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Classic Lady Headlines Field For Friday’s John Hettinger At Belmont

Michael Dubb and Michael J. Caruso's Classic Lady will lead a field of seven New York-bred fillies and mares in Friday's $125,000 John Hettinger, a nine-furlong inner turf test, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by Christophe Clement, the 6-year-old Jimmy Creed mare will face three returning foes from her third-place effort last out in the $150,000 Yaddo at 1 1/16-miles on the Mellon turf August 27 as part of New York Showcase Day at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Classic Lady, bred by Seth Gregory and Robert Barney, enjoyed a productive 2020 campaign finishing second in the one-mile Mount Vernon at Belmont ahead of a win in the 1 1/16-mile Dayatthespa on the Saratoga inner turf that registered a 91 Beyer Speed Figure. She completed last year's brief three-race campaign with a third-place finish in the Yaddo.

The veteran mare boasts a record of 20-4-5-5 with purse earnings of $291,290 and has made just two starts this season, including a close fourth off a 10-month layoff in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming event at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., on July 31.

“I'm struggling a little bit to get her back as good as she was last year. I thought she ran a decent race last time,” Clement said of the Yaddo effort that garnered a seasonal-best 77 Beyer. “She's trained well but I don't have her quite at the same level as I had her at last year according to the numbers.”

Clement said Classic Lady, who boasts a perfect in-the-money record on the Belmont turf of 5-2-2-1, will need all of her stamina to secure the win.

“I think she will see the mile and an eighth, but she may be a little bit better going shorter,” Clement said.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will pilot Classic Lady from the outermost post 9.

Lawrence Goichman's homebred Myhartblongstodady put together a four-race win streak from November 2019 to October 2020 that included stakes scores in last year's Yaddo and the 1 1/16-mile Ticonderoga in October at Belmont.

The ultra-consistent 6-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy is stakes placed twice this season with a third in the one-mile Plenty of Grace in April at the Big A and a close second last out in the Yaddo.

Trained by Jorge Abreu, Myhartblongstodady will exit post 8 under Jose Lezcano.

Ice Princess, trained and co-owned by Danny Gargan with Flying P Stable and R. A. Hill Stable, is graded-stakes placed on dirt having finished second in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Comely in November at the Big A. She captured the one-mile Maddie May on the Aqueduct main track in February 2020.

The Palace Malice gray, bred by Mina Equivest, is out of the Awesome Again mare Happy Clapper, who posted a record of 1-3-1 in 13 turf starts.

Ice Princess made her turf debut in June, finishing fourth in an open 1 1/16-mile allowance event after a troubled start. She enters from a four-length score in an open nine-furlong allowance event contested on a sloppy and sealed main track on August 19 at Saratoga.

Luis Saez will have the call from post 4.

Rounding out the field are Pecatonica [post 1, Jose Ortiz], a close fourth last out in the Yaddo; Dancingwthdaffodls [post 3, Eric Cancel], who saw a two-race win streak – both against optional-claimers – come to an end last out when seventh in the Yaddo; and recent allowance winner Cara's Dreamer [post 5, Dylan Davis]. Make Mischief and Dancing Kiki [sixth last out in the Yaddo] are entered for the main-track only.

The Hettinger is slated as Race 8 on Friday's 9-race card. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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Got Stormy Breezes In Anticipation Of Kentucky Downs Start

My Racehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm's multiple Grade 1-winner Got Stormy breezed a half-mile in :47.45 on the Oklahoma training turf Sunday under exercise rider Janelle Castonguay.

“On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it an 11,” Casse said. “She went faster than I had planned. She just loves it here. Janelle was saying she just shoots around the turns here.”

Casse said the two-time Grade 1 Fourstardave-winner [2019, 2021] will make her next start on September 11 at Kentucky Downs in either the 6 1/2-furlong $600,000 Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint or against the boys in the six-furlong $1 million Turf Sprint.

Gary Barber's Make Mischief endured a difficult trip in the Fleet Indian in Friday's New York Showcase Day, hitting the gate at the break and racing wide after exiting the outermost most post en route to a neck loss to Byhubbyhellomoney in the nine-furlong route.

“Given the circumstances, she ran very well,” Casse said. “By breaking the way she did, it cost her and she was wide. We had planned on trying to be up near the pace and she gave the winner 48 feet.”

Casse said Make Mischief will point to the $250,000 Empire Distaff, a 1 1/16-mile test for state-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and up on October 30.

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Acorn Trifecta Wheels Back In Saturday’s Longines Test

The top-three finishers from June's Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park – featuring winner Search Results, runner-up Obligatory and Make Mischief – will again comprise a talented field in a prestigious stake for 3-year-old fillies in Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Test at seven furlongs at Saratoga Race Course.

The 96th edition of the Longines Test, slated as Race 8 on the 12-race docket, is one of five stakes on a loaded card, headlined by the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney for 4-year-olds and up that is a “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Breeders' Cup Classic. Also on tap will be the Grade 1, $1 million Saratoga Derby as the middle jewel of the Turf Triple series for 3-year-olds, as well as the Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls for older fillies and mares on the turf and the $120,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure for older horses on the Mellon turf course.

Klaravich Stables' Search Results, who posted a half-length win in the Acorn going a one-turn mile on Belmont Stakes Day June 5, has won four of her five career starts for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. The daughter of Flatter did not race as a juvenile but started her sophomore year with three straight wins, building on a debut victory in January at Gulfstream Park with a pair of stake wins at Aqueduct Racetrack in the one-mile Busher Invitational in March and the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Gazelle in April.

That victory at the Big A spring-boarded Search Results' appearance in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30, where she was forwardly placed and challenged Malathaat in the stretch before settling for second, just a neck off the winner. Five weeks later, Search Results fended off Obligatory and Make Mischief's late charge to win the Acorn, earning an identical 95 Beyer Speed Figure she achieved in the Kentucky Oaks.

Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard for the Gazelle and Kentucky Oaks, will return to ride Search Results, drawing post 7.

Brown will also send out Three Chimneys Farm's Always Carina, who won her first two starts before running second to fellow Test participant Zaajel in the Grade 2 Mother Goose going 1 1/16 miles on June 26 at Belmont. The lightly raced daughter of Malibu Moon will make her Saratoga debut, drawing post 5. Flavien Prat has the call.

Gary Barber's Make Mischief won her debut in June 2020 at Belmont before posting a pair of runner-up efforts in graded stakes at the Spa, finishing behind Dayoutoftheoffice in the Grade 3 Schuylerville and the Grade 2 Adirondack.

Trainer Mark Casse, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame across the street from Saratoga Race Course on Friday, sent Make Mischief to Chris Englehart to start her 3-year-old year, which included a victory by a neck over Brattle House in the one-mile Maddie May in February at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Returning to Casse for the spring, Make Mischief has been a contender when facing top-flight divisional competition again, running third in the Grade 2 Eight Belles in April at Churchill Downs at the Test distance before running third in the Grade 1 Acorn. The Into Mischief filly ran a competitive fourth in the Grade 2 Mother Goose last out and will return to Saratoga with Tyler Gaffalione set to ride from post 6.

“When we broke her, I told Gary I thought she was a pretty good filly,” Casse said. “I think she just needed a little more ground and a little bit of time to grow up. Her races this year have been good. I kept her with Chris Englehart over the winter since we didn't have any horses in New York at that time. He ran her right away and she won and he did a great job with her.”

Make Mischief, bred in New York by Avanti Stable, is the field's most experienced entrant with 12 starts, compiling a 4-3-2 record with earnings of $365,750.

Her stablemate, Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational, notched her first graded stakes win last out, displaying a strong closing kick to draw away for a 3 1/4-length score in the Grade 3 Victory Ride going 6 1/2 furlongs on July 10 at Belmont.

Casse campaigned the daughter of Curlin in a series of Kentucky Oaks preps at Fair Grounds to start 2021, and she responded with a runner-up performance in the Silverbulletday. After an off-the-board effort in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra in February, Souper Sensational returned to the same track to earn third in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks also going 1 1/16 mile in March.

Souper Sensational returned to sprinting in April, finishing fourth in the Eight Belles, and last out earned a career-best 95 Beyer for her Victory Ride win over a Big Sandy track rated good.

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Casse said Charlotte Weber, owner of Live Oak Plantation, helped select the $725,000 purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale.

“She is by Curlin out of an Indian Charlie mare, but if you look at her she's more a sprinter type,” Casse said. “She [Weber] helped pick this one out. We bought her here in Saratoga. She's a really good horsewoman herself, she knows what she's looking at. We go around at the sale and she usually picks out one or two and that's how we got her.”

Ricardo Santana, Jr. will ride Souper Sensational for the first time, drawing post 2.

Juddmonte's Obligatory also was a filly who benefitted from cutting back in distance, going from a fourth-place finish in the Fair Grounds Oaks to a one-length win in the Eight Belles in her first stakes sprint for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

After earning a 94 Beyer for her second to Search Results in the Acorn, the fellow Curlin filly will compete at Saratoga for the first time, drawing post 4 in tandem with Jose Ortiz, who won this race in back-to-back years aboard American Gal and Separationofpowers from 2017-18.

Shadwell Stable's Zaajel garnered a 96 number for her 1 1/4-length Mother Goose win for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Zaajel made her turf debut in the Grade 2 Edgewood the race prior, finishing seventh in April over the Churchill grass, before Pletcher moved her back to dirt and running her around one turn.

“That made some of the difference,” Pletcher said. “The race before that was an experiment on the turf that didn't pan out. The time before that in Louisiana she misbehaved in the gate, got off to a poor start and got a little rank in the first turn. I think she'll handle two turns down the road but we wanted to keep her and Malathaat separated for the time being, so backing up to seven-eighths makes the most sense.”

Joel Rosario, aboard for the Mother Goose score, will ride again from post 3.

Rounding out the field is Illumination, an eight-length winner to break her maiden at fifth asking last out in June at Santa Anita Park for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert [post 1, fellow Hall of Famer John Velazquez]; and Bella Sofia, who ran second in the Jersey Girl on June 6 for trainer Rudy Rodriguez [post 8, Luis Saez].

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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Golden Goose

Five sophomore fillies face off against a compact but well-bred bunch in Saturday's GII Mother Goose S. at Belmont Park. Heading the quintet is Three Chimneys Farm's Always Carina (Malibu Moon), who earned her TDN Rising Star status only two days removed from her superstar sire's death at age 24. A fourth-length winner going six panels in her debut at the Big A Apr. 11, the Chad Brown trainee blew the doors off with a dominating 9 3/4-length score while stretching to a mile against optional claiming company here May 20.

“It's a super race,” said Doug Cauthen, vice chairman of Three Chimneys Farm. “I think it's a good stepping stone as far as distance and now we'll see if she can handle the step up in class because it's clearly going to be a challenging race. We think she has talent and she deserves the chance to be in there.”

The well-bred filly is a half-sister to the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Structor, who was also conditioned by Brown. She is out of the Miss Always Ready (More Than Ready), who is a full-sister to 2010 GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf champ More Than Real.

“The mare just keeps throwing very nice foals,” added Cauthen. “Always Carina showed a lot of promise but had a setback and didn't get to run at two, but so far she's shown the talent we thought she had.”

The most likely candidate to keep Always Carina company early is Gary Barber's Make Mischief (Into Mischief), who broke her maiden against Empire breds at Belmont last June before finishing runner-up in a trio of Saratoga sprint stakes for fillies over the summer, chief among them the Aug. 12 GII Adirondack S. Off the board in Santa Anita's Sept. 26 GII Chandelier S., the bay won a pair of state-bred races–including a muddy renewal of the one-mile Maddie May S. at Aqueduct Feb. 20–before finishing fifth in that oval's Busher S. Mar. 6. Back on top going a mile in the slop there Mar. 28, she came home third in the Apr. 30 GII Eight Belles S. at Churchill and again most recently in Belmont's GI Acorn S. June 5.

Another contender bred in the purple is Stonestreet's Clairiere (Curlin), winner of Churchill's GII Rachel Alexandra S. in February. Since then, the daughter of multiple Grade I winner Cavorting has finished second in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks before coming home fourth in the GI Kentucky Oaks over nine furlongs Apr. 30. Irad Ortiz Jr. picks up the mount.

Looking to rebound off a flat seventh in Churchill's grassy

GII Edgewood S. Apr. 30 is Shadwell's Zaajel (Street Sense), who rolled to a 7 3/4-length score at Gulfstream in December before adding a win in the GIII Forward Gal S. Jan. 30. The half to GSP Ajaaweed (Curlin) was a well-beaten sixth in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

Requiring a solid pace up front to compliment her come-from-the-clouds style, Michael and Reiko Baum's Illiogami (Tapit) rides a two-race win streak leading into this first attempt against stakes company. A $400,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, the gray is out of the multiple Group 1-winning Odeliz (Ire) (Falco). The homebred graduated at fourth asking at Keeneland Apr. 2 before posting a 1 1/4-length win in an optional claimer at Churchill Downs Apr. 30.

“At Keeneland, she didn't get away good,” explained trainer Rusty Arnold. “We didn't think she'd be that far back, but she just got in a tangle and didn't get away. At Churchill, it was more what we were hoping for. We weren't going to rush her out of there and she gained momentum as she came on. We're really excited about her.”

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