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Three-For-Three In 2021, Crystal Ball Will Try To Stay Perfect In Sunday’s Shuvee

WinStar Stablemates Racing's Crystal Ball, perfect through three starts as a 4-year-old, will put that mark on the line when facing five graded stakes winners in Sunday's 45th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee for older fillies and mares going at Saratoga Race Course.

The nine-furlong test honors the multiple stakes-winning Hall of Fame distaffer whose accolades include victories in the Alabama, Mother Goose, Acorn, Coaching Club American Oaks and Beldame. The daughter of Nashua's biggest claim to fame was defeating males in back-to-back years in the Jockey Club Gold Cup [1970-71]. Shuvee earned Champion 3-Year-Old Filly honors in 1969 before being named Champion Older Female the following two years. She was owned by Anne Minor Stone and trained by Willard Freeman.

Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, Crystal Ball has won all three of her 2021 starts over different racetracks with different jockeys. The daughter of Malibu Moon commenced her campaign with an allowance optional claiming score on April 2 at Santa Anita where Flavien Prat piloted her to a career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure. After shipping to Churchill Downs to win for the next condition going 1 1/16 miles on May 8 under Florent Geroux, she transferred to Brisset's barn and won the nine-furlong Lady Jacqueline on June 26 at Thistledown with Luis Saez up.

“When she got switched to us our main goal was to win a stakes with her and we accomplished that last time,” Brisset said. “The mare is 3-for-3 this year. She's training well, she likes this track. I think it's the next logical spot for her to try and win a graded stakes with her now. She's a gorgeous mare physically. She's obviously going to be in the WinStar broodmare band. It would be nice for her to win that.”

Winless in two starts at the Spa, Crystal Ball made a good showing in her first start at Saratoga in last year's Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks, where she set the pace and battled gamely with fellow WinStar Stablemates color bearer Paris Lights, finishing just a head shy of victory.

“We were able to get her back to Keeneland right after the race in Ohio. We gave her two weeks galloping and she had two nice breezes there. She shipped well here,” Brisset said. “She trained very well Thursday morning. We'll school her at the gate, and we'll just do our normal routine, take her over there on Sunday and see what happens.”

Crystal Ball will be piloted by Saez from post 6.

Trainer Chad Brown brings a trio of graded stakes winners to the Shuvee in Gold Spirit [post 2, Javier Castellano], Dunbar Road [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] and Royal Flag [post 7, Joel Rosario].

Making her first start in North America, Gold Spirit was a Group 1 winner in her native Chile, capturing the Alberto Solari Magnasco at 1 ¼ miles in November. A victory from Gold Spirit would give owner Sumaya U.S. Stable their second Shuvee victory after winning in 2003 with Wild Spirit, who also made her United States debut in the Shuvee.

Peter Brant's Dunbar Road seeks to recapture her winning form from last season, where she won the Shawnee at Churchill Downs and Grade 2 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park in her first two starts. The three-time graded stakes winning daughter of Quality Road conquered her lone start at the Spa with a 2 ¾-length victory in the 2019 Grade 1 Alabama.

Dunbar Road boasts the highest lifetime earnings as the field's lone millionaire, banking $1,210,740 through a 12-6-1-3 record.

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W.S. Farish's Royal Flag, second in last year's Shuvee to subsequent Grade 1 winner Letruska, has never missed the board in nine starts bragging a 4-3-2 record.

The 5-year-old daughter of Candy Ride won the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm on November 7 at Aqueduct going nine furlongs in her only graded stakes victory and returned five months later to finish a narrow second in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare on April 16 at Keeneland.

A Kentucky homebred, Royal Flag is out of the Mineshaft mare Sea Gull, making her a full-sister to graded stakes winner Eagle and multiple graded stakes-winner Catalina Cruiser.

“All three horses are doing well. They're coming off layoffs of some sort, so it's a bit of an obstacle to overcome, but they're all training well,” Brown said. “I've gotten to know Gold Spirit pretty well over the past couple of months and she seems like a quality horse. Dunbar Road ended up having a throat infection that we've been working on and it's good now. I've been very pleased with her last few works.”

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will saddle two graded stakes winners seeking his second Shuvee victory.

Godolphin's versatile Antoinette, a stakes winner on both dirt and turf, arrives off a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis on June 26 at Churchill Downs, where she maintained second position throughout and held off a late run from Envoutante.

Following a successful 4-year-old debut on turf, going gate-to-wire in the Grade 3 The Very One on February 27 at Gulfstream Park, she stretched out to 1 3/8 miles for the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay on May 1 at Belmont Park, where she set the pace once more and faded to fifth.

A win would make the bay daughter of Hard Spun a stakes-winner on both surfaces at the Spa having captured last year's Saratoga Oaks Invitational in frontrunning fashion.

“For the time being, she's on dirt,” said Mott, who saddled 2019 Shuvee winner Golden Award. “She's run a couple of good races this year. The Sheepshead Bay may have been a little far. She's shown the natural progression that horses from three to four show. They typically run faster. You like to see them do that.”

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will ride Antoinette from post 5.

Horologist seeks a fourth graded stakes victory when breaking from post 1 under Junior Alvarado.

The 2020 New Jersey-Bred Horse of the Year, owned by There's A Chance Stable, Medallion Racing, Abbondanza Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Paradise Farms Corporation and David Staudacher, won last year's Grade 3 Molly Pitcher at Monmouth Park and the Grade 2 Beldame Invitational at Belmont Park.

The daughter of Gemologist captured her 5-year-old debut in the Top Flight Invitational at Aqueduct and was a disappointing fifth last out as the favorite in the Lady Jacqueline. Through a record of 23-8-2-4, Horologist brags the most lifetime victories.

Completing the field is Christine Hatfield and Phil Hatfield's Liberty M D, who makes her first start going two turns and at stakes caliber for trainer Ian Wilkes.

The 4-year-old bay daughter of third crop sire Constitution won her career debut on May 14 at Churchill Downs going seven furlongs before defeating winners at a one-turn mile by a half-length on June 3.

Jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. will ride from post 3.

The Shuvee is slated as Race 9 on Sunday's 10-race card. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. 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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Malathaat Puts Her Unbeaten Status On The Line In Saturday’s CCA Oaks

Shadwell Stable's undefeated Malathaat has demonstrated class and determination through five wins in as many lifetime starts and will vie to keep her perfect ways afloat in Saturday's 105th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks going nine furlongs for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

The Coaching Club American Oaks was named in honor of a club formed in 1875 for which a membership requirement was to be able to navigate a coach and four horses with a single group of reins. Inaugurated in 1917, the historic event often attracts the winner of the Kentucky Oaks and has seen 14 fillies sweep the Kentucky Oaks-CCA Oaks double, including Hall of Famers Princess Doreen [1924], Dark Mirage [1968], Davona Dale [1979], Bold 'n Determined [1980], and Open Mind [1989].

Multiple fillies have used the CCA Oaks as a steppingstone to Champion 3-Year-Old Filly honors, including Ruffian [1975], Wayward Lass [1981], Mom's Command [1985], Ajina [1997], Ashado [2004], Smuggler [2005], and Questing [2012]. Three of the last five winners of the CCA Oaks have notched such honors with Songbird [2016], Abel Tasman [2017], and Monomoy Girl [2018].

Two-time Grade 1-winner Malathaat arrives at the CCA Oaks off a hard-fought triumph in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs, where she engaged in a stretch duel with graded stakes winner Search Results and won by a neck, garnering a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure.

The Kentucky Oaks triumph came after a successful sophomore bow in the Grade 1 Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland where she tracked leisurely fractions and closed in on Pass the Champagne in the final half-furlong to win by a head.

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 October.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will look to extend his seven-win record in the prestigious race when he saddles Malathaat. A victory would give Pletcher a third CCA Oaks triumph with a Kentucky Oaks winner, having sent out Ashado and Princess of Sylmar [2013].

“She's a very gifted filly,” Pletcher said. “She's just been perfect so far and she's a pleasure to train, and just does everything right. When you have one that's undefeated you just want to keep that intact and hope that everything goes smoothly and that she's able to show her capabilities once more.”

Malathaat could also provide her multiple champion-producing sire Curlin his third CCA Oaks winner after Curalina [2015], also trained by Pletcher, and last year's winner Paris Lights.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Malathaat is the first offspring out of the A.P. Indy broodmare Dreaming of Julia, who captured the 2012 Grade 1 Frizette and the 2013 Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks for Pletcher.

“She's a bigger physical than Dreaming of Julia and maybe Dreaming of Julia was a tad quicker than she is,” Pletcher said. “But she's just so efficient and has a long stride and it seems like she's bred to get better now. She's growing into that big frame. She's fun to have in the barn and I'm looking forward to get her going again.”

Malathaat was initially campaigned for an earlier return to action.

“We did miss a little time with her and she was a little bit sore, so we took it easy with her,” said Shadwell Stable's vice president and general manager Rick Nichols. “Todd had her training real well into the Ashland. I loved the way that she fought in the Oaks. She just has so much class and determination.”

Malathaat has settled into her surroundings at Saratoga and recently breezed a half-mile in 48.05 seconds on July 17 over the main track in company with Grade 2 Mother Goose-winner Zaajel.

“She's doing great and seems to be loving Saratoga,” Nichols said. “The main thing about her is early on, she had such an effortless gallop. She covers the ground so easily. It doesn't look like she has to work hard at all.”

Pletcher said he is grateful for his relationship with Shadwell, for whom he also has campaigned recent graded stakes winner Mutasaabeq.

“We've been blessed to have received some of their horses and have built some good relationships so far,” Pletcher said. “To have [graded stakes winners] Mutasaabeq and Zaajel and Malathaat, we're off to a good start and happy to be part of the team.”

Shadwell purchased Malathaat for $1.05 million from the Denali Stud consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Shadwell Stable's founder Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum passed in March, and Nichols said Malathaat could dawn a new era for the prestigious racing and breeding operation.

“Physically, she's about as perfect as you can get,” Nichols said. “She just looked like a horse that would have a lot of class. She had a very attractive head, beautiful balance, and her limbs were good. As soon as I saw her at the sale, I knew Sheikh Hamdan would love her. Malathaat could be the foundation mare of the next generation for his family.”

Velazquez, who has guided Malathaat to three of her five wins, retains the mount from post 1. A five-time winner of the CCA Oaks, Velazquez seeks to become the standalone winningest jockey in the race's history.

Two Kentucky Oaks participants face Malathaat once more, including Beach Haven Thoroughbreds' Maracuja, who was seventh in the Kentucky Oaks.

The Rob Atras-trained daughter of third crop sire Honor Code broke a touch slow in the Oaks, but made up considerable ground to run seventh.

“In the Oaks, she broke a little flat footed, but we're hoping she breaks sharper and won't be too far back in a shorter field,” Atras said. “She was down on the inside and going into the first turn she got shuffled back. She made a good run late and I was happy with the performance. She just needs to break sharper and get in a more tactical position.”

Prior to the Kentucky Oaks, Maracuja was a third-out maiden special weight victress going 6 ½ furlongs over the Aqueduct main track en route to a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Gazelle on April 3 at the Big A.

“She came back really well, and we skipped the Acorn and were targeting the Mother Goose but she wasn't quite right,” Atras said.” She's doing well right now. She bounced out of it well. We worked her three times and I'm hoping she's good enough to run a top race.”

Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. will guide Maracuja from post 2.

Stonestreet Stables' Clairiere, fourth in the Kentucky Oaks, arrives off a close third to Zaajel in the Grade 2 Mother Goose for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen.

The bay daughter of Curlin attempts a second graded stakes victory after notching her seasonal debut in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra on February 13 at Fair Grounds Race Course over Travel Column. Clairiere was second to Travel Column in the next out Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks.

A Kentucky homebred, Clairiere is the first offspring out of the three-time Grade 1-winning Bernardini mare Cavorting, who earned over $2 million through a lifetime record of 13-8-1-1.

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. earned his first Grade 1 victory when guiding Questing to victory in the 2012 CCA Oaks and will ride Clairiere from post 4.

Completing the field is allowance winner Rockpaperscissors for WinStar Stablemates Racing, who swept the exacta in last year's CCA Oaks with Paris Lights and Crystal Ball.

Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, the daughter of Distorted Humor broke her maiden at a one-turn mile in September at Churchill Downs and did not race again until June 21, where she defeated older allowance company at Indiana Grand Race Course by 9 ¾ lengths.

Breaking from post 3, Rockpaperscissors will be ridden by Luis Saez.

The Coaching Club American Oaks is slated as Race 5 on Saturday's 11-race card, which also features the Grade 3, $200,000 Caress. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. 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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Run Curtis Run Leads All The Way To Win Rick Violette Stakes

Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso's Run Curtis Run edged the competition by a neck in his debut win earlier this month at Belmont Park. Stepping up to stakes company for his second start, the Summer Front colt had an easier go of it, breaking sharp from the inside post and leading gate-to-wire in a 3 3/4-length score in Wednesday's $100,000 Rick Violette for New York-bred 2-year-olds sprinting six furlongs on the Saratoga Race Course main track.

After defeating Rick Violette contender Surprise Boss in a five-furlong off-the-turf contest over a sloppy and sealed Belmont track on July 2, Run Curtis Run paced the four-horse field under jockey Jose Ortiz, leading Ready A.P. through an opening quarter-mile in 22.77 seconds and the half in 46.12 on a track labeled fast.

Ready A.P., a Christophe Clement-trained filly competing against males, challenged Run Curtis Run from the outside out of the turn, but Ortiz kept the pacesetter to task and opened up the lead when straightened for home, powering to the wire ahead of Ready A.P. in a final time of 1:12.48 to improve to 2-for-2.

Trained by Mike Maker and bred by Larry Goichman, Run Curtis Run, off at 3-1, paid $8 on a $2 win wager.

“He has some natural speed and with him drawing the inside post, it wasn't that hard to figure out in a small field,” said Maker, who said Run Curtis Run will likely target the $200,000 Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital on August 27.

Ortiz, who was riding Run Curtis Run for the first time, said he was pleased with the trip.

“I broke quite well and he was fast out of there, so I didn't have to ask him for a lot,” Ortiz said. “He put me on the lead and I was very happy with that. I had the rail and I wanted the lead.

“He was going nice and relaxed in the first part of the race and when I asked him to go, he was there for me,” he added. “All credit goes to Mike, who had him ready and the guys at the barn.”

Ready A.P., owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and Jimmy Kahig, was also a first-out winner, posting an 8 1/4-length victory on July 1 at Belmont. Making her stakes bow, the More Than Ready filly bested Coinage by a neck for second. Surprise Boss ran fourth and Barese scratched.

“My filly was pretty tired in the end,” said Ready A.P. jockey Luis Saez. “The horse on the lead was pretty comfortable up there. I thought we were going to get him, but when I asked, she was tired.”

The seventh edition of the Rick Violette, previously run as the Rockville Centre, was renamed for the longtime NYRA-based trainer and former president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association who passed away in October 2018. Violette served more than 25 years on the NYTHA board, including nine as president from 2008-17, and trained 2018 Grade 1 Whitney-winner and New York-bred Diversify.

“He was tough on me, but he just wanted me to get better,” Ortiz said on riding for Violette. “He wanted to ride me so he wanted to teach me the right way and how he liked it. I learned a lot of good things with him and I'm very happy to win this race. I'm sad he's not here.

“He was cranky sometimes, but it was always about looking out for the best for his guys and I respect that,” he added. “He was a great guy. He helped me a lot and he believed in me at a very young age.”

Violette gave Ortiz his first two Kentucky Derby mounts, with Samraat [fifth in 2014] and Upstart [18th in 2015].

“I walked in today with him on my mind and I wanted to win it,” Ortiz said. “I knew I had a shot. My horse ran very good first time out. It was great for me to win the race named after him, especially with his family here. I have a lot of good memories with him. I rode my first Kentucky Derby for him with Samraat and I rode my second Kentucky Derby for him on Upstart. He gave me great opportunities at a very young age. He believed in me. He knew I was up and coming and that meant a lot to me that he believed in me at that point in my career.”

Live racing at Saratoga resumes Thursday with a 10-race card and a 1:05 p.m. Eastern first post. The day's feature will be the Grade 1, $150,000 A.P. Smithwick in the opener, with the 2 1/16-mile steeplechase contest featuring a six-horse field.

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Robin Sparkles Will Try Open Company In Saturday’s Caress Stakes

Michael Schrader's stakes winning New York-bred Robin Sparkles will look to make the grade in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Caress, a 5 ½-furlong Mellon turf sprint for older fillies and mares at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Bruce Brown, the 4-year-old Elusive Quality bay has won races at all three NYRA tracks, including a state-bred maiden score at the Spa last summer under returning pilot Jose Ortiz.

Bred in the Empire State by Hibiscus Stables, Robin Sparkles won 4-of-6 starts in a productive sophomore campaign, including open allowance wins in turf sprints at Belmont Park in September and Aqueduct Racetrack in November.

Robin Sparkles finished second in the open License Fee in April over good Belmont turf to launch her 4-year-old campaign ahead of a front-running score in the off-the-turf Mount Vernon against fellow state-breds on May 31 at the Elmont oval.

Last out, Robin Sparkles bested an open six-furlong optional-claiming turf sprint on firm footing at Belmont by 2 1/4 lengths, garnering a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

“That last race was like a stake and it was open company. I think she proved she can run with those,” Brown said. “Ideally, I'd like to see it on the firmer side, but I think she can handle pretty much anything.”

Ortiz, who has guided Robin Sparkles to five of her six career wins, was aboard for a half-mile breeze in 48.31 seconds July 16 on the Oklahoma dirt training track.

“He really likes her and was getting on her before she even ran,” Brown said. “He has a really good rapport with her and can tell us how she's doing compared to before. It's always good when you can keep a consistent rider on them.”

Ortiz retains the mount from post 2.

Caravel, bred in Pennsylvania by her trainer Elizabeth Merryman, will make her Saratoga debut.

Bobby Flay purchased a majority interest in the 4-year-old Mizzen Mast grey following her last-out 4 1/4-length score in the Goldwood, a five-furlong turf sprint at Monmouth Park on June 25.

A stylish last-to-first maiden winner after a slow start on debut in June 2020 in a state-bred five-furlong turf sprint at Penn National, Caravel blitzed to a front-running state-bred allowance score at second asking at the same course and distance in a rapid final time of 54.66.

“I was pretty impressed with her second start,” Merryman said. “I told the jock not to rush her, but he did. She ran so fast that day, she could barely corner and was just off an 18-year-old track record. I knew then she was the real deal.”

After a score in six-furlong Lady Erie in October on the Presque Isle Downs synthetic, Caravel stretched out in distance for the one-mile Hilltop contested over yielding turf at Pimlico Race Course.

Hollywood Hoopla, trained by Merryman's sister, Ann, set the pace in the Hilltop before fading, while Caravel dug in to finish third, defeated just three lengths in a race won by multiple stakes winner Evil Lyn over eventual graded-stakes winner Vigilantes Way.

“The one time I sent her long, the turf was so soft and she didn't settle very well. My sister's horse was adamant about going to the lead and she still held on for third,” Merryman said. “That turf was so bottomless and it was first time long and she was really rank going down the backside. Usually, when a horse gets a trip like that they completely pack it in down the lane and she didn't at all. She's always acted like she could go farther, but I've kept her sprinting because she's very good at it.”

Caravel enters the Caress on a two-race win streak in open five-furlong turf sprints, including a nose score in The Very One on May 14 at Pimlico and a sharp score in the Goldwood that garnered a career-best 99 Beyer.

Merryman said the lofty speed figure last out may be a result of stiffer competition, stepping into open stakes company.

“She's a lot more mature. She's stouter and stronger, but I don't know if she's improved that much or if she's just been tested more so her numbers have gone up,” Merryman said.

A winner of 6-of-8 career starts, Caravel is out of the Congrats mare Zeezee Zoomzoom, who graduated in August 2015 in a one-mile turf test on the Saratoga turf.

Caravel will exit the inside post under Irad Ortiz, Jr.

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Three Diamonds Farm's graded-stakes placed Jakarta, a 6-year-old daughter of Bustin Stones, boasts a record of 23-8-3-3 with purse earnings of $359,279.

Trained by Mike Maker, the consistent mare, who finished fourth in the optional-claiming event won by Robin Sparkles last out, finished second to Cariba in last year's ungraded Caress in her lone start at the Spa.

Jakarta exited the Caress to win a starter allowance in September at Kentucky Downs ahead of a close third in the Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County in October at Keeneland. The Pennsylvania-bred bay continued that good run of form by capturing the Claiming Crown Distaff Dash in December at Gulfstream to close out her campaign.

Winless in five starts this season, Maker said he is hoping a return to the Saratoga turf will give the talented bay a boost.

“She's run well here before and ran a great race here last year, so we're giving it another shot. I would think she would be up close early,” Maker said.

Luis Saez, aboard for the Gulfstream win, returns to the saddle from the outermost post 6.

Rounding out the field are Tass [post 3, Eric Cancel], In Good Spirits [post 4, John Velazquez], and Flower Point [post 5, Joel Rosario].

The Caress is slated as Race 10 on Saturday's 11-race card. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. 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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