“It was a good, useful work,” said trainer Bill Mott. “He galloped out well and seemed to have good energy and to be moving well. It was fast enough. I think we're fit enough.”

A debut winner at Gulfstream in March, Scotland was nosed out of an allowance victory at Keeneland in April before taking a one-mile optional claimer at Churchill June 3. He was making his two-turn debut when scoring a 3 1/4-length victory in the nine-furlong Curlin last time out.

Also working for Mott Sunday, champions Elite Power (Curlin) and Channel Maker (English Channel) worked four furlongs in company over the Oklahoma training track. Elite Power, targeting next week's GI Forego S., covered the distance in :49.55 (28/68), while Channel Maker, aiming for the GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer S., went in :49.75 (31/68).

“They both looked good and it was normal for them,” Mott said of the works.

On Saturday, Mott saddled firster Hunt Ball (Into Mischief), a half-brother to GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish (Curlin), to a solid runner-up debut effort behind Risk It (Gun Runner).

Mott said the effort was educational for the juvenile, who split rivals from off the pace at the top of the lane and ran on well to be defeated 4 1/2 lengths in the six-furlong maiden race.

“We'll probably stretch him out a little bit and we found out he's pretty game,” Mott said of the Godolphin homebred. “He was willing to run through horses and he didn't seem intimidated by it.”

Meanwhile, with his debut victory, Risk It punched his ticket to the Sept. 16 one-mile GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill Downs, according to trainer Steve Asmussen.

“That's what we were hoping for and we were thinking about it,” Asmussen said. “He's trained like he'll get a mile. Obviously with his pedigree and what he's shown to this point, we're going to continue to dream.”

Trainer John Ortiz sent GIII Adirondack S. winner Brightwork (Outwork) out to work four furlongs in :52.11 (137/139) over the main track at Saratoga Sunday morning in preparation for the Sept. 3 GI Spinaway S.

“We gave her an interval workout in preparation to stretch her out. She worked a half-mile, but she galloped out another half mile,” Ortiz explained. “From the pole to the wire, they got her in about :52, but if you clocked from the quarter-pole and just follow her gallop out, she galloped out in :49 flat. So, she basically did two workouts.

“I told Irad [Ortiz] I wanted her to go nice and easy, and get her to relax and let her listen to you,” added Ortiz. “When she got to the top of the stretch, I wanted her to stride out. I wanted him to let her gallop out as far as she wants and she took him all the way back to the half-mile pole. We basically went about seven furlongs and she stayed consistent on it.”

Unbeaten in three starts, Brightwork graduated first time out going 4 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland Apr. 26. She won the six-furlong Debutante S. at Ellis Park July 2 before her five-length victory in the 6 1/2-furlong Adirondack Aug. 6.

Brightwork will be stretching out to seven furlongs for the Spinaway, but Ortiz is confident she will handle the extra distance.

“We use Equimetre to monitor her heart rate and stride length and I'm very, very in love with the data shown to me this morning. It looks like the further we go, the better with her,” Ortiz said.

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Nicks admits he deals in the lower-end of the mare market and was succinct about Tanquerray's appeal last February.

“She looked cheap,” Nicks said of the now 13-year-old mare. “I am not going to tell you I knew she was going to throw a Grade I winner, because nobody did. But she looked cheap. She had one foal to race, Unconquered Lea (Lea). He made $40,000 and had good speed index numbers, an allowance-type horse. She was a big, good-looking chestnut mare. And in foal to Outwork, he was standing for $10,000 or $7,500 or whatever, and I bought the mare for $2,000, so why wouldn't you buy her?”

Asked if he had seen the mare's future Grade I winner at the sale, Nicks said, “I didn't even look at her. I pretty much just mess with mares. I buy and sell and foal several out myself. I kind of do whatever I can do to make money in this business because it's hard. But I don't mess with a lot of yearlings.”

Nicks quickly added a partner on the mare.

“I texted Randy [Haffner] and I said, 'Man, I stole this mare,'” Nicks recalled. “And he looked at her and we made a deal on her. We both split her and that way we can split the Indiana breeders awards on the filly. That was part of our deal. So we both bred her. He had her and he bred the mare back to his stallion, Notional, and had a colt this spring and had her back to Notional on a pretty early cover.”

As Leave No Trace won her debut at Saratoga in July and with Notional's imminent departure for Ohio, Haffner was looking to downsize.

“After the filly won first time out at Saratoga is when we decided to buy her,” Nicks said. “[Haffner] was selling quite a few horses trying to downsize. I mentioned something to him about buying her and sticking her in this sale before the filly won the race and he just wanted to sell her privately. So Randy Klopp, who trains some horses for me, and Roger Speiss, who has a bunch of horses with Randy, and I ended up just buying five off of Randy to cheapen the average, so to speak.”

The partners originally intended to race the five yearlings, but Leave No Trace's victory in the Sept. 4 GI Spinaway S. changed those plans.

“We bought her to race,” Nicks said. “The only reason we entertained the idea of selling her was because of Leave No Trace. Since she won, we figured it would be a good time to stick her in the sale and if we can get her sold, we'd love to, and if she doesn't bring what we are hoping for, we will bring her back and run her.”

Nicks is optimistic heading into the October sale with a yearling with an impeccable update.

“She is doing really good,” he said of the yearling. “We scoped her and we did her X-rays and everything was perfect. She is a really tall filly. So she's kind of in the middle of a growth spurt right now and growing up rather than growing out like we'd like to see her. So she's a real tall filly with a lot of range. But I think she'll be just fine. She'll fit in with everything else down there, I think.”

Speaking of one Grade I-producing mare naturally leads to Gold Strike (Smart Strike), a mare Nicks acquired just five days before her son won the Kentucky Derby.

“That was just kind of a crazy deal,” Nicks admitted with a laugh. “I deal with the bottom-tier Thoroughbred mares and M.C. Roberts had that mare and he tried getting her in foal for a couple of years and he didn't have any luck. He called me one day the week before the Derby and he told me, 'This mare had a 2-year-old who won by a huge margin for $30,000 last year at Churchill.' And that's all he said. The horse was Grade III-placed at Turfway, so he had some black-type, but all [Roberts] told me was that this horse had won by a bunch at Churchill last year.”

He continued, “I deal with a lot of those older mares that are hard to get in foal. I've got people who will pasture breed them or they will cross them on Quarter Horses where they can do AI. So your older Thoroughbred mares that people don't really want to mess with because they are hard to get in foal, there are Quarter Horse people who can AI and race out of them. They will try them. That's why I got her. Then I found out who he was talking about. It was a shock.”

Rich Strike famously drew into the Derby field the day before the race and Nicks recalled, “He was 21 or 22 and I said, 'He'll never get in.' And then he wins the damn thing. It was just crazy.”

The 20-year-old Gold Strike has not produced a foal since Rich Strike, but Nicks is hopeful next year will be the charm.

“We bred her to Munnings May 25 and we checked her in foal day 16 and everything looked good,” Nicks said. “We checked her back day 21 and it was gone. I think it was just too hot–the first two weeks of June this year, there was a heat index of 120. We are going to try again, hopefully in February. We will get her under lights early next year. The vet who looked at her was very hopeful.”

The 27-year-old Nicks, who followed his father into the horse business, leases a farm in Sellersburg, Indiana and has been breeding horses since he was in high school.

“[Dad] trained for 10 years,” Nicks said. “And then he quit training and we started leasing a big farm and I started foaling mares out for people. I went through some stallions and breeding my own. Then I'd go to Keeneland and buy cheap mares for $1,000 or $2,000, bring them home, take pictures of them and stick them on my Facebook page and sell them for a profit. And whatever I didn't sell, I'd keep and foal out and make registered Indiana-breds. My dad started leasing the farm when I was a sophomore in high school. I would leave school early when I was a junior and take a mare to Lexington to get bred. That's all I've done. I've never had a job.”

Nicks and partners will offer Leave No Trace's full-sister during next Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton October sale. The auction continues through Thursday with bidding beginning each day at 10 a.m.

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Summer Promise (Uncle Mo), runner-up in the GIII Schuylerville S. on opening day was being pointed to the $300,000 seven-furlong Spinaway Sept. 4, but Lukas said Wednesday that he was reconsidering that approach.

“I've kind of changed gears after I watched Naughty Gal run the other day and win,” he said. “I might run Naughty Gal back in the Spinaway and I'm thinking maybe of shipping Summer Promise over to Monmouth and go in the Sorority.”

The $200,000 one-mile Sorority will be run Aug. 21.

Despite a wide trip through the stretch, Holy Cow Stable's Naughty Gal prevailed by 2 1/2 lengths in the 6 1/2-furlong Adirondack, giving Lukas his first Saratoga graded stakes win since 2017 and 61st over all.

“I think that Naughty Gal is going to have a better chance to win the Spinaway, better chance physically to go that extra distance. They're adding half a furlong,” Lukas said. “I think it's a better fit. I always treat them all like I own them and I've got to convince the owners that it's the best thing to do. I'm leaning that way.”

Lukas, 86, is tied with Todd Pletcher for the most wins in the Spinaway with six. His most recent victory was in 1995 with Golden Attraction (Mr. Prospector). In 1984, his first season at Saratoga, Lukas won the Spinaway with Tiltalating (Tilt Up).

“I had the Spinaway plugged in for Summer Promise and the other filly I thought I could go in any direction,” Lukas said. “But after I trained and watched the two of them this last week, I think I'm going to end up with Naughty Gal in the Spinaway. I wouldn't run them against each other.”

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Asmussen, who won the Hopeful with Basin [2019] and Jackie's Warrior [2020], was joined by Gunite jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. in securing their respective fifth Grade 1 win of the 40-day Spa summer meet.

Wit, the 3-5 mutuel favorite out of a convincing score in the Grade 3 Sanford here July 17, stumbled at the break and dropped back to ninth in the 11-horse field as Headline Report led through an opening quarter-mile in 22.23 seconds on the good and harrowed main track.

Gunite, runner-up to Hopeful-rival High Oak last out in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special, was jostled at the start exiting post 3 but quickly rushed into contention by Santana, Jr. to mark the half-mile in 44.49.

Wit, with Irad Ortiz,Jr. up, advanced into fourth position through the turn as Gunite put away pace-pressers Headline Report and Defend, opening up a 2 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call with High Oak launching his bid from fifth and Kevin's Folly, hugging the rail under Jose Lezcano, advancing with menace.

Gunite continued to find more down the lane under Santana, Jr.'s right-handed encouragement and drew off impressively to win by 5 3/4-lengths in a final time of 1:23.08. Wit stayed on strong to complete the exacta by three-lengths over Kevin's Folly.

“I loved how he went through the wire. He didn't get away great today. Ricardo said there was just a little bit of bumping,” Asmussen said. “Going 22 and 1 to 44 and 2, and to look how he did it to the wire, it's going to be exciting going forward. I was concerned we weren't where we expected to be in the first hundred yards. But I watched the race from up the stretch and Ricardo, coming into the stretch, moved his hands a bit but had him plenty gathered up. I felt really good then.

“It's state of mind,” added Asmussen regarding Gunite's development. “We've been aggressive with him and he's put on weight and gotten stronger the whole time. We've been through the roof with how well he's doing.”

The Asmussen-trained and Santana, Jr. piloted Echo Zulu provided Gun Runner – the 2017 Horse of the Year under Asmussen's care – with his first Grade 1-winner as a sire by capturing Sunday's Grade 1 Spinaway at the Spa and Gunite doubled that number with a dominant Hopeful score.

Asmussen said Gunite, who graduated at third asking sprinting six furlongs at Churchill Downs on June 26, improved with added ground.

“The distance; it was a little too short,” Asmussen said of Gunite's first two starts. “But we were anxious to get the Gun Runners running. He's from a solid sprint family of the Winchells with Gun Runner giving him some endurance. But he's very durable, mentally and physically. As much pressure as we put on him, he accepted it.”

Ortiz, Jr. tipped his cap to the winner after a troubled trip aboard the previously undefeated Wit.

“He got beat by a nice horse. He stumbled a little bit at the beginning and he tried hard to overcome that,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “I had to hustle him and ask him to get position to get there on time, but it was too much. It looks like he can [stretch out].”

Pletcher said Wit performed well under difficult circumstances.

“He probably compromised himself,” Pletcher said. “I thought he put in a good, sustained run. It was a tough spot to come from.

“He took a decent chunk out of both quarters,” added Pletcher. “I'm not saying he felt it during the race. It was the result of stumbling away from there.”

Asmussen became North American racing's all-time winningest conditioner in August when Stellar Tap won on Whitney Day to provide the Hall of Famer his 9,446th win, eclipsing the mark of 9,445 victories held by the late Dale Baird.

The 55-year-old Asmussen, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016, enjoyed a stellar Spa summer meet, additionally winning Grade 1s with Jackie's Warrior [H. Allen Jerkens Memorial], Yaupon [Forego] and Max Player [Jockey Club Gold Cup].

Santana, Jr, who was aboard for the Grade 1 wins with Yaupon and Max Player, also engineered a top-flight victory with Maracuja in the Coaching Club American Oaks.

The 28-year-old Santana, Jr. said he was in awe of his accomplishments at Saratoga this summer.

“It's special. Saratoga is one of the best tracks in North America. I'm really blessed. Five Grade 1 wins in one meet is unreal,” Santana, Jr. said.

High Oak, Power Agenda, Big Scully, Volcanic, Headline Report, Kitodan, Defend and Street Fight rounded out the order of finish.

Out of the stakes winning Cowboy Cal mare Simple Surprise, Gunite, a Kentucky homebred, banked $165,000 in victory while improving his record to 5-2-2-1. He returned $25.20 for a $2 win ticket.

Asmussen said Gunite will now target the one-mile Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne on October 2 at Belmont Park, which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November at Del Mar.

“I love him for more 2-year-old races this year. We know what we want his next two races to be and we feel really good about them,” Asmussen said. “The Champagne and the Breeders' Cup are what we're hoping his next two races are. I love his style for the Juvenile. He's going to travel and we'll try to take it. We're very proud of him.”

Live racing returns Thursday, September 16 for Opening Day of the 28-day fall meet at Belmont Park, featuring the Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory, a 2 1/2-mile steeplechase handicap for 4-year-olds and up.

The Belmont Park fall meet, which will run from Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, October 31, will include five Grade 1 races and five “Win and You're In” qualifiers to the Breeders' Cup in November at Del Mar.

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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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“The idea was always that she could be a Saratoga 2-year-old,” said Winchell Thoroughbreds' racing and bloodstock advisor David Fiske. “She showed some early speed, but for her to win the way she did and to get the number she got, I don't think anyone was expecting that.”

Echo Zulu, a half-sister to Grade I winner Echo Town (Speightstown) and a $300,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, will add a furlong and a half to that effort in the seven-furlong Spinaway and she could become fast-starting Gun Runner's first Grade I winner. The stallion was represented earlier in the meet by GII Adirondack S. winner Wicked Halo and by GII Saratoga Special runner-up Gunite. Across the country, his Pappacap won the GII Best Pal S. at Del Mar.

“She came out of Steve [Asmussen]'s parents' operation in Laredo pretty highly touted,” Fiske said. “We have some pretty big expectations for her. We were grateful that [co-owner Mike] Levinson let us partner up with her. We bought a few other yearlings last year and since he had Echo Town, he asked about her. We looked at her and got her as well.”

Jim Bakke's Girl with a Dream (Practical Joke) is another juvenile by a freshman sire coming into the Spinaway off an impressive debut victory. The Brad Cox trainee pulled away to a 6 3/4-length score doing five furlongs at Ellis Park July 24.

Pretty Birdie (Bird Song) carried the colors of the late Marylou Whitney, for years synonymous with racing in Saratoga, to victory in an emotional opening-day GIII Schuylerville S. July 15. A debut winner at Churchill June 18, the gray filly will look to double up on her Saratoga graded haul Sunday for trainer Norm Casse.

Gold Square's Sue Ellen Mishkin (Mohaymen) jumps to the graded ranks after romping to a 7 1/4-length debut score going six furlongs versus state-bred foes in her Aug. 13 unveiling.

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The historic event has been won by subsequent Champion 2-Year-Old Females Before Dawn [1981], Family Style [1985], Meadow Star [1990], Flanders [1994], Golden Attraction [1995], Countess Diana [1997] and Vequist [2020]. In its earlier years, the Spinaway was won by Hall of Fame fillies Miss Woodford [1883], Maskette [1908], Top Flight [1930], Cicada [1961], Affectionately [1962], La Prevoyante [1972] and Ruffian [1974].

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Echo Zulu was highly impressive on debut, romping to a 5 ½-length maiden score on July 15 at Saratoga, where she recorded a 92 Beyer Speed Figure – the highest recorded figure for a 2-year-old filly this year.

“The idea was always that she could be a Saratoga 2-year-old,” said Winchell Thoroughbreds racing and bloodstock advisor David Fiske. “She showed some early speed, but for her to win the way she did and to get the number she got, I don't think anyone was expecting that.”

Echo Zulu, bought for $300,000 out of the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the graded stakes winning Menifee mare Letgomyecho. She is a half-sister to L and N Racing's Echo Town, the winner of last year's Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial.

A victory would give her leading freshman stallion Gun Runner his first Grade 1 win as a sire. He has already sired two graded stakes winners in his first crop, including Grade 2 Adironack winner Wicked Halo who also is owned by Winchell and trained by Asmussen.

“She came out of Steve's parents' operation in Laredo pretty highly touted,” Fiske said. “We have some pretty big expectations for her. We were grateful that [co-owner Mike] Levinson let us partner up with her. We bought a few other yearlings last year and since he had Echo Town, he asked about her. We looked at her and got her as well.”

Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. will retain the mount from post 3.

While Echo Zulu attempts to rise to the occasion, Pretty Birdie will seek a second graded stakes triumph for trainer Norm Casse.

The Marylou Whitney Stables-owned daughter of Bird Song has led at every point of call in two starts. After a runaway debut victory on June 18 at Churchill Downs, she captured the Grade 3 Schuylerville on July 15 at Saratoga by two lengths.

Jockey Luis Saez will return aboard Pretty Birdie from post 5.

An impressive 2 ¼-length score on debut at 36-1 odds has given trainer Robertino Diodoro confidence that Dream Lith can step up to Grade 1 company.

The dark bay or brown daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, owned by Cypress Creek Equine and Arnold Bennewith, broke her maiden on August 8 going 6 ½ furlongs at the Spa. She tracked a close fourth in the clear down the backstretch before making her move in between horses in upper stretch and taking command at the eighth pole.

Despite always having high hopes in Dream Lith, Diodoro said the first-out success was a bit of a surprise.

“We're really excited about her,” Diodoro said. “She wasn't supposed to do what she did that day, not because of ability, we knew she had that. We thought it would take two turns for her to break her maiden. I think even the extra furlong going into the Spinaway is going to help her even more. She's awesome. Sometimes, you see a maiden win first out. Maybe she was more ready than the other horses, but this filly is the real deal.”

Diodoro added that Dream Lith bounced out of her maiden score exceptionally well.

“Some horses that break their maiden first out, you have to ease off. But she just came back like a pro,” Diodoro said. “She's giving us all the signs that she's the real deal.”

Jockey David Cohen retains the mount from post 7.

Tarabi is also seeking a breakthrough victory following an impressive debut maiden win on August 7 at Ellis Park.

In her six-furlong maiden score, the chestnut daughter of First Samurai maintained her inside position down the backstretch, inched her way to the front under no urging and was never in doubt in the stretch, winning by 5 ½ lengths.

Owned by LBD Stable, Manganaro Bloodstock and David Ingordo, Tarabi is out of the Indian Charlie mare Indian Bay, making her a full-sister to Shivaji, a Group 3 winner in Japan.

“As an early 2-year-old she was very forward and never had a bad day on the track,” said trainer Cherie DeVaux. “She's very straightforward and mature mentally. She showed a lot of talent in the morning and the plan was always to run her at Ellis and if she ran to our expectations, to give her a shot in the Spinaway.”

Tarabi has breezed twice at Saratoga following her maiden victory.

“She's adjusted really well,” DeVaux said. “She continues to train well. She's grown, matured and progressed physically. She's had one easy work over the track and one where we asked a bit more of her and she handled it really well and got over the track really well. She's come out of it in good shape.”

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, a two-time Spinaway victor, will ride Tarabi from post 1.

Completing the field are Girl With a Dream [post 2, Florent Geroux], Benbang [post 4, Manny Franco], Saucy Lady T [post 6, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], Sequist [post 8, Junior Alvarado], Sue Ellen Mishkin [post 9, Jose Ortiz],

The prestigious race is named in honor of George Lorillard's talented chestnut who won seven of her nine starts, including stakes wins at the defunct Jerome Park and Sheepshead Bay Park. Successful in her career as a broodmare, Spinaway was the granddam of Tanya, who won her grandmother's namesake race in 1904 before defeating colts in the Belmont Stakes the following year. Other prominent descendants of Spinaway include multiple champion producing stallion Giant's Causeway, prolific broodmare Hasili and European champion Gleneagles.

The Spinaway is slated as Race 11 on Sunday's 12-race program, which offers a first post of 12:35 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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Trainer Butch Reid reported that all was well with his charge in the aftermath of her 2-length triumph over budding rival Dayoutoftheoffice in the Juvenile Fillies, an effort that now puts Vequist in position to take home an Eclipse Award for divisional honors. While horses can sometimes fool their caretakers by flaunting one kind of form in the morning only to give off an entirely different impression in the afternoons, Vequist more than backed up the serious tout she had made for herself this week as one of the best looking horses during training hours.

“When I saw her in the morning jogging and stuff, I thought she looked really good but then when she got over there into the paddock in the afternoon, I thought she looked spectacular,” said Reid, who previously won the 2011 Breeders' Cup Marathon with Afleet Again. “In my mind, I thought she won the paddock show. She looked good, calm, relaxed. We felt pretty good.”

Vequist now has two wins from four career starts with both of her triumphs coming in top-level races. She broke her maiden by a jaw-dropping 9 ½ lengths in the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 6 but was beaten in the Grade 1 Frizette by Dayoutoftheoffice.

Under heady handling from Joel Rosario Friday, Vequist used an inside trip to turn the tables on her rival and make her sire Nyquist one of now 24 stallions to win a Breeders' Cup race and sire a Breeders' Cup winner.

“We figured she would be laying close and it seemed like the inside was good all day,” Reid said. “And we had Joel in the irons. We had full confidence in the horse and the rider. This is my second Breeders' Cup win but this was really a special one because she's a homebred and I was able to do it for Tom McGrath and Gary Barber and Adam Wachtel. It makes it extra special.”

Vequist was bred by McGrath's Swilcan Stables with McGrath selling an interest in the filly to Barber and Wachtel after she finished second in her career debut at Parx on July 29. To Reid's delight, the new addition to the ownership had no intention of taking the filly out of his care.

“That's something rare in this business that something like that happens. Normally that's it and the horse is gone,” Reid said. “I didn't know them (Barber and Wachtel) until I talked to them on the phone. In fact I met Gary Barber for the first time yesterday.”

Reid added that Vequist will now head to Barry Eisman's farm in Florida for a freshening to prepare for what he hopes is a successful trip down the Kentucky Oaks trail in 2021.

“Four starts as a 2-year-old is plenty for me and we got her stretched around two turns, which is what I wanted,” Reid said. “She'll soak up some sun and pick on some grass.”

Trainer and co-owner Tim Hamm reported all was good with Dayoutoftheoffice the morning after her gutsy runner-up finish in the Juvenile Fillies.

Dayoutoftheoffice set a quick pace in the 1 1/16m Juvenile Fillies, throwing down the first quarter in 23.30 and an opening half mile in 47.12 before being caught by race-winner Vequist in the late stages. That loss marked the first defeat in four starts for Dayoutoftheoffice, but the daughter of Into Mischief figures to be in play for Eclipse Award honors with her prior wins in the Grade 1 Frizette — in which she bested Vequist — and Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes.

“She'll take a little break and get ready for a 3-year-old campaign,” Hamm said.

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Unveiled as a tepid favorite July 29 in Bensalem for owner/breeder Swilcan Stables, the bay chased a wire to wire winner throughout and just missed when taking a final dive at her foe nearing the finish, finishing 8 1/2 lengths clear for of a next-out winner in third.

Off as the narrow fourth choice behind even-money ‘TDN Rising Star’ Beautiful Memories (Hard Spun), Vequist broke a step slowly, but quickly moved up to track frontrunning Esplanade (Daredevil) through a :22.41 quarter. The chalk, who was pulled up in her previous effort, again began to hit the breaks before the three-eighths pole, and Vequist and Esplanade separated themselves from the rest approaching the lane. Taking over at the top of the stretch, Vequist edged clear into the final furlong and poured it on from there, cruising under the line a dominant victress under Luis Saez.

The win was the second raid of a Saratoga Grade I for Thomas McGrath’s Swilcan Stables and trainer Butch Reid, who upset the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. with Poseidon’s Warrior (Speightstown) in 2012.

“It was more about the morning training than it was her first race,” said Reid of running Vequist as a maiden in the Spinaway. “We breezed her out of the gate one time and she was only supposed to go a half-mile but she went in :48 and just kept going 1:01, 1:13 and 1:26. Even though we ran her in that 4 1/2-furlong race, it was more just getting a race under her belt. She was going to be looking for longer things down the road. You don’t expect to win a Grade I with a maiden, but I knew the distance wasn’t a problem.”

“The plan today was to try and follow the speed,” said Saez. “There was a lot of speed in the race so I wanted to break from there and find a good spot. Everything went so well, we broke and we were right there. When we got to the three-eighths I had a lot of horse and when we came to the stretch she took off.”

Pedigree Notes:

Vequist plants the Grade I flag early for her freshman sire (by Uncle Mo), just the eighth horse to win the GI Kentucky Derby while undefeated and first champion 2-year-old to win it since Seattle Slew in 1977. She is the Darley resident’s fifth winner and second black-type winner, following Soaring Free S. hero Gretzky the Great. The first black-type performer out of 2014 GII Black-Eyed Susan S. runner-up Vero Amore, she has a yearling Astern (Aus) half-sister and a weanling half-sister by Daredevil. Vero Amore, a $15,000 purchase by Reid as juvenile in 2013, was bred to Accelerate this spring.

Sunday, Saratoga
SPINAWAY S.-GI, $250,000, Saratoga, 9-6, 2yo, f, 7f, 1:22.29, ft.
1–VEQUIST, 118, f, 2, by Nyquist
                1st Dam: Vero Amore (GSP, $252,255), by Mineshaft
                2nd Dam: Summers Edge, by The Cliff’s Edge
                3rd Dam: Miss Summer Reign, by Summer Squall
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
   WIN. ($120,000 RNA Ylg ’19 KEESEP). O-Gary Barber, Wachtel
Stable & Swilcan Stable LLC; B-Swilcan Stables (KY); T-Robert E.
Reid, Jr.; J-Luis Saez. $137,500. Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0,
$145,500. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the  
strong>eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Esplanande, 122, f, 2, by Daredevil
                1st Dam: Southern Silence, by Dixie Union
                2nd Dam: Silence Dogood, by Grand Slam
                3rd Dam: Crystal Vous, by Crystal Water
O-WinStar Farm LLC, Timothy E. Hamm & Michael J. Lewis;
B-Blazing Meadows Farm LLC & WinStar Farm, LLC (OH);
T-Timothy E. Hamm. $50,000.
3–Lady Lilly, 120, f, 2, by Nyquist
                1st Dam: Miss Inclined, by Pulpit
                2nd Dam: Seoul, by Deputy Minister
                3rd Dam: Nomo Robbery, by No Robbery
($280,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP). O-Phoenix Thoroughbred III;
B-Mueller Thoroughbred Stable, Ltd. (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen. $30,000.
Margins: 9HF, 1HF, 11 1/4. Odds: 6.60, 6.60, 7.30.
Also Ran: Irish Constitution, Guana Cay, Beautiful Memories.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

The post Nyquist Filly Romps in Spinaway appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The historic event, which is the first Grade 1 event for 2-year-old fillies on the East Coast, has been won by Eclipse Award winning debutantes Before Dawn (1981), Family Style (1985), Meadow Star (1990), Flanders (1994), Golden Attraction (1995) and Countess Diana (1997). In its earlier years, the Spinaway was won by all-time great fillies Miss Woodford (1883), Maskette (1908), Top Flight (1930), Affectionately (1962), Numbered Account (1971), La Prevoyante (1972) and Ruffian (1974).

The prestigious race is named in honor of George Lorillard's talented chestnut who won seven of her nine starts, including stakes wins at the defunct Jerome Park and Sheepshead Bay Park. Successful in her career as a broodmare, Spinaway was the granddam of Tanya, who won her grandmother's namesake race in 1904 before defeating colts in the Belmont Stakes the following year. Other prominent descendants of Spinaway include multiple champion producing stallion Giant's Causeway, prolific broodmare Hasili and European Champion Gleneagles.

Owned and bred by Hamm's Blazing Meadows Farm and WinStar Farm, the dark bay daughter of Daredevil won her debut by 6 ¼ lengths at Belterra Park in Cincinnati, Ohio before defeating Buckeye State native colts in the Hoover on July 3 at Belterra and the Cleveland Kindergarten on August 8 at Thistledown.

“This horse has dominated state bred competition. She's beaten the boys in Ohio, but she'll get a test this time, and we'll see how she handles the step up in competition,” Hamm said. “She's done nothing wrong and her Beyer and Thoro-Graph numbers put her to where she deserves a chance.”

Because he knows how tough it can be to win at Saratoga, Hamm doesn't bring just any horse to the Spa and said that a horse has to prove themselves worthy of the engagement.

“They have to show that they have some class and can handle themselves under some stress,” Hamm said. “They got to go out there and perform. If they're on their 'A' game, you feel like you have a shot. The horses we're bringing up there have shown that.”

Esplanande will stretch out to seven furlongs for the first time, with her longest race taking place last out at six furlongs.

“It looks like she'll carry her speed seven eighths and I'm not convinced she can't get a mile. She's been a classy filly,” Hamm said.

Hamm boasts three graded stakes victories on his resume, but a Spinaway triumph would give him his first at the Grade 1 level.

“It would be outstanding especially with a homebred filly like that,” Hamm said. “I'm still looking for that first Grade 1. It would be super. We have the mare and Daredevil is a WinStar stallion so it would mean a whole lot to the whole operation.”

Hamm conditions numerous horses for WinStar, including dual stakes winner Alexandria, who also is unbeaten in three starts.

“We have a great relationship with WinStar,” Hamm said. “We have about 20 yearlings which will be 2-year-olds next year with WinStar, and we have about a dozen in training. The relationship started about 10 years ago and it's grown each year. We breed together and we do some training together on certain horses.”

Jockey Junior Alvarado, who piloted Dayoutoftheoffice to victory in the Schuylerville for Hamm, has the mount from post 4.

Trainer Mark Casse will attempt a third triumph in the Spinaway with Beautiful Memories.

A John C Oxley Kentucky homebred, the chestnut daughter of Hard Spun was an emphatic 10-length runaway winner of her debut on May 28 at Churchill Downs before being pulled up in the last out Grade 3 Schuylerville on July 16.

In her first work since being eased, Beautiful Memories drilled through a bullet half-mile in 46.20 seconds on August 5 over the Saratoga main track. She has continued to train forwardly and worked a half-mile in 49.40 on August 28.

Beautiful Memories is out of the stakes-placed Sky Mesa mare Sky Dreamer, who is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Dream Dancing. Her fourth dam is 1999 Champion Older Female Beautiful Pleasure, who was a six-time Grade 1-winner.
Jockey Jose Ortiz was aboard for both of her two starts and will be back aboard from post 5.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen earned his first Grade 1 at the Spa when Cashier's Dream strolled home to a six-length triumph in the 2001 Spinaway. This year, he will send out Phoenix Thoroughbreds' Lady Lilly.

The bay daughter of freshman sire and 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist was a narrow winner on debut going six furlongs over the main track on August 2 at Saratoga.

Bred in Kentucky by Mueller Thoroughbred Stable, Lady Lilly is the fourth progeny out of the Pulpit mare Miss Inclined, whose previous three offspring are all winners. She was bought for $280,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where she was consigned by Elm Tree Farm.

Jockey Joel Rosario will have the return engagement as he seeks an 11th stakes victory this meet from post 3.

Rounding out the field are Irish Constitution [post 1, Dylan Davis], Vequist [post 2, Luis Saez], and Guana Cay [post 6, Irad Ortiz, Jr].

The Spinaway is slated as Race 9 on Sunday's 12-race program, which offers a first post of 12:45 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.

The post Esplanande Brings Perfect Record Into Sunday’s Grade 1 Spinaway appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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