Unbeaten Search Results Atop Kentucky Oaks Leaderboard After Gazelle Victory

Klaravich Stables' Search Results remained undefeated in three starts with a facile score in Saturday's Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The Flatter filly, who earned 100 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points in victory, entered the nine-furlong test from a half-length score in the Busher Invitational going a one-turn mile. She earned a 92 Beyer for her Gazelle triumph and now tops the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 150 points.

“She looks great this morning,” said Dan Stupp, trainer Chad Brown's New York-based assistant. “She ran well yesterday and she still has room to move forward. She certainly handled the distance well.”

The Brown-trained The Grass Is Blue, a Broken Vow chestnut owned by Louis Lazzinnaro, finished fourth in the Gazelle.

Brown saddled a pair of contenders for Klaravich Stables in the Wood Memorial with Crowded Trade rallying from eighth to finish third, while mutuel favorite Risk Taking bobbled at the start and finished seventh.

Crowded Trade entered the Wood from a nose defeat to Weyburn in the Grade 3 Gotham, while Risk Taking was made the Wood favorite on the back of a convincing score in the Grade 3 Withers.

“He tried and ran well,” said Stupp regarding Crowded Trade. “Everyone is fine this morning. We'll see what Chad wants to do moving forward with them.”

Not to be overshadowed on the Wood Memorial undercard was an impressive North American debut by Peter Brant's Flighty Lady in a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance. The 4-year-old Sir Percy filly finished third in the 2019 Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp and placed in a pair of Group 3 events last year in France.

Flighty Lady was prepared by Brown at Payson Park in Florida and demonstrated a powerful kick under Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the final sixteenth to win by two lengths.

“She shipped in middle of the week and looked fantastic,” said Stupp. “She is a very classy acting filly and well behaved in the paddock. She gave a good impression on race day and then ran to it. It was a very patient ride from Irad and she responded well. She's a very exciting turf prospect for us this year.”

Flighty Lady registered an 86 Beyer in victory.

Klaravich Stables' Highly Motivated, who finished third for Brown in the Grade 3 Gotham, was a game second in Saturday's Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland. The Into Mischief bay battled gamely on the pace en route to a narrow neck defeat to undefeated Essential Quality, the reigning Champion 2-year-old colt. Highly Motivated is in 14th position in the Derby standings with 50 points.

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Search Results Dominates Filly Rivals In Gazelle Stakes At Aqueduct

Search Results ran her record to a perfect 3-for-3 and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. scored his fifth victory on the day when the Klaravich Stables 3-year-old easily defeated five other fillies seeking Kentucky Oaks points in the Grade 3 Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Racing just off pacesetter Alwayz Late, Search Results moved to the lead on the turn for home without any urging and was never threatened down the stretch, drawing off to win by 2 3/4 lengths. Maracuja, who trailed the field in the run down the backstretch under Kendrick Carmouche, finished second, with Army Wife and Trevor McCarthy third, The Grass Is Blue fourth, Alwayz Late fifth and Mia Martina sixth.

A 3-year-old filly by Flatter bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall and purchased from Select Sales at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale by Mike Ryan, agent, for $310,000, Search Results, produced from the Candy Ride mare Co Cola, is trained by Chad Brown. She covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:54.14 and paid $2.80 as the odds-on favorite. Fractions of the Gazelle were :24.88, :50.99, 1:15.06 and 1:40.70.

The top four finishers in the Gazelle earned 100-40-20-10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks, to be run at Churchill Downs on April 30.

Search Results did not race at 2 but won her debut at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 3, taking  a six-furlong maiden contest by four lengths. Brown sent the filly to New York for her next start in the Busher Invitational on March 6 and she responded with a half-length win, getting up in the final strides to defeat favored Miss Brazil.

Post-race quotes:

Chad Brown, winning trainer of Search Results (No. 8, $2.80*) and fourth-place finisher The Grass Is Blue (No. 5)“I thought she [Search Results] was very professional today. She maybe lost focus when she surged to the front and there was no one around her in deep stretch. When she had a horse in front of her, I loved the way she was moving into the bit. I was relieved to see that she could handle the mile and an eighth. We were cautiously optimistic, but you always have to see them do it first to be sure.”

On running in the Kentucky Oaks on April 30: “If she comes out of it in good shape, that would be the next step and it's something we've been working towards. Although she got her season started late, she seems to be catching up fast on this crop. She seems like one of the contenders, at least, so we're thankful for that.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr., winning jockey aboard Search Results (No. 8): “She relaxed so good. She did everything right. We broke out of there and had a target. Going into the last turn, I had plenty of horse, I was just waiting to make my move. When I asked her, she really picked it up.”

On notching his fifth win on the card and returning to New York to ride in the spring meet: “I'm so happy to be back home in New York. I have to thank all the trainers and owners. I know all the people here and I'm happy to be riding for so many trainers.”

Rob Atras, trainer of runner-up Maracuja (No. 2): The track was a little slow and they were going slow, but I wasn't too concerned as she has that late running style. She was settled and when Kendrick [Carmouche] asked her to pick it up, she did it. She raced wide and closed and ran a really game second. I'm really happy with her effort.”

Kendrick Carmouche, jockey aboard runner-up Maracuja (No. 2): “I loved this filly today. I knew coming from six and a half [furlongs] and stretching out to a mile and an eighth, I just wanted to get a good break and ride her like I did last time [a win on February 21 at Aqueduct]. She made a big run and did it well. I'm looking forward to riding her next time because this distance should really move her forward.”

Trevor McCarthy, jockey aboard third-place finisher Army Wife (No. 4): “I had an inside trip the whole way. The hole was there when we shot for it. We had a bit of inside pressure and outside pressure. It was just a tough situation. Sometimes, you get lucky. Sometimes, you don't.”

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Road To The Kentucky Oaks: Brown Enters Two In Saturday’s Gazelle

Trainer Chad Brown will send out a pair of stakes winners who are looking to take the next step up against graded company, with the duo competing as part of an eight-horse field in Saturday's Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle for sophomore fillies going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 127th running of the Gazelle – offering 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the top-four finishers to the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs – is one of five stakes on a loaded Saturday at the Big, highlighted by the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino for 3-year-olds going nine furlongs with the same point structure on the line for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 1.

The day will also include the first New York Grade 1 race of the year in the $300,000 Carter for 4-year-olds and up going seven furlongs; the Grade 3, $200,000 Bayshore for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs; and the Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior for 4-year-olds and up going nine furlongs.

The Gazelle will be contested for the first time in two years, with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing last year's edition to be missed. That marked the first time since the stretch between 1933-35 that the prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies was not run.

But the contest's resurgence will see four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown enter the respective first and third-place finishers from the Busher Invitational on March 6, saddling Klaravich Stables' Search Results and Louis Lazzinnaro's The Grass Is Blue.

Search Results, unraced as a juvenile, improved to 2-for-2 in her career with a half-length score over Miss Brazil in the Busher, contested over a one-turn mile on an Aqueduct fast track. The daughter of Flatter earned a Gazelle field-high 84 Beyer Speed Figure for that effort and will now contest at two turns for the first time, with jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons from the outermost post 8.

Brown is a two-time Gazelle winner, earning winner's circle trips with Awesome Feather [2011] and Lewis Bay [2016].

Ortiz, Jr., the winner of the last three Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Jockey, enjoyed a tremendous winter at Gulfstream with a record-setting 140 wins at the championship meet. He also piloted Lewis Bay to victory for Brown in the Gazelle five years ago.

Search Results, a debut four-length winner going six furlongs on January 3 at Gulfstream Park, was purchased for $310,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Her stablemate, The Grass Is Blue, ran third in the Busher, garnering a personal-best 74 Beyer. The consistent Broken Vow filly is 3-0-2 in six starts and has already won a stakes at the Gazelle distance, besting Coffee Bar by one length in the Busanda on January 24. That sophomore debut effort followed a three-race juvenile campaign in which she won her debut by 8 1/2 lengths in July at Monmouth Park before capturing a 6 1/2-furlong optional claiming sprint in October at Keeneland.

The Grass Is Blue earned her first stakes blacktype with a third-place effort in the Anne Arundel County on December 26 at Laurel to close the curtain on 2020. She will make her third consecutive start at Aqueduct, drawing post 5 with Manny Franco aboard.

Beach Haven Thoroughbreds' Maracuja broke her maiden at third asking, rallying from last-of-six to draw away to a 3 3/4-length win going 6 1/2 furlongs on February 21 at the Ozone Park course. The Rob Atras trainee has made all three of her starts over the same track, starting with a runner-up debut on December 20 before a third-place finish on January 23 stretched out to seven furlongs.

Atras said he needed to be patient with the Honor Code filly, who has been training at Belmont Park, including a five-furlong breeze in 1:03.69 on March 28 over the dirt training track.

“It took her a little time to come around with some baby issues,” Atras said. “She was figuring things out in her first couple of starts, but her last race she really put everything all together.”

Maracuja, bought for $200,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, will have Kendrick Carmouche's services from post 2 as she stretches out for the longest race of her young career.

“She acts like two turns shouldn't be an issue but it's a big ask going from six and a half furlongs to a mile and an eighth and stepping up to a big race like this. She's continued to train forwardly,” Atras said.

Mia Martina will make her main track debut after winning her first two career starts on turf ahead of a fourth-place effort in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks going 1 1/16 miles on the Tampa Bay Downs grass on March 6.

Trainer Graham Motion said Mia Martina, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gianni Fittipaldi, has family history on her side in trying dirt. Out of Proud and Charming, Mia Martina's sire is Not This Time, winner of the 2016 Grade 3 Iroquois and the runner-up to Classic Empire in that year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Not This Time retired after that race due to a soft tissue injury to his right front leg, prompting a successful second career as a sire.

“We talked about it and thought this will be a good time to find out how she handles the dirt,” Motion said. “She has a dirt pedigree. She's a very straight-forwarded filly who looks like the further she goes, the better, so we thought the mile and an eighth might suit her.”

Mia Martina, who drew post 3 with Junior Alvarado set to ride, worked for the first time on dirt, clocking four furlongs in 51 seconds flat on March 25 at Palm Meadows Training Center.

“She seemed to handle it fine,” Motion said. “She's not a flashy racehorse anyway. We're taking a bit of a shot but we felt this is a good spot to do it.”

Alwayz Late didn't earn her first trip to the winner's circle until her fourth career start on February 14 at Gulfstream Park but will make her first stakes appearance with momentum. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott saw the daughter of Animal Kingdom win her second straight contest with a 1 1/2-length score traveling nine furlongs against allowance optional-claiming company on March 10 at Gulfstream, improving her record to 2-0-2 in five starts.

Alwayz Late, owned by Wachtel Stable, Pantofel Stable and TOLO Thoroughbreds, will ship to New York for the first time after continuing to train at Gulfstream. Tyler Gaffalione will ride from post 6.

Three Diamonds Farm's Army Wife also won multiple races to gear up for a stakes bow, including a thrilling finish last out when she topped Happy Constitution by a nose in a one-mile optional claiming race on March 13 at Gulfstream.

Conditioned by Mike Maker, Army Wife was purchased for $190,000 at the 2020 Ocala Breeders' Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. Trevor McCarthy will ride from post 4.

Augustin Stable's Song of Innocence made her last three starts on Turfway Park's all-weather surface and will make her first stakes start for trainer Jonathan Thomas, breaking from post X in tandem with Eric Cancel. Song of Innocence broke her maiden at third asking going one mile at Turfway on January 29.

Magic Oaks' Hybrid Eclipse, off two straight wins for trainer Linda Rice, will compete in a stakes for the first time in six career starts, exiting post X with Jose Ortiz aboard.

The Gazelle is slated as Race 9 on the 11-race program. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

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Atras Looking To Maintain Hot Streak With Chateau, Maracuja In Aqueduct Stakes

Trainer Rob Atras boasts a 20-9-3-2 record at Aqueduct racetrack in March and he hopes to parlay such prosperity into April with likely stakes contenders Chateau and Maracuja for next Saturday's stakes-laden Wood Memorial Day program at the Ozone Park, N.Y., track.

“We've had a good March, I don't want it to end,” Atras said.

Atras, 37, saddled Michael Dubb's Chateau to a win in the Grade 3 Tom Fool last out on March 6 at the Big A and will take the next step up for Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap at seven furlongs.

The 6-year-old son of Flat Out broke alertly, commanded swift fractions up front, and was never in doubt in the stretch running home a 3 ½-length winner in the Tom Fool. The win produced a career-best 100 Beyer.

Chateau is in the best form of his 33-race career having finished in the money in his last six starts while boasting a 9-5-2-2 record over the Big A main track.

Having never won past 6 ½-furlongs, Atras said there is some concern with the extra furlong.

“He deserves a shot. His last race was a big performance,” Atras said. “We know he loves Aqueduct and seems to relish that surface. Obviously, there are distance questions but only time will tell with him.”

Beach Haven Thoroughbreds' Maracuja also will step up to the plate for Atras in the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle, a 100-40-20-10 qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

Third time was the charm for the daughter of third-crop sire Honor Code, who broke her maiden by 3 3/4-lengths on February 21 at Aqueduct over a good track. Trailing the compact field early on as the 4-5 favorite, Maracuja made a four-wide move approaching the top of the stretch and took command nearing the eighth-pole en route to a maiden victory.

Atras also expressed distance concerns with Maracuja, who will be running two turns for the first time in the nine-furlong Gazelle.

“She acts like two turns shouldn't be an issue but it's a big ask going from six and a half furlongs to a mile and an eighth and stepping up to a big race like this,” Atras said. “She's continued to train forwardly, and I think we're going to give it a shot. It's a really big step up. She's a nice filly and she won really professional last time. I would have liked to have had a prep going a mile or something heading into a two-turn race like the Gazelle.”

Atras said he would wait until after the Gazelle to determine the path that Maracuja would go down.

“She is really just race to race with her right now, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. She's just learning things and putting it together,” Atras said.

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche retains the mount on both Chateau and Maracuja.

On Saturday, Atras enjoyed a victory with American Power in the seven-furlong Caixa Eletronica on New York Claiming Championship Day. The 6-year-old Power Broker chestnut battled with fellow stakes-winner Pete's Play Call but ultimately got the better of his foe, securing the win by one length.

Prior to Saturday's victory, American Power gave Atras his first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Toboggan on January 30 at the Big A.

“He came out of his race really good. He ate everything up and jogged sound this morning, so everything is going well,” Atras said.

Atras said he would continue to space American Power's races out.

“He seems to do better with some space in between races so I'm not sure what we'll look at yet,” Atras said. “We'll mostly just go over him the next few days and then speak to [co-owner] Sandy Goldfarb and see which direction we'll go. I don't think he needs that much time, but with how everything worked out this ended up being the race that we pointed for.”

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