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Malathaat Seeks Redemption Against Maracuja In Alabama

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat will look to turn the tables on Maracuja, who provided the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks-winner her first career defeat last out in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks, in Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama, a 10-furlong main track test for sophomore fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

The prestigious event for sophomore fillies honors horse owner William Cottrell, who requested that the race be named after his home state of Alabama. As one of the oldest American stakes races for females, the historic test has seen many notable winners over the years, including Hall of Fame fillies Miss Woodford [1883], Beldame [1904], Top Flight [1932], Tempted [1958], Gamely [1967], Shuvee [1969], Mom's Command [1985], Go for Wand [1990], Sky Beauty [1993], Heavenly Prize [1994], Silverbulletday [1999], and Royal Delta [2011].

Malathaat saw Maracuja snap her undefeated streak in the Coaching Club American Oaks on July 24, where the blue-blooded daughter of Curlin went into the gate as the 1-5 favorite and set a pressured pace down the backstretch before engaging in a dramatic stretch rally, coming up a head shy of victory.

“I'm hoping that we get on the outside and stay clear. Those other two fillies [Maracuja and Clairiere] just kept tag teaming her and she never had a chance to take a breath,” said Shadwell Stables' General Manager Rick Nichols. “I think the additional distance will be a benefit to her as well. Her pedigree certainly points towards that direction.”

Prior to the Coaching Club American Oaks, Malathaat was a hard-fought winner of the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs, giving Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher his fourth triumph in the prestigious event. She made a successful seasonal bow when capturing the Grade 1 Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland.

During her juvenile campaign, Malathaat notched stakes triumphs at Aqueduct in the Tempted and Grade 2 Demoiselle after giving Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez his 2,000th Belmont Park victory in a first-out maiden special weight victory in October at Belmont Park.

“She showed how much ability she had in the Demoiselle that day,” Nichols said. “Also, it's just kind of demonstrated how much class she has as well. She tried hard in the Kentucky Oaks and that was pretty impressive, too. She was challenged in the stretch and still ran hard and won. Even though she got beat last time, she's never had a bad race. She doesn't know she got beat.”

A victory in the Alabama would make Malathaat the fifth filly in the past decade to capture the Kentucky Oaks-Alabama double.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Malathaat is the first progeny out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia and was purchased for $1.05 million from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“She was just such a gorgeous filly with great conformation,” Nichols recalled. “As soon as I saw her, I knew Sheikh Hamdan would love her. He's always been partial to fillies. It was obvious from when I saw her that I knew she would be one that he would love.”

Velazquez, a three-time winner of the Alabama, retains the mount from post 6.

While Malathaat seeks redemption, Maracuja will try to build off her CCA Oaks victory with another prominent Saratoga conquest. A triumph in the Alabama would make Maracuja the fifth horse in the last decade to score the CCA Oaks-Alabama double, joining Questing [2012], Princess of Sylmar [2013], Stopchargingmaria [2014] and Songbird [2016].

Maracuja, a gray or roan Honor Code filly trained by Rob Atras, was a distant seventh in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks after breaking slowly from the gate and settling toward the rear of the field along the rail.

A winner at third asking going 6 ½ furlongs at Aqueduct under Kendrick Carmouche, it didn't take long for Maracuja to display two turn capabilities when finishing a good second to Search Results in the Grade 2 Gazelle on April 3 at the Big A.

“When Kendrick got off her the first time she won he said that he couldn't wait for us to stretch her out in distance. He knew right away,” Atras said. “You always hope for the best, but our goal was always to target the Coaching Club and the Alabama, so it's nice that things are coming together.”

Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. rides from post 4.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will saddle Stonestreet Stables' graded stakes winner Clairiere in search of her first Grade 1 triumph.

Never worse than fourth in seven lifetime starts, the homebred daughter of Curlin, out of the three-time Grade 1-winning Bernardini mare Cavorting, finished third in her last two efforts. Prior to finishing third beaten 5 ¾ lengths in the CCA Oaks, Clairiere rounded out the trifecta in the Grade 1 Mother Goose on June 26 at Belmont Park, where she stumbled at the start and rated at the rear of the five-horse field before making a three-wide move around the far turn, finishing 1 ¼ lengths behind Zaajel.

Fourth beaten three lengths in the Kentucky Oaks, Clairiere seeks her first victory since the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra on February 13 at Fair Grounds Race Course.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride from post 3.

Trainer Kenny McPeek has saddled two of the past three winners of the Alabama with Eskimo Kisses [2018] and Swiss Skydiver [2020] and will attempt to one up his record with Phoenix Thoroughbred III's Crazy Beautiful.

The well-traveled gray or roan daughter of third-crop sire Liam's Map has scored against graded stakes company in three of her last four starts.

Following a victory in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 27, she was never a factor in the Kentucky Oaks finishing a distant tenth. But her brilliance was recaptured in her following two efforts, winning the Grade 3 Summertime Oaks on May 30 at Santa Anita ahead of a six-length romp in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks on July 3 at Delaware Park.

Crazy Beautiful will break from post 1 under Jose Ortiz.

Three Diamonds Farm's Army Wife boasts four lifetime wins all over different tracks and will seek to add Saratoga to her list of oval conquests for leading trainer Mike Maker.

The bay daughter of Declaration of War was a fourth out maiden winner going seven furlongs in October at Churchill Downs before defeating winners at Gulfstream Park two starts later. After a distant third in the Gazelle, she picked up scores in the Grade 2 Black Eyed Susan on May 14 at Pimlico and the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks on July 2 at Prairie Meadows.

“She doesn't need to take her racetrack with her, we're just trying to pick the right spots with her and it's worked out well. I hope we have a winning trip,” Maker said.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who rode Swiss Skydiver in the 2020 Alabama, will seek a second straight Alabama win aboard Army Wife from post 7.

Trainer Dallas Stewart sends out Will's Secret after a disappointing sixth in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks on July 7 last out.

Owned and bred by Willis Horton Racing, Will's Secret's uncharacteristic performance in the Indiana Oaks came after two Grade 1-placings when third to Malathaat in the Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland and the Kentucky Oaks.
Following an off-the-turf maiden conquest in December at Fair Grounds, the daughter of 2013 Travers winner Will Take Charge captured the Martha Washington and Grade 3 Honeybee at Oaklawn Park.

Veteran jockey Jon Court ships to Saratoga to pilot Will's Secret from post 2.

Completing the field is Rigney Racing's Played Hard, who makes her stakes debut for trainer Phil Bauer.

The bay daughter of leading sire Into Mischief has not lost in two starts around two turns. After three starts at six furlongs, Played Hard handled a stretch out to 1 1/16 miles with flying colors winning a June 20 maiden special weight at Churchill Downs by 5 ¼ lengths. In her most recent effort, she defeated winners going nine furlongs on July 22 at Saratoga.

“The sprint mentality has gone away from her,” Bauer said. “She's always been a horse with natural speed but her first two-turn effort at Churchill, she was a little keen down the backside when we tried to rate her. She's come a long way as far as that; hopefully it'll make her a better racehorse. She showed it in her race here and obviously she's had everything her way, but I think good horses can create trips that look like they are given to them, but that's not necessarily the case.”

Jockey Luis Saez will ride from post 5.

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

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Technical Analysis Moving Onward And Upward Into Lake Placid

Klaravich Stables' Technical Analysis took a step up last time with her first career stake win and will look to go 2-for-2 this summer at Saratoga Race Course in headlining a six-horse field of sophomore fillies in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Lake Placid going 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon turf course at the Spa.

The 38th running of the Lake Placid, carded as Race 9, is one of three stakes on the 11-race card that features a 1:05 p.m. Eastern first post. The $120,000 Smart N Fancy for older fillies and mares sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon turf will go off as Race 3, while the 141st running of the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/4 miles on the main track will take center stage in Race 10.

In the Lake Placid, Technical Analysis will look to duplicate her effort from the Grade 3 Lake George on July 23 over the Saratoga inner turf, where she tracked in third position before kicking away from Fluffy Socks to win by 1 1/4 lengths in a one-mile contest. The Chad Brown trainee has compiled a 3-0-1 record in five starts but did not face stakes competition until her sixth-place effort in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Wonder Again on June 3 at Belmont Park.

After winning at a mile, the Irish-bred daughter of Kingman will be stretched back out, drawing post 2 with Jose Ortiz aboard for the fifth straight start.

“We're going in there getting her back to a mile and a sixteenth. She seems to be doing well,” Brown said. “We've always thought a lot of her.”

Spanish Loveaffair faced top-flight competition last out, running last-of-8 in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational in the opening leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series on July 10. Entering off a two-month respite, the daughter of Karakonite has alternated between solid stakes efforts and disappointing finishes in her four 2021 starts, which started when she crossed the wire first in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride in February at Gulfstream Park but was disqualified and placed fourth for interference.

After a bump near the start caused a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Appalachian in April at Keeneland, Spanish Loveaffair again encountered trip troubles in the Grade 3 Regret but overcame it to run second, just three-quarters of a length back to Gam's Mission, on May 29 at Churchill before her Belmont Oaks performance.

Spanish Loveaffair, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Michael Hernon and Barber, is trained by newly inducted Hall of Famer Mark Casse. Ricardo Santana, Jr. will be in the irons from the outermost post 6.

Lawrence Goichman's New York-homebred Runaway Rumour won her first three starts for trainer Jorge Abreu, including an off-the-pace half-length victory in the Wild Applause in June at Belmont Park going one mile. After running fourth in the Lake George in her first run over the Saratoga grass, the Flintshire filly will return to the Spa, where she has worked since June, including a four-furlong work on the Oklahoma training track on August 7 in 50.83 seconds.

Runaway Rumour drew post 4 with Jose Lezcano set to ride.

Reiko and Michael Baum's Illiogami stepped up to stakes company for the first time in her last start when running fifth in the Grade 2 Mother Goose on June 26 at Belmont. The Tapit filly, a $400,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, made her first two starts on turf before trainer Rusty Arnold moved her to the main track for her last four races, starting with a runner-up performance in November at Churchill to cap her juvenile campaign.

Back-to-back wins in April at Keeneland and Churchill, respectively, prompted the class elevation in the Mother Goose. Now, Illiogami will make her first turf start in nine months, drawing the inside post with Manny Franco aboard.

“She's doing well; she didn't run that well in the Mother Goose, which was a disappointment, but her first two races started off good,” Arnold said. “We're hoping it's a case where she just didn't handle the dirt. We got her here in Saratoga but we weren't ready for the first opportunity, and this one just set up a little bit better. We really didn't have a break based on any intentions, it's just the way it worked out.

“She's been good since she's been here,” Arnold added.

Rebecca Hillen's Ego Trip ran second in her first North American start, finishing one length back to Rastafara in a one-mile maiden special weight on July 24 at Saratoga. The Irish-bred daughter of No Nay Never made her first start in March, also finishing as the runner-up at Newcastle for trainer Kevin Ryan, before being transferred to Brendan Walsh's care when arriving in the United States.

Ego Trip will have Tyler Gaffalione in the irons from post 3.

Godolphin homebred Lovestruck, winner of the Tepin in November at Aqueduct Racetrack for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, will be making just the second start of her campaign after finishing eighth in the Wild Applause.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will have the call from post 5.

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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Keri Brion Honors Mentor With Trifecta Finish In G1 Jonathan Sheppard

Trainer Keri Brion already notched a Grade 1 steeplechase win during the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course. She upped the ante in Wednesday's opener, saddling the trifecta as The Mean Queen, Baltimore Bucko and French Light crossed the wire 1-2-3 in a prestigious race named after her mentor in the Grade 1, $150,000 Jonathan Sheppard contested at 2 3/8 miles.

The 80th edition of the race formerly known as the New York Turf Writers Cup was contested as the Jonathan Sheppard for the first time, honoring the Hall of Fame trainer who won the race a record 15 times and trained at least one winner at Saratoga every year from 1969-2015. Brion, who was Sheppard's assistant before his retirement, saw The Mean Queen overtake stalemate and pacesetter Baltimore Bucko in the final, flat portion of the race, drawing away for a 4 3/4-length victory.

Buttonwood Farm's The Mean Queen already made history when the 5-year-old Irish-bred Doyen mare won in her native country in April at Wexford, making Brion the first U.S.-based conditioner to capture an Irish hurdle race.

She was set to win the Jonathan Kiser Novice in July at Saratoga before jockey Thomas Garner was unseated in the stretch. Returning to Saratoga's inner turf track, The Mean Queen and Garner had no such issues closing this time, completing the course in a final time of 4:40.14 to give Brion a sweep of the two Grade 1 steeplechase contests on the Saratoga slate after Baltimore Bucko won the A.P. Smithwick on July 22.

“I remember when they said that this race was going to be named after him, I was still in Ireland and I was thinking, 'I hope I just have one,”'Brion said. “Jonathan won the Turf Writers 15 or so times, so now that it's the Jonathan Sheppard, I hope I can win it 15 times.”

Baltimore Bucko, one of four Brion entrants in the eight-horse field, led through all nine jumps over a course labeled yielding. The British-bred Baltimore Bucko held that advantage under jockey Richard Condon before The Mean Queen overtook him from the outside at the top of the stretch. The field's lone mare, who carried 147 pounds, faced no late challenge, besting the boys to improve to 5-1-0 in seven career starts.

“I was just a passenger, really,” Garner said. “She was doing a little bit too much for the first mile and a half. She was running through the bridle a little bit and when I got her settled, she traveled so great and jumped so great. She's everything you want in a filly. I couldn't be happier.

“She's only 5 and realistically hasn't had a lot of racing,” he added. “This time last year, she hadn't even had a run. She was still getting prepped to run in a point-to-point in Ireland. To come here and run in a Grade 1 eight or nine months after her first race is a massive achievement.”

Garner also said he took the outcome of the A.P. Smithwick personally but was glad to earn redemption less than a month later.

“I know a lot of people would have had a lot of money on her at those odds, but there wouldn't have been anyone more gutted than I was,” Garner said. “I walked to the weighing room, got in the car and went straight home. I didn't want to speak to anyone. I didn't want to see anyone because this is what I love doing. I love riding winners and for that to happen, especially at a place like this which I love, it was actually heartbreaking. I know a lot of people on social media and close to the horse think I jumped off it, and that's probably an uneducated view of the race. I'm just glad that I made it better today. There was no one more gutted or upset about the last day than me.”

Off as the 4-5 favorite, The Mean Queen returned $3.60 on a $2 win bet.

“I guess this is how it was always supposed to be. She redeemed herself,” Brion said. “I had no doubt that she would run a huge race. Today, we learned a bit more about her. I think she's a very special animal.”

Baltimore Bucko and French Light, who finished 1-2 in the A.P. Smithwick, again dueled in the rematch, with the former edging his stablemate by a nose for second as the 156-pound highweight.

“He carried top weight. He's gone up a stone since he won here the last time and to go out there on the rain-softened ground and do what he did and stay on for second is a real performance,” Condon said. “The Mean Queen is quite a special mare and giving her nine pounds isn't easy. It was a great run from Baltimore Bucko.”

French Light was two-lengths clear of City Dreamer, trained by Hall of Famer Jack Fisher, for third.

“It's so exciting for two of the greatest people, Rod and Alice Moorhead [of Buttonwood Farm] and Irvin Naylor, who owns French Light, who was third. They've been so supportive and bought these horses off my recommendation,” Brion said.

Recent Revelations, Gibralfaro, Redicean and A Silent Player [also trained by Brion] completed the order of finish.

“All four of these horses came out of the same stable in Ireland [Baltimore Stable in Wexford, Ireland], which is pretty incredible,” Brion said.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Saratoga with a 10-race card featuring the $100,000 Union Avenue for New York-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track in Race 9 at 5:39 p.m. Eastern.

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Voss: Twelve Things About Saratoga That Warm My Heart

It is increasingly difficult, if you are an investigative journalist, to find moments of solace in this sport. The last few years have been a parade of what's overtly going wrong in racing, sometimes right in the middle of moments that should be the very best of us – like the 2021 Kentucky Derby or the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic.

It becomes all the more important then, to remember what brought you to horse racing and what keeps you in. For me, the annual summer sojourn I'm lucky enough to take to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., each August contains a lot of the things that warm my already-cold, already-hardened reporter's heart. In case they also warm yours, here are a few of my favorites:

The children who line the jockey walk between the winner's circle and the jockeys' quarters, shyly asking for autographs and pictures. There is no bigger smile at the track than a kid who has just met a super hero, and for some of them it's clear jockeys are pretty close. The riders demonstrate incredible patience for what must feel like a never-ending parade of young fans, even as they have to hurry back to change for their next ride.
The hush of the people who gather along the rail at the Oklahoma Training Track for turf works, peering through binoculars. They're almost silent as the horses come by to watch their strides more closely, in very much the same way I turn down the car radio when I'm trying to read a road sign. But in their attention there is also reverence.
The toll of the bell to let race patrons know the horses are in the paddock – because at this track, at this meet, almost everybody knows what the paddock is and interested in knowing that the horses are entering it.
The family who assembled an elaborate set-up which included color-coordinated table cloths, balloons a gift table and a homemade spread of endless food and a decorated cake for someone's birthday in the Backyard – making it appear as though it was their own backyard on a Saturday afternoon. In a way, I suppose it was.
Morning barn rounds with longtime Albany Times-Union contributor Tim Wilkin. Tim has been in the business for longer than I've been alive (sorry, Tim) and he is of the old breed of New York turfwriter. They're a serious bunch with an air of 'been there, done that' because they have. Mornings with Tim involve trips to the top trainers' barns and there is work, yes, as he conducts interviews, runs down news tips, plots out his content for the day. But when he's done, he has a pocket full of peppermints and he visits his favorite horse in the shed row. Often times it's a graded stakes horse, but sometimes it's a more anonymous competitor he has taken a shine to. He'll feed the horse a candy and smile at them. Swiss Skydiver is his favorite right now. “Isn't she amazing?” he'll say.
Ken McPeek assistant Francis Chiumiento, who recalled letting a young girl and her family in to visit Swiss Skydiver, not knowing until later the child had just beaten cancer and he had made her birthday extra special.
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Late mornings on Clare Court, which is a series of jogging paths underneath huge pine trees behind the chute of the main track. The light comes in golden and dramatic, and horses take time over their work. They seem to take a deep breath back there, looping through figure eights or strengthening through their first canters off a lay-up. Ponies nibble the grass. The backstretch tour tram stops by, and a carefully-chosen Thoroughbred ambassador greets the families calmly as they ooh and aah and snap his picture.
The ponies who stand like generals overlooking a battle as the gates thunder open, as field after field scampers by, unfazed by the water truck or the harrow.
The sounds of Reggie's Red Hot Feet Warmers, the swing band whose horn and clarinet sing out through the front gates. Nothing is quite so bad after you've heard them play I'll See You In My Dreams or I Double Dare You or All Of Me.
Barn dogs, who really believe they're assistant training. Barn cats, who are spoiled beyond belief and really believe they deserve it. Barn goats who care for no one and nothing.
Watching the races from the roof, where you can see everything perfectly and hear a perfect mix of announcer John Imbriale, the conversations and cheers from the apron, and the jockeys calling to their mounts in the stretch.
The track tradition of blaring New York State Of Mind through the loudspeakers at the end of the card. I am not much for Billy Joel, and the song really doesn't have a lot to do with Saratoga Springs, but it's become a sad, dramatic, strange goodbye at the end of the last race card of my trip. The world is an uncertain place, but tomorrow they'll be doing this same thing, in this same place, just like they have for years. And if I'm very lucky, I'll be here to see it all over again next summer.

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