For example, Saturday's sire of the moment was Juddmonte's European-based Frankel (GB). His G1 Epsom Derby-winning son Adayar (Ire) impressively won the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. at Ascot for owner/breeder Godolphin, becoming the first 3-year-old since Frankel's sire Galileo (Ire) 20 years ago to land the prestigious double.

One of the best stallions in the world, Frankel stands for £175,000 and is patronized by high-end breeders like Godolphin, which also races Frankel's G1 Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane (Ire). Two weeks ago, Hurricane Lane won the G1 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp, giving his sire the two best European 3-year-old colts of the season and Godolphin an embarrassment of riches. Godolphin is also enjoying a banner season in North America with such as Maxfield (Street Sense), Essential Quality (Tapit) and Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) among many others.

It's much the same story if you substitute the “Godolphin” name with Coolmore, Juddmonte, WinStar, or several other prominent ownership groups, just as you can count on two hands the high-profile super trainers that condition most of the top horses or the elite group of stallions that have cornered the market on the best mares in the world to get the drift that racing is indeed becoming exclusively a sport for the “kings” of the game.

That's why it's always refreshing to see success for smaller players on a big stage. These days, it's rare, but it happens.

Juddmonte's Kentucky-based Mizzen Mast, a still-active 23-year-old who stands for a fraction of Frankel's fee and is far removed from the height of fashion, also was represented by a graded winner on Saturday when the 4-year-old Pennsylvania-bred filly Caravel won the Glll Caress S. on turf at Saratoga. The Caress obviously isn't as glamorous a race as the one Adayar won, but it was a triumph for a segment of the game that's quickly disappearing. The filly was bred and is co-owned by her trainer Elizabeth Merryman, who comes from a Maryland racing family that's been breeding and training homebreds for decades.

Mizzen Mast, who stands for $7,500, began his racing career in Europe, where he was a notch below the best of his generation. He was second in the Grand Prix de Paris, the race Hurricane Lane won, but he didn't find success at the highest level until he was transferred to California and won the Gl Malibu S. at Santa Anita on the dirt. Ironically, as a stallion he gets his best runners on turf, and seven of his eight Grade I/Group 1 winners (excluding one in Peru) have performed at that level on grass. In that sense, Caravel is running true to form, and she's reportedly being aimed for the Gl Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. If that sounds ambitious, keep in mind that several fillies have won the race, including two-time winner Mizdirection, who also was sired by Mizzen Mast.

From what I've read, Merryman got Caravel's dam Zeezee Zoomzoom (Congrats) for free after she was done racing. The mare's lone win had come in a one-mile maiden special on the turf at Saratoga, and Merryman sent her, sight unseen, to be covered by grass specialist Mizzen Mast, a friend of small owner/breeders because he gets runners at an affordable fee. Caravel was foaled at her breeder's farm in Pennsylvania.

Merryman acquired her skills naturally and from an early age. Her parents were the late John B. and Katharine “Kitty” Merryman, longtime Maryland owner/breeders who owned the 500-plus acre The Orebanks, a farm near Sparks, MD, where they raised six kids, along with horses and cattle. Her father once headed the Maryland Horse Breeders' Association, and her parents bred and raced the decorated Maryland-bred filly Twixt (Restless Native) in the 1970s with relative Mrs. John Franklin, in whose colors she ran.

Twixt was bred by the Merrymans from an inexpensive mare and was sired by an Alfred Vanderbilt-bred and -owned son of Native Dancer who'd made only three starts (no stakes) and was standing at his owner's Sagamore Farm for $1,000.

I was a kid following racing during this period and was fortunate to see the popular Twixt race several times. All told, she won 26 races from 70 starts, including the Gl Top Flight H., and earned $619,141. She was trained by Katy Voss (who owns Chanceland), Elizabeth Merryman's oldest sister. Of the Merrymans' six kids, five became trainers at one time or another, mostly starting out with their parents' stock.

Back then, this wasn't as rare as it now seems. There were plenty of folks like the Merrymans in the Mid-Atlantic region with similar backgrounds–educated, somewhat preppy, frequently WASPy–whose lives revolved around horses and livestock, whether it was showing ponies, riding hunts, timber racing or racing on the flat. It's a world in which horsemanship was crafted from the bottom up, and horses were developed with patience, because racing them, instead of selling them as yearlings, was the priority. It's why Katy Voss could seamlessly take Twixt to the biggest of stages and compete against the best trainers of the era, just as Elizabeth Merryman has now done with Caravel at Saratoga.

Like Twixt, who was unraced at two and brought along patiently, so too was Caravel. Merryman, who trained Caravel at Fair Hill, started her five times last year at three, winning four sprint races with the filly, all in the Mid-Atlantic region at Penn National and Presque Isle in races on turf or all-weather. Caravel made one start at Pimlico, in the Listed Hill Top S., in which she was third in her lone start at a mile and a sixteenth on turf, but the filly won two black-type races on the all-weather at Presque Isle.

Once Merryman had established that sprinting on turf or all-weather was Caravel's metier, the trainer has honed that aspect of the filly's game and gradually upped the level of competition, culminating in her first graded win on Saturday–her fourth start of 2021. To date, Caravel has won seven of nine starts and earned $367,872, with her best days seemingly still to come.

This is a pattern of development that's rarely seen nowadays because the focus of many, it seems, is on the now instead of the future. You see it all the time with trainers quick to jump young well-bred maiden winners into graded black-type races to enhance value as quickly as possible, sometimes to the detriment of development.

As it turns out, Merryman has been rewarded for her patient approach with Caravel, because chef and high-end collector Bobby Flay purchased a reported 75% of the filly prior to the Caress, and she ran in his silks. Caravel, with Merryman's blessing, has now been moved to Graham Motion's barn to prepare for a possible tilt at the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

Wanamaker's

Elizabeth Merryman's daughter Liza Hendriks is a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start program and is co-founder of the monthly online auction site Wanamaker's, which debuted last year. I have no idea what Flay paid for his interest in Caravel, but the filly was available for purchase on Wanamaker's last October before her run in the Hilltop S. She didn't find a buyer and was unsold for a $330,000 RNA–a bargain in retrospect.

As a family, the Merrymans have been strong supporters of Wanamaker's, with Chanceland, Katy Voss's farm, and Ann Merryman (another trainer and sister to Katy Voss and Elizabeth Merryman who races as The Orebanks) also consignors on the site. I've been a longtime fan of Ann Merryman's Twitter page (the handle, @Orebanks, is a paean to the farm where it all began for her parents), but that aside, it's notable that she sold her homebred gelding Fiya (Friesan Fire) to Robert Masiello last July on Wanamaker's for $400,000. Fiya has since won four of five starts for Masiello, including the Maryland Million Turf Sprint H. and the Claiming Crown Canterbury S., and most recently Fiya won an allowance/optional claimer at Belmont on July 4.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Bred, trained, and co-owned by Elizabeth Merryman in partnership with Bobby Flay, the 4-year-old Mizzen Mast gray provided her conditioner with her first win at Saratoga and first graded stakes win.

Flay purchased a majority stake in the filly following her impressive score in the five-furlong Goldwood in June at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. Caravel will be conditioned by Graham Motion going forward.

“It was pretty great. A really fun, memorable day and a great way to wrap up my stint as her trainer. It was a lot of fun,” Merryman said. “She seems like she came out of the race very well. She's a little tired after shipping up and running but I'm pleased with how she came out of it.”

Caravel, with Irad Ortiz, Jr. up for the first time, settled in third position as Robin Sparkles set a swift pace. Angled into the clear for the stretch run, Caravel rallied by her rivals with a powerful turn-of-foot to secure the 2 1/2-length win and a 97 Beyer.

“Irad rode a picture-perfect race as he is known to do,” Merryman said. “She's pretty fast when she gets the cue to go. She's learned that she needs to settle and wait for the cue and that's really helped her running style.”

The year-end goal for Caravel is the five-furlong $1 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on November 6 at Del Mar. Merryman said the abbreviated distance shouldn't be an issue.

“She just ran at Monmouth going five furlongs in 54 and 4, so I think it shouldn't be a problem,” Merryman said. “The main problem at Del Mar will be that many horses and traffic. She certainly will go through a hole that doesn't exist. If you're going to be a really good turf sprinter, you have to have the courage and moxie to be willing to go through spots where you have to make your own room.”

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Backed to even-money favoritism off a pair of stakes wins, Caravel was away well from her rail draw and settled to track from third off pacesetting New York native Robin Sparkles (Elusive Quality), who zipped through a :21.64 first quarter. Robin Sparkles turned for home in front with Jakarta (Bustin Stones)–who was only running for purse money–just off her flank and Caravel ranging up in the three path. Caravel found another gear in mid-stretch, powering past the leader to win going away. In Good Spirits (Ghostzapper) rallied late to be second and Robin Sparkles held third.

“The whole turn, she was on the bridle waiting for the time to go,” Ortiz said. “I wanted to make sure to go around the horses like she did last time at Monmouth [winning the Goldwood June 25]. I was able to get in the clear and as soon as I asked, she gave me a really good kick–a good turn-of-foot.”

“I don't know if she's improved, but I think people understand how she needs to be ridden, and the trip is better now,” Merryman said. “I said to [Irad Ortiz, Jr.] just be as quiet as you can leaving the gate because the least twitch of the reins and she's going. It's pretty amazing. You watch Saratoga and just think it's the place to be. To come up here with a filly like that, it's amazing.”

With Flay now the majority owner, Caravel will be transferred to Graham Motion following this victory.

“He's watched her train pretty much every day. He's just been so nice and classy and sweet about her,” Merryman said of Motion. “Bobby Flay now owns a majority interest in her and we made a plan when he was interested in buying to make that change. That was something I was in agreement with from the time of the sale of the majority of her. Graham is in the next barn to me at Fair Hill [in Maryland]. It'll all be good.”

She continued, “Hopefully, the goal is the [GI] Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and Graham has so much experience going that route. It seemed like a really smart thing to do from my perspective as well. Not that I don't think I could handle it, but with the change in the ownership, Graham has a system that works great and he's been through all that.”

Opening her account with a trio of victories, including the Lady Erie S. last summer, Caravel checked in third in that Pimlico's Hilltop S. in October and returned to winning ways in the state-bred Malvern Rose S. back at Presque Isle Oct. 22. Third in Belmont's License Fee S. Apr. 30, the PA-bred rallied to victory in The Very One S. in Baltimore May 14 and romped in Monmouth's Goldwood S. June 25.

Pedigree Notes:

Caravel is the 24th graded winner for Mizzen Mast and one of 61 black-type scorers by that Juddmonte sire. The winner is the first foal out of Zeezee Zoomzoom, a daughter of SW & MGSP Zee Zee (Exchange Rate). Her 3-year-old filly Tipsy Chatter (Bourbon Courage) broke her maiden earlier this year for Merryman. The 9-year-old mare is also responsible for an unraced juvenile gelding named Witty (Great Notion), a yearling colt by Holy Boss and a 2021 colt by Great Notion. Zeezee Zoomzoom was bred back to Street Boss.

Saturday, Saratoga
CARESS S.-GIII, $200,000, Saratoga, 7-24, 4yo/up, f/m, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.38, fm.
1–CARAVEL, 122, f, 4, by Mizzen Mast
                1st Dam: Zeezee Zoomzoom, by Congrats
                2nd Dam: Zee Zee, by Exchange Rate
                3rd Dam: Emblem of Hope, by Dynaformer
   1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($330,000 RNA 3yo '20 WANOCT).
O-Bobby Flay & Elizabeth M. Merryman; B/T-Elizabeth M.
Merryman (PA); J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $110,000. Lifetime Record:
9-7-0-2, $367,872. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–In Good Spirits, 118, f, 4, Ghostzapper–Mon Arch Lass, by
Arch. ($200,000 Ylg '18 FTSAUG). O-Bal Mar Equine, LLC;
B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Albert M.
Stall, Jr. $40,000.
3–Robin Sparkles, 120, f, 4, Elusive Quality–My Sparky, by
Dehere. ($30,000 Ylg '18 SARAUG). O-Michael Schrader;
B-Hibiscus Stables (NY); T-Bruce R. Brown. $24,000.
Margins: 2HF, HF, 3/4. Odds: 1.00, 9.00, 1.30.
Also Ran: Tass, Flower Point, Jakarta. 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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Under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., Caravel broke well, settling in behind Robin Sparkles and Jakarta, who was running for only purse money after an inadvertent scratch Saturday morning, as the field ran down the backstretch at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Robin Sparkles, with Jose Ortiz in the saddle, held a length and a half lead going in the final turn, as Irad took Caravel to the outside for her stretch run.

With Jakarta in second on the rail, Robin Sparkles maintained her front runner status through the first part of the stretch, with Caravel sprinting down the stretch to her outside. In the race's final yards, Caravel passed Robin Sparkles to take over the lead and draw away to win by two and a half lengths. Robin Sparkles held on for third behind a surging In Good Spirits, who was second. The final time for the 5 1/2 furlongs was 1:02.38.

Tass, Flower Point, and Jakarta rounded out the field. Caravel paid $4.00, $2.70, and $2.10. In Good Spirits paid $5.70 and $2.80. Robin Sparkles paid $2.10.

Find this race's chart here.

The Mizzen Mast filly went into the G3 turf sprint off of victories in the Goldwood at Monmouth Park and the Very One at Pimlico Race Course, performances that led Bobby Flay to purchase a majority interest in Caravel from Merryman. From here, Caravel will join the barn of trainer Graham Motion.

“Bobby Flay now owns a majority interest in her and we made a plan when he was interested in buying to make that change,” Merryman said after the Caress. “That was something I was in agreement with from the time of the sale of the majority of her. Graham is in the next barn to me at Fair Hill [in Maryland]. It'll all be good.”

“Hopefully, the goal is the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and Graham has so much experience going that route. It seemed like a really smart thing to do from my perspective as well. Not that I don't think I could handle it, but with the change in the ownership, Graham has a system that works great and he's been through all that. It'll be a good way to go. I'll still own part of her.”

“The whole turn, she was on the bridle waiting for the time to go.” Irad Ortiz, Jr. told the NYRA Press Office after the race. “I wanted to make sure to go around the horses like she did last time at Monmouth [winning the Goldwood on June 25]. I was able to get in the clear and as soon as I asked, she gave me a really good kick – a good turn-of-foot.”

Bred in Pennsylvania, Caravel is a 4-year-old gray filly by Mizzen Mast out of Congrats mare Zeezee Zoomzoom. With this victory in the G3 Caress, Caravel has seven wins in nine lifetime starts, for career earnings of $367,872.

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Trained by Bruce Brown, the 4-year-old Elusive Quality bay has won races at all three NYRA tracks, including a state-bred maiden score at the Spa last summer under returning pilot Jose Ortiz.

Bred in the Empire State by Hibiscus Stables, Robin Sparkles won 4-of-6 starts in a productive sophomore campaign, including open allowance wins in turf sprints at Belmont Park in September and Aqueduct Racetrack in November.

Robin Sparkles finished second in the open License Fee in April over good Belmont turf to launch her 4-year-old campaign ahead of a front-running score in the off-the-turf Mount Vernon against fellow state-breds on May 31 at the Elmont oval.

Last out, Robin Sparkles bested an open six-furlong optional-claiming turf sprint on firm footing at Belmont by 2 1/4 lengths, garnering a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

“That last race was like a stake and it was open company. I think she proved she can run with those,” Brown said. “Ideally, I'd like to see it on the firmer side, but I think she can handle pretty much anything.”

Ortiz, who has guided Robin Sparkles to five of her six career wins, was aboard for a half-mile breeze in 48.31 seconds July 16 on the Oklahoma dirt training track.

“He really likes her and was getting on her before she even ran,” Brown said. “He has a really good rapport with her and can tell us how she's doing compared to before. It's always good when you can keep a consistent rider on them.”

Ortiz retains the mount from post 2.

Caravel, bred in Pennsylvania by her trainer Elizabeth Merryman, will make her Saratoga debut.

Bobby Flay purchased a majority interest in the 4-year-old Mizzen Mast grey following her last-out 4 1/4-length score in the Goldwood, a five-furlong turf sprint at Monmouth Park on June 25.

A stylish last-to-first maiden winner after a slow start on debut in June 2020 in a state-bred five-furlong turf sprint at Penn National, Caravel blitzed to a front-running state-bred allowance score at second asking at the same course and distance in a rapid final time of 54.66.

“I was pretty impressed with her second start,” Merryman said. “I told the jock not to rush her, but he did. She ran so fast that day, she could barely corner and was just off an 18-year-old track record. I knew then she was the real deal.”

After a score in six-furlong Lady Erie in October on the Presque Isle Downs synthetic, Caravel stretched out in distance for the one-mile Hilltop contested over yielding turf at Pimlico Race Course.

Hollywood Hoopla, trained by Merryman's sister, Ann, set the pace in the Hilltop before fading, while Caravel dug in to finish third, defeated just three lengths in a race won by multiple stakes winner Evil Lyn over eventual graded-stakes winner Vigilantes Way.

“The one time I sent her long, the turf was so soft and she didn't settle very well. My sister's horse was adamant about going to the lead and she still held on for third,” Merryman said. “That turf was so bottomless and it was first time long and she was really rank going down the backside. Usually, when a horse gets a trip like that they completely pack it in down the lane and she didn't at all. She's always acted like she could go farther, but I've kept her sprinting because she's very good at it.”

Caravel enters the Caress on a two-race win streak in open five-furlong turf sprints, including a nose score in The Very One on May 14 at Pimlico and a sharp score in the Goldwood that garnered a career-best 99 Beyer.

Merryman said the lofty speed figure last out may be a result of stiffer competition, stepping into open stakes company.

“She's a lot more mature. She's stouter and stronger, but I don't know if she's improved that much or if she's just been tested more so her numbers have gone up,” Merryman said.

A winner of 6-of-8 career starts, Caravel is out of the Congrats mare Zeezee Zoomzoom, who graduated in August 2015 in a one-mile turf test on the Saratoga turf.

Caravel will exit the inside post under Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Three Diamonds Farm's graded-stakes placed Jakarta, a 6-year-old daughter of Bustin Stones, boasts a record of 23-8-3-3 with purse earnings of $359,279.

Trained by Mike Maker, the consistent mare, who finished fourth in the optional-claiming event won by Robin Sparkles last out, finished second to Cariba in last year's ungraded Caress in her lone start at the Spa.

Jakarta exited the Caress to win a starter allowance in September at Kentucky Downs ahead of a close third in the Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County in October at Keeneland. The Pennsylvania-bred bay continued that good run of form by capturing the Claiming Crown Distaff Dash in December at Gulfstream to close out her campaign.

Winless in five starts this season, Maker said he is hoping a return to the Saratoga turf will give the talented bay a boost.

“She's run well here before and ran a great race here last year, so we're giving it another shot. I would think she would be up close early,” Maker said.

Luis Saez, aboard for the Gulfstream win, returns to the saddle from the outermost post 6.

Rounding out the field are Tass [post 3, Eric Cancel], In Good Spirits [post 4, John Velazquez], and Flower Point [post 5, Joel Rosario].

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

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The 4-year-old daughter of Mizzen Mast turned in another dazzling – and winning – effort, drawing away with ease to score a 4¼-length victory in Friday night's $75,000 Goldwood Stakes at Monmouth Park.

How good was Caravel in winning for the sixth time in eight career starts? When she flashed across the finish line in a slightly eased-up :54.97 for the five furlongs on the grass she missed the 10-year-old track record by just four-tenths of a second.

“I thought it was brilliant,” Merryman said of the performance by the filly she also bred. “She pulled away like it was nothing. It would be really nice to try graded stakes company with her next. So maybe the (Grade 3) Caress at Saratoga (on July 24). We'll see. With these turf races the weather is everything. She is just a dream. She continues to amaze me every time she races.”

Ridden by Pablo Morales, Caravel broke a tad slow but was able to sit comfortably in fourth early on behind dueling leaders Gotta Go Mo and Victory Kingdom, who ripped off the opening quarter in :20.56. Morales moved Caravel off the rail and outside entering the final turn, with the opening half going in :43.44. He then set her down after Miss Auramet, who was poised to take the lead in mid-stretch over the tiring frontrunners.

But Caravel ran right by Miss Auramet, who was coming off a May 30 victory in the Politely Stakes at Monmouth Park.

“She broke well. I just didn't send her,” said Morales. “I was going to be wherever I was going to be with her because I know she is usually forwardly placed on her own.

“After they sent so hard out of there, showing a ton of speed, I just figured I'd wait a little and get around them and get in the clear because I know how well she finishes. She has a great closing kick.”

Caravel returned $5.80 to win in the field of eight 3-year-old fillies. Miss Auramet held for second, a half-length ahead No Mercy Percy.

Bred in Pennsylvania, Caravel's only two lifetime defeats were third-place finishes on a good and a yielding turf course. She won the Very One Stakes at Pimlico on May 14 in her last start, overcoming traffic issues to do so.

Owner, Breeder and Trainer of Caravel, Elizabeth Merryman gives the thumbs up after winning the Goldwood Stakes at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, NJ on Friday June 25, 2021. Photo By Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO

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With Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, Cariba settled in fourth position as Luis Saez urged Jakarta to the lead through splits of 22.10 and 44.63 on the firm turf under pressure from Introduced with Dalika, the 9-5 mutuel favorite under Joel Rosario, racing in ninth.

Jakarta maintained a precarious lead through the turn with Getmotherarose threatening an inside run and Sweet Bye and Bye ranging up on the outside. Getmotherarose was stopped in traffic but Cariba, under urging from Ortiz, Jr., found another gear late in the lane and surged to victory in a final time of 1:01.53.

Jakarta held second by a head over Sweet Bye and Bye. Rounding out the order of finish was Introduced, Dalika, I'llhandalthecash, Miss Gossip, Mother Mother, Getmotherarose, and Saratoga Treasure.

Ortiz, Jr. said he followed the leading trainer's instructions to the letter.

“I got a perfect trip. I just followed the instructions. [Clement] told me to be third or fourth and don't be too far,” said Ortiz, Jr. “The horse put me right there and when I tipped her out in the stretch, she had something left and finished up very well. She ran really good.”

Clement now boasts 14 wins at the meet including six stakes wins led by graded scores with Decorated Invader in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame and Speaktomeofsummer in the Grade 2 Lake Placid.

The French-born trainer said he asked Ortiz, Jr. to provide Cariba, making her stakes debut, with a close stalking trip.

“I thought there was two or three speeds and I didn't think we could be in the first two,” said Clement. “I said to be aggressive and get a position third or fourth because we had a bad draw and you don't want to be caught in the back in traffic and everything. He gave her a perfect trip. It's always nice when it works out.”

Bred in Kentucky by Brereton C. Jones, Cariba banked $110,000 in victory while improving her record to three wins and three seconds from eight starts. She paid $10.40 for a $2 win bet.

Live racing returns on Sunday with a 10-race card which features the $100,000 Birdstone for 4-year-olds and upward going 1 ¾ miles over the main track. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

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