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Bella Sofia Passes The Test, Gets Her First Graded Stakes Win

In a race that featured the winner of the Grade 2 Mother Goose in Zaajel and the Grade 1 Acorn in Search Results, it was Rudy Rodriguez's filly Bella Sofia, who had yet to compete in a graded stakes let alone win one, that brought home the victory in the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. In only the fourth start of her career, the daughter of Awesome Patriot brings home her third win, adding G1 winner to her short resume.

At the start, Illumination and John Velazquez got out of the gate fastest, Luis Saez settling Bella Sofia in to her outside in second and Souper Sensational on the rail in third. Illumination was a half-length in front through the first quarter in :22.84 and then the first half in :45.70, with Souper Sensational on the rail briefly challenging Bella Sofia's position in second on the far turn. Saez and Bella Sofia maintained their position just off Illumination's shoulder as they approached the stretch.

With the Saratoga straight ahead of them, Velazquez moved Illumination onto the rail as Saez and Bella Sofia made a big run on their outside. Easily taking over the lead, Bella Sofia drew away from the field, crossing the wire 4 1/4 lengths in the front of Souper Sensational in second and Search Results in third. The final time for the seven-furlong G1 Test was 1:21.54.

Always Carina, Obligatory, Illumination, Zaajel, and Make Mischief rounded out the field. Find this race's chart here.

Bella Sofia paid $10.40, $5.70, and $4.00. Souper Sensational paid $10.20 and $5.00. Search Results paid $2.60 to show.

“I know we asked a lot. We're just happy to have her in the barn. The day she broke her maiden, she put everybody away impressively. She was training good.” Trainer Rodriguez said after the Test. “You know when you draw the outside, you pretty much just let the jockey figure out what they want to do. She broke better than anybody. I thought she was going to be out front when she broke that good. She was nice and comfortable and she was running very well for him and when he asked her, she was there for him.”

“She broke perfectly. We were looking for that spot right there to sit and make a run into the stretch. She did it so well and so beautifully. She came through the stretch pretty smoothly. I knew the one horse [Illumination] had some speed, so the plan was to break from there, relax and make one move with her. She's a pretty nice filly,” Saez said after his win on Bella Sofia.

Bred in Kentucky by Two Tone Farms, Bella Sofia is a 3-year-old filly by Awesome Patriot out of the Consolidator mare Love Contract. Trained by Rudy Rodriguez, she is owned by Michael Imperio, Vincent Scuderi, Sofia Soares, Gabrielle Farm, Mazel Stable Partners LLC, and Matthew Mercurio. With her win in the Test, Bella Sofia improves to three wins in four lifetime starts, all in 2021, for career earnings of $405,100.

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Flavius Best In Lure Stakes At Saratoga

Juddmonte homebred Flavius, with Flavien Prat in the irons, wired Saturday's $120,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure, at 1 1/16-miles on the Mellon turf for older horses at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trainer Chad Brown, who captured his 2000th career win on Friday, saddled a trio of Lure starters comprised of Value Proposition, Delaware, and Flavius, who entered from a runner-up effort in the Seek Again on May 22 at Belmont Park.

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Value Proposition, racing for purse money only after losing a front shoe on the way to the gate, broke well from post 3 and secured a ground-saving position as Flavius exited post 4 with intent, establishing the opening quarter-mile in 24.52 seconds on the firm turf.

Flavius maintained his lead down the backstretch through a half-mile in :48.99 with Tell Your Daddy providing pressure from the outside in second position as Value Proposition continued to enjoy a pocket trip. Fighting Seabee advanced up the rail as Value Proposition angled out into the final turn to launch his bid, while Hall of Famer John Velazquez asked Tell Your Daddy for his best run.

With many rivals lining up at the top of the lane, Flavius never relinquished as the bay ridgling responded to Prat's encouragement and continued to find more en route to a 1 1/2-length score in a final time of 1:41.53.

“I am so appreciative for this horse. Juddmonte are very good clients of mine,” Brown said. “They are very patient with this horse and decided to leave him in training for another year. It took a little time to get him back in form, but I loved his race today. I appreciate Flavien taking the initiative of taking it to them early. This horse switched off nicely down the backside and it seemed when he had his ears up moving comfortably down the backside, so I knew he had a big chance. He ran lights out today. It was an impressive performance.”

By War Front and out of the multiple graded-stakes winning Dynaformer mare Starformer, Flavius launched his career in Ireland with trainer Dermot Weld. He joined Brown's stable in 2019 and captured the Tourist Mile in September at Kentucky Downs in his fourth start for the four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer.

Flavius launched his 6-year-old season with a close fourth in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile in March at Santa Anita ahead of his Seek Again effort.

“I didn't see a lot of speed in the race,” Prat said. “I wanted to be in the race and I found myself on the lead. He was traveling super and he kicked on really well. When I rode him in the Kilroe, it was against a good group of horses. I thought everything worked out well today.”

Tell Your Daddy stayed on strong to complete the exacta by 1 1/2-lengths over Value Proposition. Rounding out the order of finish were Dreams of Tomorrow, Delaware, South Bend, Fighting Seabee, and Temple. Midnight Tea Time, Guildsman, and main-track-only entrant Tacitus were scratched.

“He ran real good and gave me everything he could,” Velazquez said of Tell Your Daddy. “We got a good position. The winner was a little bit better than us.”

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Bred in Kentucky by his owner, Flavius banked $66,000 in victory while improving his record to 12-4-3-1. Sent to post as the 6-5 favorite, he paid $4.70 for a $2 win ticket.

“This has a been a horse that we brought over here with expectations that he could move up to the next level, and he's gotten close to this level,” said Garrett O'Rourke, general manager of Juddmonte's American division. “I think today his race was perfect. It's nice to keep horses like this a little bit longer in training and when they reward you, it makes it worthwhile.”

Live racing resumes Sunday at Saratoga with a 10-race card featuring the $120,000 Fasig-Tipton De La Rose, the $200,000 Grade 2 Adirondack, and the $700,000 Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

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War Like Goddess Goes From Last To First In Grade 2 Glens Falls

In her trademark style, Bill Mott-trained War Like Goddess took the Grade 2 Glens Falls in a last-to-first thriller Aug. 7 at Saratoga Race Course under Julien Leparoux. The 4-year-old filly broke well in the 1 1/2 mile contest and settled in at the back of the pack as Dalika (GER) sprinted to a controlling position, stretching out to a five-length lead early and controlling the pace past the stands the first time and all through the backstretch. Call Me Love and Luck Money stayed together in second and third, eventually also separating from the remaining competitors. The field began clustering back together at the final turn as Leparoux asked War Like Goddess for run, swinging at least five wide into the stretch. The filly responded easily, passing fellow closers to prevail by 3 1/4 lengths at the wire.

My Sister Nat (FR) was second, followed by Temple City Terror and Luck Money.

War Like Goddess came to the race off a win in the G3 Bewitch at Keeneland and the G3 Orchid at Gulfstream. the race brings her to a lifetime record of five wins from six starts. Mott trains War Like Goddess for owner George Krikorian.

The filly was bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm and is the daughter of English Channel and North Light (IRE) mare Misty North. She was a $1,200 weanling from the Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services consignment at Keeneland November, where she was purchased by Falcon L&L Stables and Lawrence Hobson. She as then sold for $30,000 as a 2-year-old at the 2019 OBS June sale, where H N D Bloodstock purchased her from the Hemingway Racing and Training consignment.

The final time was 2:27.55, with fractional times of 2:03.64, 1:38.84, 1:13.02, and :49.05.

War Like Goddess was the favorite and paid $3.70, $2.70, and $2.30. See the full chart here.

G2 Glens Falls Quotes

Bill Mott, winning trainer of War Like Goddess (No. 3, $3.70*): “She ran well. We freshened her up a little bit and brought her back today. She moved forward for us and beat a nice bunch of fillies today.

“Our filly was pulling a little bit and they were going slow up front, so you always hope they can close into that slow kind of pace. She was good enough. I saw a good finish similar to what we saw in the [Grade 3] Bewitch [won last out in April at Keeneland].”

Glens Falls Quotes, courtesy NYRA press office

George Krikorian, winning owner of War Like Goddess (No. 3): “I give all the credit to my bloodstock agent Donato Lanni. He called me one day and told me, 'I saw this filly, she looks really nice. She might need some time but when she grows up, I think she'll be a special horse.' He was right. She's been pretty special so far. She's bred for this distance, for sure.”

Julien Leparoux, winning jockey aboard War Like Goddess (No. 3): “She gave some kick in the end. I think today she broke good. We got bumped, so we were last because of the little bump in the beginning. But she still had the kick, so that was nice to see. I think she's going improve for it.

“She's very nice. I think she can endure any kind of ground and even when she was pulling a bit on me early on, she's fresh. She had a very nice kick, so I'm very excited to be able to ride her. She felt great.

Jose Ortiz, jockey aboard runner-up My Sister Nat (No. 5): “I had a good trip, but honestly, when I took back a bit, I knew it was going to be tough to beat the winner. My horse tried hard, but she was second-best.”

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Wilkes Sends Out Modern Science, Princess Causeway In Kentucky Downs Previews At Ellis

Trainer Ian Wilkes will team with jockey and son-in-law Chris Landeros and Modern Science in Saturday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds and Princess Causeway in Sunday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Ladies Mile.

Landeros is having a huge meet, his 13 wins out of only 38 mounts ranking second in the jockey standings behind Brian Hernandez Jr.'s 18 after taking Saturday's first race on his father-in-law's horse. Wilkes, whose son Brodie is also Landeros' agent, also is second in the trainer standings with 10 victories out of 34 starters. Only Brad Cox (11 for 28) has more wins.

Modern Science went from winning a maiden race to finishing third by two heads in Canterbury Park's Mystic Lake Derby.

“He's a big colt and an improving colt, just getting better with age,” Wilkes said. “Just very pleased with the way he's trained and since he's done since.”

Princess Causeway finished fifth in last year's Ladies Mile held over very soft turf. In her only start this year, she was second in the $100,000 Lady Canterbury.

“She's stakes-placed now, we'll see if we can get a stakes win on her,” Wilkes said. “Last year, she came back and won on the dirt and I was giving her a shot to be a dirt horse. But this year I'm concentrating on her being a grass horse at anything up to a mile. I think she's won five races. She's a Giant's Causeway and has some talent. She's not the easiest horse to train, but she's tough. If we can get her to do that in the afternoon, I think we'll be fine.”

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