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Echo Zulu Dominant In Spinaway At Saratoga

In only her second start, Echo Zulu added Grade 1 winner to her resume with a dominant win in the Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. She battled with Benbang early, took over the lead on the far turn, and then dashed away to a four-length victory over a field of eight others to become 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner's first Grade 1 winner.

Echo Zulu and Benbang were away fastest, trading front runner status down the backstretch as they ran the first quarter in :22.07 and the half-mile in :44.73. Entering the final turn, Echo Zulu passed Benbang for the last time, with Tarabi taking over second as they entered the stretch.

In the Saratoga straight, Echo Zulu skipped away from the field with ease, powered down by jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. in the final sixteenth as Tarabi and then Saucy Lady T came home in second and third. The final time for the seven-furlong Spinaway was 1:22.51. Find this race's chart here.

Echo Zulu paid $3.30, $2.90, and $2.50. Tarabi paid $9.10 and $6.30. Saucy Lady T. paid $6.30.

“It was a huge jump. We prepared her like a first-time starter at Saratoga to run. She responded and ran well and that was a long time ago going five and a half against different horses. To jump from maidens to a Grade 1 off one run in a race with everything going your way is not easy. It takes a special horse to do it and maybe that's what she is,” trainer Steve Asmussen said after the race.

“She's nice. First time she won was impressive and she was training really well. We were happy with her,” Santana told the NYRA Press Office after the Spinaway. “I had so much confidence that I only wore two goggles for seven furlongs. She was working real nice and today she improved a lot.”

By Gun Runner out of the Grade 2 winning mare Letgomyecho (Menifee), the 2-year-old filly was bred in Kentucky by Betz, J. Betz, Burns, CHNNHK, Magers, and CoCo. She is owned by L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds, who purchased the filly for $300,000 from Betz Thoroughbreds at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her win in the Spinaway brings her to a perfect 2 for 2 with career earnings of $220,000.

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None Above The Law Takes Inside Route To Del Mar Derby Victory

Given a ground-saving ride by veteran Joe Bravo, the gray gelding None Above the Law fired in the lane and came away a winner of the 77th running of the Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby at the seaside course north of San Diego, Calif., on Saturday, proving best by three-quarters of a length in the $254,000, Grade 2 headliner.

The son of the Japanese stallion Karakontie who was bred in California by his owners, J. Kirk and Judy Robison of El Paso, Texas, found running room in the stretch and outfinished 12 rivals late to tally his sixth victory and earn a first prize of $150,000, which pushed his earnings up to $454,060. He is trained by Peter Miller.

Finishing second in the 3-year-old contest on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course was Wachtel Stable, Barber or Drion, et al's Flashiest, who had a head on Reddam Racing's Hockey Dad, the race's pacesetter who hung tough late.

Final time for the nine furlongs out of the angular Del Mar infield chute was 1:48.97.

None Above the Law paid $23.00, $13.60 and $8.60. Flashiest returned $14.80 and $8.00, while Hockey Dad paid $7.60 to show.

This was the first stakes win in the Del Mar Derby for both Bravo and Miller. The jockey is riding his first full season at Del Mar. Miller is the current meet's leading trainer and is en route to winning his eighth conditioning title at the shore oval.

In the track's Pick 6 Single Ticket Jackpot wager, the bet once again could not be hit and its carryover swelled to $556,901. If it is not hit during tomorrow's 11-race card, it will carry to closing day Monday, which will be a “mandatory” payout afternoon.

First post Sunday will be at 1:30 p.m.

Post-race quotes:

JOE BRAVO (None Above the Law, winner) – “Peter (trainer Miller) told me this horse can do anything. He wins running seven eighths on the dirt; he wins going a mile and one-eighth on the grass. We just saved all we could and I showed him daylight turning for home. He really got up under me. I'm having fun riding out here. Riding for good horsemen and riding good horses in Southern California. What more could a guy want?”

PETER MILLER (None Above the Law, winner) “I know he went from a mile on turf (9th, Oceanside Stakes) to seven-furlongs on the dirt (won Real Good Deal) to a mile and an eighth on the turf to win this. You won't find that in any training manual, that's not the way you do it. But this horse just does everything well. He's just an overachiever and I just love this horse. The Robinsons are longtime clients and what a ride by Joe Bravo.”

FRACTIONS: :23.80 :48.00 1:12.89 1:37.51 1:48.97

The stakes win was the fourth of the meet for rider Bravo, but his first in the Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby. He now has six stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the fourth of the meet for trainer Miller, but his first in the Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby. He now has 42 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The winning owners are also the breeders, J. Kirk and Judy Robison of El Paso, Texas.

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Max Player Scores Second BC Classic Spot With Gold Cup Victory

Max Player followed up his last-out neck victory in the Grade 2 Suburban with a dominating win over five others in the 1 1/4-mile Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Under jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., the 4-year-old Honor Code colt earns a second berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

The field of six broke cleanly, with Forza Di Oro, seeking his first Grade 1 win, taking a short lead as Max Player and Santana stalked him on the outside. Around the first turn, Forza Di Oro stretched his lead out to a length, but, after fractions of :24.05 for the first quarter and :48.70 for the first half-mile, Max Player began to press the leader, shortening the margin between them to a neck. Into the far turn, Forza Di Oro was still neck to the good, with Max Player and Happy Saver poised to challenge on the outside.

In the stretch, Max Player pulled even with Forza Di Oro, but the former leader began to tire as Santana asked Max Player to go, easily taking over the lead in the race's final furlongs. The margin of victory was six lengths, Happy Saver passing Forza Di Oro in the final yards to take over second. Night Ops was fourth, with Chess Chief and Forewarned rounding out the field.

The final time for the 1 1/4 miles was 2:02.49 over a fast track. Find this race's chart here.

Max Player paid $9.60, $4.70, and $2.60. Happy Saver paid $3.80 and $2.20. Forza Di Oro paid $2.10 to show.

The G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, new to Saratoga for 2021, is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series. The winner gets a fees-paid guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the corresponding race at the Breeders' Cup World Championships, to be held Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

“It was beautiful. Max, in the [Grade 1] Suburban [victory], ran that race under different circumstances on an off track. For him to do this on a fast track in the Jockey Club Gold Cup here at Saratoga, it is very satisfying. This is who he is, and I thought it was a dominating win,” trainer Steve Asmussen said after the race.

“I was happy with him,” Santana told the NYRA Press Office after the Gold Cup. “Today, he broke good, so I was really happy with it. The trainer is doing all the [work].”

Bred in Kentucky by K and G Stables, Max Player is out of the Not For Love mare Fools In Love, a black-type stakes winner. Owned by George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds, the 4-year-old was a $150,000 RNA consigned by Lane's End at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup is Max Player's second win in four starts in 2021 for a lifetime record of four wins in 10 starts.

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Weekend Lineup Presented By NYRA Bets: Summer Comes To An End

The Saratoga summer comes to a close this Labor Day Weekend, but a pair of Breeders' Cup Challenge “Win And You're In” races on Saturday will end upstate New York's graded stakes action on a high note. The Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Flower Bowl each offer the winner a berth in the World Championships to be held this November at Del Mar.

On the West Coast, summer racing at Del Mar also comes to an end this weekend. A pair of turf stakes highlight Saturday's action: the Del Mar Derby and the John C. Mabee Stakes.

Sunday will highlight 2-year-old races for fillies on both coasts: the G1 Spinaway at Saratoga, and the G1 Debutante at Del Mar. Monday will offer the juvenile colts a shot at Grade 1 glory: the G1 Hopeful is scheduled at Saratoga, while the G1 Futurity will be held at Del Mar.

Sunday is also opening day at the rich Kentucky Downs meet, and racing at the European-style turf track continues on Monday.

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

Saturday

6:11 p.m. – $600,000 Grade 1 Flower Bowl Stakes at Saratoga

War Like Goddess brings a three-race win streak into this 11-furlong inner turf test for older fillies and mares, chasing an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf for trainer Bill Mott. The daughter of English Channel has won the G3 Orchid, G3 Bewitch, and G2 Glens Falls over three different turf courses this year, and Mott is confident she can step up to the top level.

However, six-time Flower Bowl-winning trainer Chad Brown will have something to say about that. He'll saddle a pair for this year's edition: My Sister Nate, a half-sister to champion Sistercharlie and runner-up in last year's running of this race, and Great Island, last-out winner of the G3 Matchmaker.

American Bridge will make her North American debut in this spot for owner Peter Brant and trainer Jean Claude Rouget, entering off a win in a Group 3 race over 1 1/4 miles in France last out. Another in with a shot is La Signare for Brendan Walsh, who could be the main speed in the race and has earned three straight G1 placings.

Flower Bowl Entries

6:46 p.m. – $1 million Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga

Another Bill Mott trainee is the highlight in this “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Classic. This time it's the lightly-raced but definitely talented Forza Di Oro, last year's G3 Discover Stakes winner. He'll looking to put together back-to-back starts this year after an easy allowance victory last out.

Happy Saver won this race last year and appears to be the main threat to repeat for trainer Todd Pletcher, though he'll have to do better than the third he ran in the mud last out in the G2 Suburban. The horse who beat him that day, Max Player, returns for hot trainer Steve Asmussen, and if he is able to remain consistent at this level could be a major player.

Night Ops is the unknown in the race for trainer Brad Cox. He ran second to Art Collector in the Alydar Stakes last out, and that rival came back to win the Charles Town Classic. Night Ops has yet to find the winner's circle this year, but has run four straight seconds and could work out the right trip under Manny Franco.

JCGC Entries

8:37 p.m. – $200,000 Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar

The Mabee has drawn nine fillies and mares and appears to be the kind of race where contention runs deep. Dogtag has been made a slight 3-1 favorite over Maxim Rate at 7-2, but it's 4-1 shot Going to Vegas who is likely to appeal most to handicappers off her allowance win last out.

Mabee Entries

9:37 p.m. – $250,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at Del Mar

The Derby has drawn 14 runners and is, of course, for 3-year-olds as the culminating event in the track's turf triple for sophomores, having been preceded by the Runhappy Oceanside Stakes and the Grade 3 La Jolla Stakes.

The first three finishers in both of those “prep” races are back to give it a go in this 77th edition of the Derby, which makes for a challenging wagering race. And the fact that Del Mar's morning line maker, Jon White, has made his favorite Hudson Ridge a very tepid 9-2 tells you that the race looms wide open with a thrilling finish likely to decide the winner.

Del Mar Derby Entries

Sunday

6:11 p.m. – $300,000 Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga

Echo Zulu will attempt to parlay a sensational debut victory into a Grade 1 win as she takes on a field of nine 2-year-old fillies assembled for Sunday's seven-furlong contest. The undeniable favorite earned the highest Beyer of any 2-year-old filly this year in her debut, a 92, and will take serious beating if she can run back anywhere close to that figure.

G3 Schuylerville winner Pretty Birdie is the likely second choice for trainer Norm Casse, but the frontrunning daughter of Bird Song will have to stretch her speed in the Spinaway.

Spinaway Entries

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

Undefeated Sorrento Stakes winner Elm Drive is back for more in this seven-furlong contest, and as a daughter of Mohaymen, the seven-furlong distance should be well within her scope. Recent maiden winners Dance to the Music and Grace Adler each pose a potential threat, as does the latter's Bob Baffert-trained stablemate, Sorrento runner-up Eda.

Debutante Entries

Monday

5:38 p.m. – $300,000 Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle a pair of strong contenders in Wit and Power Agenda in this seven-furlong sprint for juveniles. Each holds wins at six furlongs, but Pletcher believes the extra eighth of a mile won't be an issue for either of his trainees.

Wit, by 2016 Hopeful-winner Practical Joke and out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Numero d'Oro, is perfect through two starts. Wit posted a six-length maiden win over 5 1/2 furlongs in June, ahead of an eight-length score in the G3 Sanford over six furlongs on July 17.

Power Agenda, by Nyquist and out of the Afleet Alex mare Dream Dance, prevailed by a nose in a gutsy gate-to-wire debut win sprinting six furlongs on Aug. 14 at the Spa.

Hopeful Entries

8:30 p.m. – $300,000 Grade 1 Futurity at Del Mar

Best Pal winner Pappacap drew the rail in this six-horse, seven-furlong event for trainer Mark Casse, but he'll face a tough assignment from a pair of Bob Baffert-trained maiden winners.

Murray, the Baffert-trained son of Street Sense who commanded $300,000 as a yearling, won his July 25 maiden race at Del Mar by 10 3/4 lengths. His stablemate, the Twirling Candy colt Pinehurst, broke his maiden by a half-length at Del Mar on Aug. 1.

Futurity Entries

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