“It was key [having a target],” admitted trainer Todd Pletcher, winning the Alabama for the third time. “Last time, it was difficult to figure out the right tactics and we kind of got tag teamed, as you'd expect to be in a prohibitive-favorite situation. Today, we drew a better post and we were able to let her find her rhythm and she showed why she's the best 3-year-old filly in the country.”

Pedigree Notes:

Malathaat is the second foal from her dam, the 2012 GI Frizette S. winner who romped by 21 3/4 lengths in the Gulfstream Oaks, but could do no better than fourth to upset-minded stablemate Princess of Sylmar (Majestic Warrior) in the Kentucky Oaks.

Second dam Dream Rush won the GI Darley Test S. in 2007 and was subsequently sold to Halsey Minor for $3.3 million at that year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale. She remained in training into early 2009, but was retired and covered by A.P. Indy for her first cover. Dreaming of Julia was foaled Mar. 3, 2010, and Dream Rush would go on to produce SW 'TDN Rising Star' Atreides (Medaglia d'Oro) and MGSW 'Rising Star' Dream Pauline (Tapit), whose first produce is a Curlin colt foaled Feb. 4 of this year.

Malathaat is one of any number of top-class runners bred on the Curlin–A.P. Indy cross, which includes Grade I winners Stellar Wind, Global Campaign, Paris Lights and Idol. Additionally, Classic winner Exaggerator was bred from a mare by Seattle Slew's son Vindication, while Mother Goose S. heroine Off the Tracks is a maternal granddaughter of Slew's son Capote.

Dreaming of Julia is the dam of a yearling full-sister to Malathaat and a Medaglia d'Oro filly foaled Mar. 30. She was most recently bred back to Curlin.

Saturday, Saratoga
ALABAMA S.-GI, $600,000, Saratoga, 8-21, 3yo, f, 1 1/4m, 2:02.59, gd.
1–MALATHAAT, 121, f, 3, by Curlin
1st Dam: Dreaming of Julia (GISW, $874,500), by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Dream Rush, by Wild Rush
3rd Dam: Turbo Dream, by Unbridled
'TDN Rising Star' ($1,050,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Shadwell
Stable; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd
Pletcher; J-John R. Velazquez. $330,000. Lifetime Record:
7-6-1-0, $1,555,150. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Clairiere, 121, f, 3, by Curlin
1st Dam: Cavorting (MGISW, $2,063,000), by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Promenade Girl, by Carson City
3rd Dam: Promenade Colony, by Pleasant Colony
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $120,000.
3–Army Wife, 121, f, 3, by Declaration of War
1st Dam: Tread, by Arch
2nd Dam: Scoot Yer Boots, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Whirl Series, by Roberto
($50,000 Ylg '19 FTKFEB; $190,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR). O-Three
Diamonds Farm; B-J D Stuart & AR Enterprises, Inc. (KY);
T-Michael J. Maker. $72,000.
Margins: 1HF, HF, 6 1/4. Odds: 0.55, 8.70, 8.50.
Also Ran: Will's Secret, Played Hard, Crazy Beautiful, Maracuja.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Weekend Lineup Presented By NYRA Bets: Alabama Rematch, Pacific Classic Showdown

Highlighting this weekend's racing action are Grade 1 races from coast to coast. On Saturday, a big rematch is in the cards for Saratoga's Alabama, while a Breeders' Cup Classic berth is on the line in Del Mar's million-dollar Pacific Classic. On Sunday, Woodbine will put on a trio of graded stakes races as well as the $1 million Queen's Plate, first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Maracuja posted a big upset over Kentucky Oaks winner Malathaat in the CCA Oaks last month, and the two sophomore fillies face off again in Saturday's Grade 1 Alabama. It's far from a two-horse race, however, with graded stakes winners Clairiere, Army Wife, and Crazy Beautiful also part of the seven-horse field.

The Pacific Classic features East Coast shipper Dr Post for trainer Todd Pletcher, while the local favorite Express Train will look to add the elusive Grade 1 score to his growing resume. Royal Ship, Tizamagician, and Independence Hall are also in the nine-horse lineup.

Sunday's Queen's Plate drew a field of 13 sophomores for the 1 1/4-mile classic, with 19-year-old Joshua Attard's Keep Grinding, trained by his grandfather, the 4-1 morning line favorite.

The New York Racing Association has planned an all graded stakes cross country pick 5 for Saturday, encompassing three Grade 1 contests and two Grade 2 events from Saratoga and Del Mar. Past performances are free here for this 50-cent base wager.

Here's a quick snapshot of this weekend's graded stakes schedule, starting with Saratoga's big races (all times Eastern):

Saturday

5:39 p.m. – $200,000 Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga

In the Lake Placid, Technical Analysis will look to duplicate her effort from the G3 Lake George on July 23 over the Saratoga inner turf, where she tracked in third position before kicking away from Fluffy Socks to win by 1 1/4 lengths in a one-mile contest. The Chad Brown trainee has compiled a 3-0-1 record in five starts but did not face stakes competition until her sixth-place effort in the 1 1/8-mile G3 Wonder Again on June 3 at Belmont Park. After winning at a mile, the Irish-bred daughter of Kingman will be stretched back out, drawing post 2 with Jose Ortiz aboard for the fifth straight start.

Spanish Loveaffair faced top-flight competition last out, running last-of-eight in the G1 Belmont Oaks Invitational in the opening leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series on July 10. Entering off a two-month respite, the daughter of Karakontie has alternated between solid stakes efforts and disappointing finishes in her four 2021 starts.

Runaway Rumour won her first three starts for trainer Jorge Abreu, including an off-the-pace half-length victory in the Wild Applause in June at Belmont Park going one mile. After running fourth in the Lake George in her first run over the Saratoga grass, the Flintshire filly will return to the Spa, where she has worked since June, including a four-furlong work on the Oklahoma training track on Aug. 7 in 50.83 seconds.

Lake Placid Entries

6:13 p.m. – $600,000 Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga

Malathaat saw Maracuja snap her five-race undefeated record in the Coaching Club American Oaks on July 24, where the blue-blooded daughter of Curlin went into the gate as the 1-5 favorite and set a pressured pace down the backstretch before engaging in a dramatic stretch rally, coming up a head shy of victory. Malathaat will attempt to regain her status as division leader when she again faces Maracuja in the 1 1/4-mile Alabama.

Steve Asmussen will saddle Clairiere in search of her first Grade 1 triumph. Fourth beaten three lengths in the Kentucky Oaks, Clairiere seeks her first victory since the G2 Rachel Alexandra on Feb. 13 at Fair Grounds Race Course.

Following a victory in the G2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 27, Crazy Beautiful was never a factor in the Kentucky Oaks finishing a distant tenth. But her brilliance was recaptured in her following two efforts, winning the G3 Summertime Oaks on May 30 at Santa Anita ahead of a six-length romp in the G3 Delaware Oaks on July 3 at Delaware Park.

Army Wife boasts four lifetime wins all over different tracks and will seek to add Saratoga to her list of oval conquests for leading trainer Mike Maker. The bay daughter of Declaration of War was a fourth out maiden winner going seven furlongs in October at Churchill Downs before defeating winners at Gulfstream Park two starts later. After a distant third in the Gazelle, she picked up scores in the G2 Black Eyed Susan on May 14 at Pimlico and the G3 Iowa Oaks on July 2 at Prairie Meadows.

Alabama Entries

8:00 p.m. – $300,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Mile at Del Mar

Six will go hard and heavy at the classic flat mile in the Del Mar Mile and each and every one of them is a major stakes winner. Their purse earnings got past the $5.4-million mark and they're all seasoned racehorses eligible to fire a big shot Saturday.

Mo Forza is the 8-5 favorite having won his last two in a row, though both of those races came at the end of 2020 and he hasn't raced since. Of course, Peter Miller is known to have his horses ready off the layoff. The son of Uncle Mo won this race last year.

Smooth Like Strait will start at 9-5 on the morning line; he won the G1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita back in May, and ran second by a neck when stretched out to nine furlongs in the G2 Eddie Read. Shortening up to a mile could put the Michael McCarthy trainee back on top.

Hit the Road won four races in a row through March of this year, and has gotten a break from the races after finishing fifth in the G1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland in April. Dan Blacker has been working him at Del Mar since mid-July, and he appears ready for a comeback.

Del Mar Mile Entries

9:00 p.m. – $300,000 Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks at Del Mar

The Oaks has lured a field of nine including a pair of shippers: Head of Plains Partners' Fluffy Socks in from New York and Yuesheng Zhang's Soaring Sky aboard from her native Ireland.

The key prep race for the Del Mar Oaks was the G2 San Clemente Stakes, run at Del Mar at a mile on the turf on July 24. The one, two, three finishers from the race — Madone, Going Global and Tetragonal – are all back to try their luck in the more demanding and more lucrative Oaks.

Del Mar Oaks Entries

9:30 p.m. – $1 million Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar

The Pacific Classic is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” event providing its winner an all expenses paid entrance into the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be run this year at Del Mar on Saturday, Nov. 6.

Express Train earned his role as the Pacific Classic favorite by compiling and ultra-steady mark of 12-4-4-2 with earnings of $659,300. He also was the horse home first in Del Mar's key prep for the Classic, the G2 San Diego Handicap on July 17. He finished a half length to the good that afternoon going a mile and one-sixteenth and beat four of the runners he'll be facing Saturday. John Shirreffs trains Express Train and he's once again named regular rider Juan Hernandez aboard the 4-year-old Union Rags colt.

Royal Ship is a Brazilian-bred gelding by Midshipman (winner of the Del Mar Futurity in 2008 and 2-year-old champion that year) who has steadily gotten better since coming north from his native land last year. He's won six of 14 starts and earned $293,305 in his career so far and was third, beaten a length and a quarter, in the San Diego. Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella has once again named Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith to guide Royal Ship on Saturday.

Dr Post is in from the East Coast where he's proven to be a solid stakes competitor with four victories in nine starts for earnings of $700,635. His most recent outing was a tally in the G3 Monmouth Cup at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on July 17. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has commissioned Joel Rosario to ride the Quality Road colt in the Classic. Rosario, a three-time Del Mar riding champ prior to shifting his tack to the east, has twice come west to capture the Classic – with Dullahan in 2014 and Accelerate in 2018.

Pacific Classic Entries

10:00 p.m. – $300,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at Del Mar

The Del Mar Handicap will bring out 10 competitors and sets up for a clash of titans between two of the best grass route horses in the country in LNJ Foxwoods' United and Donegal Racing, Bulger and Coneway's Arklow. The Del Mar Handicap is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge race that guarantees the winner all expenses paid admission into the $4 million Breeders' Cup Turf, which will be run at Del Mar on Saturday, Nov. 6.

The likely battle royale between United and Arklow will be a fitting nightcap to Pacific Classic day. The pair of turf behemoths bring plenty of bragging rights to the race: United, a 6-year-old gelding by Giant's Causeway, has won nine races and $1,675,549. He was second, beaten a head, in this race last year. Arklow also has won nine races, but his bankroll goes past his chief rival at $2,755,746. The long-winded stretch kicker shipped to Del Mar last fall and made short work of the Hollywood Turf Cup at a mile and a half. Both runners will have their regular riders – Flavien Prat on United and Florent Geroux on Arklow.

Del Mar Handicap Entries

[Story Continues Below]

Here's a look at the remainder of the weekend's graded stakes, courtesy of NTRA:

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Saratoga, Del Mar Team Up For All-Graded Stakes Cross Country Pick 5

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 featuring all graded stakes action from Saratoga and Del Mar. The sequence will include three Grade 1s and a pair of Grade 2 contests.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Saratoga will host the first two legs of the sequence, starting with the Grade 2, $200,000 Lake Placid for 3-year-old fillies competing at 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon turf course in Race 9 at 5:39 p.m. Eastern. The Chad Brown-trained Technical Analysis will look to duplicate her effort from when she won the Grade 3 Lake George on July 23 over the Saratoga inner turf. Spanish Loveaffair, who faced top-flight competition last out in running eighth in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational in the opening leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series on July 10, will be sent out by Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. New York-bred Runaway Rumour won her first three starts for trainer Jorge Abreu, including an off-the-pace half-length victory in the Wild Applause in June at Belmont Park going one mile. After running fourth in the Lake George in her first run over the Saratoga grass, the Flintshire filly will return to the Spa.

The featured race at Saratoga, the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama, will see Malathaat out for revenge against Maracuja after the latter's last-out win in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 24 at Saratoga. Malathaat was a hard-fought winner of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs and captured the Grade 1 Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland. A victory in the Alabama would make Malathaat the fifth filly in the past decade to capture the Kentucky Oaks-Alabama double. For Maracuja, a win in the Alabama would make her the fifth horse in the last decade to score the CCA Oaks-Alabama double. Crazy Beautiful, the winner of the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 27, ran 10th in the Kentucky Oaks. But the Kenneth McPeek trainee rebounded to win the Grade 3 Summertime Oaks on May 30 at Santa Anita ahead of a six-length romp in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks on July 3 at Delaware Park.

Del Mar will host the concluding three legs, starting with the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf in Race 9 at 9 p.m. Eastern. The Brown-trained Fluffy Socks, the Lake George runner-up last month, will be returning to the track where she won the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante in November. Madone, a winner of 5-of-7 starts for trainer Simon Callaghan, enters from a rallying win in the Grade 2 San Clemente on July 24 at Del Mar. The Irish-bred Feathers, trained by Peter Miller, will make her graded stakes debut, while fellow Irish-bred Soaring Sky will make her North American debut for conditioner Jessica Harrington.

The Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic for 3-year-olds and up will be contested in Race 10 at 9:30 p.m. as a nine-horse field competes at 1 1/4 miles on the main track. Express Train, winner of the San Diego Handicap, was installed the 3-1 morning line favorite. The Union Rags colt, trained by John Shirreffs, has posted a 4-4-2 record in 12 career starts as he enters the “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Breeders' Cup Classic in November, also held at Del Mar. Royal Ship, trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, has won six of his 14 starts with earnings of $293,305 and will have the services of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. Dr Post, the 2020 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes runner-up who last out won the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, will also look to make an impact shipping to the West Coast.

Concluding the Cross Country Pick 5 will be the Grade 2, $300,000 Del Mar Handicap in Race 11 at 10 p.m. The 11-horse field for 3-year-olds and up running at 1 3/8 miles on the turf will see Shirreffs send out Astronaut, second in the Grade 3 San Jan Capistrano, square off with the Brad Cox-trained Arklow, who won the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup in November in his previous start at Del Mar.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, August 21:
Leg A: Saratoga – Race 9, G2 Lake Placid (5:39 p.m.)
Leg B: Saratoga – Race 10, G1 Alabama (6:13 p.m.)
Leg C: Del Mar – Race 9, G1 Del Mar Oaks (9:00 p.m.)
Leg D: Del Mar – Race 10, G1 Pacific Classic (9:30 p.m.)
Leg E: Del Mar– Race 11, G2 Del Mar Handicap (10:00 p.m.)

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Malathaat Seeks Redemption Against Maracuja In Alabama

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat will look to turn the tables on Maracuja, who provided the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks-winner her first career defeat last out in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks, in Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama, a 10-furlong main track test for sophomore fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

The prestigious event for sophomore fillies honors horse owner William Cottrell, who requested that the race be named after his home state of Alabama. As one of the oldest American stakes races for females, the historic test has seen many notable winners over the years, including Hall of Fame fillies Miss Woodford [1883], Beldame [1904], Top Flight [1932], Tempted [1958], Gamely [1967], Shuvee [1969], Mom's Command [1985], Go for Wand [1990], Sky Beauty [1993], Heavenly Prize [1994], Silverbulletday [1999], and Royal Delta [2011].

Malathaat saw Maracuja snap her undefeated streak in the Coaching Club American Oaks on July 24, where the blue-blooded daughter of Curlin went into the gate as the 1-5 favorite and set a pressured pace down the backstretch before engaging in a dramatic stretch rally, coming up a head shy of victory.

“I'm hoping that we get on the outside and stay clear. Those other two fillies [Maracuja and Clairiere] just kept tag teaming her and she never had a chance to take a breath,” said Shadwell Stables' General Manager Rick Nichols. “I think the additional distance will be a benefit to her as well. Her pedigree certainly points towards that direction.”

Prior to the Coaching Club American Oaks, Malathaat was a hard-fought winner of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs, giving Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher his fourth triumph in the prestigious event. She made a successful seasonal bow when capturing the Grade 1 Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland.

During her juvenile campaign, Malathaat notched stakes triumphs at Aqueduct in the Tempted and Grade 2 Demoiselle after giving Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez his 2,000th Belmont Park victory in a first-out maiden special weight victory in October at Belmont Park.

“She showed how much ability she had in the Demoiselle that day,” Nichols said. “Also, it's just kind of demonstrated how much class she has as well. She tried hard in the Kentucky Oaks and that was pretty impressive, too. She was challenged in the stretch and still ran hard and won. Even though she got beat last time, she's never had a bad race. She doesn't know she got beat.”

A victory in the Alabama would make Malathaat the fifth filly in the past decade to capture the Kentucky Oaks-Alabama double.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Malathaat is the first progeny out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia and was purchased for $1.05 million from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“She was just such a gorgeous filly with great conformation,” Nichols recalled. “As soon as I saw her, I knew Sheikh Hamdan would love her. He's always been partial to fillies. It was obvious from when I saw her that I knew she would be one that he would love.”

Velazquez, a three-time winner of the Alabama, retains the mount from post 6.

While Malathaat seeks redemption, Maracuja will try to build off her CCA Oaks victory with another prominent Saratoga conquest. A triumph in the Alabama would make Maracuja the fifth horse in the last decade to score the CCA Oaks-Alabama double, joining Questing [2012], Princess of Sylmar [2013], Stopchargingmaria [2014] and Songbird [2016].

Maracuja, a gray or roan Honor Code filly trained by Rob Atras, was a distant seventh in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks after breaking slowly from the gate and settling toward the rear of the field along the rail.

A winner at third asking going 6 ½ furlongs at Aqueduct under Kendrick Carmouche, it didn't take long for Maracuja to display two turn capabilities when finishing a good second to Search Results in the Grade 2 Gazelle on April 3 at the Big A.

“When Kendrick got off her the first time she won he said that he couldn't wait for us to stretch her out in distance. He knew right away,” Atras said. “You always hope for the best, but our goal was always to target the Coaching Club and the Alabama, so it's nice that things are coming together.”

Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. rides from post 4.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will saddle Stonestreet Stables' graded stakes winner Clairiere in search of her first Grade 1 triumph.

Never worse than fourth in seven lifetime starts, the homebred daughter of Curlin, out of the three-time Grade 1-winning Bernardini mare Cavorting, finished third in her last two efforts. Prior to finishing third beaten 5 ¾ lengths in the CCA Oaks, Clairiere rounded out the trifecta in the Grade 1 Mother Goose on June 26 at Belmont Park, where she stumbled at the start and rated at the rear of the five-horse field before making a three-wide move around the far turn, finishing 1 ¼ lengths behind Zaajel.

Fourth beaten three lengths in the Kentucky Oaks, Clairiere seeks her first victory since the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra on February 13 at Fair Grounds Race Course.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride from post 3.

Trainer Kenny McPeek has saddled two of the past three winners of the Alabama with Eskimo Kisses [2018] and Swiss Skydiver [2020] and will attempt to one up his record with Phoenix Thoroughbred III's Crazy Beautiful.

The well-traveled gray or roan daughter of third-crop sire Liam's Map has scored against graded stakes company in three of her last four starts.

Following a victory in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 27, she was never a factor in the Kentucky Oaks finishing a distant tenth. But her brilliance was recaptured in her following two efforts, winning the Grade 3 Summertime Oaks on May 30 at Santa Anita ahead of a six-length romp in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks on July 3 at Delaware Park.

Crazy Beautiful will break from post 1 under Jose Ortiz.

Three Diamonds Farm's Army Wife boasts four lifetime wins all over different tracks and will seek to add Saratoga to her list of oval conquests for leading trainer Mike Maker.

The bay daughter of Declaration of War was a fourth out maiden winner going seven furlongs in October at Churchill Downs before defeating winners at Gulfstream Park two starts later. After a distant third in the Gazelle, she picked up scores in the Grade 2 Black Eyed Susan on May 14 at Pimlico and the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks on July 2 at Prairie Meadows.

“She doesn't need to take her racetrack with her, we're just trying to pick the right spots with her and it's worked out well. I hope we have a winning trip,” Maker said.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who rode Swiss Skydiver in the 2020 Alabama, will seek a second straight Alabama win aboard Army Wife from post 7.

Trainer Dallas Stewart sends out Will's Secret after a disappointing sixth in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks on July 7 last out.

Owned and bred by Willis Horton Racing, Will's Secret's uncharacteristic performance in the Indiana Oaks came after two Grade 1-placings when third to Malathaat in the Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland and the Kentucky Oaks.
Following an off-the-turf maiden conquest in December at Fair Grounds, the daughter of 2013 Travers winner Will Take Charge captured the Martha Washington and Grade 3 Honeybee at Oaklawn Park.

Veteran jockey Jon Court ships to Saratoga to pilot Will's Secret from post 2.

Completing the field is Rigney Racing's Played Hard, who makes her stakes debut for trainer Phil Bauer.

The bay daughter of leading sire Into Mischief has not lost in two starts around two turns. After three starts at six furlongs, Played Hard handled a stretch out to 1 1/16 miles with flying colors winning a June 20 maiden special weight at Churchill Downs by 5 ¼ lengths. In her most recent effort, she defeated winners going nine furlongs on July 22 at Saratoga.

“The sprint mentality has gone away from her,” Bauer said. “She's always been a horse with natural speed but her first two-turn effort at Churchill, she was a little keen down the backside when we tried to rate her. She's come a long way as far as that; hopefully it'll make her a better racehorse. She showed it in her race here and obviously she's had everything her way, but I think good horses can create trips that look like they are given to them, but that's not necessarily the case.”

Jockey Luis Saez will ride from post 5.

The Alabama is slated as Race 10 on Saturday's 11-race card, which offers a first post of 1:05 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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