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Malathaat Gets 95 Beyer Speed Figure For Alabama Win, Will Train Up To BC Distaff

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat reasserted her dominance in the 3-year-old filly division with a powerful score in Saturday's $600,000 Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The regally bred daughter of Curlin earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure for her third Grade 1 win, where she made a quick recovery after stumbling at the start, to settle three lengths off the pace in fifth down the backstretch. Malathaat made a sweeping four-wide move in upper stretch to win by 1 ½ lengths under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez.

Malathaat arrived at the Alabama after suffering her first defeat in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 24, where she set the pace in a compact field and was ultimately collared by Maracuja, who finished last of seven in the Alabama.

“It was good to get back and get a reasonably good trip despite stumbling at the start,” Pletcher said. “It was a very, very strong performance. She looks good this morning.”

Malathaat won the Grade 2 Demoiselle on December 5 over a sloppy and sealed track at Aqueduct, making up considerable ground with little effort to win by three-quarters of a length.

Following a four-month layoff, Malathaat returned to capture the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes on April 3 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., en route to a Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks score four weeks later at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

“She looked like she was hopelessly beaten and then ends up winning by daylight,” Pletcher recalled of the Demoiselle. “We were excited about stretching her out to a mile and a quarter and she handled it as well as we hoped that she would.”

With a trio of Grade 1 wins under her belt during a prosperous 2021 campaign, Malathaat is the current frontrunner for Eclipse Award honors for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly.

Recent Alabama winners to secure Champion 3-Year-Old Filly honors include Blind Luck [2010], Royal Delta [2011], Questing [2012], Songbird [2016], and Swiss Skydiver [2020].

Pletcher said Malathaat will likely train up to the $2 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff on November 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

“Right now, we're focused on the Distaff, so we'll zero in on that and take things from there. That's the most likely scenario,” Pletcher said. “Nothing's etched in stone, but that's sort of the plan that we discussed with Rick Nichols [of Shadwell] a while ago.”

Pletcher previously secured Alabama triumphs with Princess of Sylmar [2013] and Stopchargingmaria [2014], the latter of whom captured the following year's Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Malathaat is the second progeny out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia. She was bought for $1.05 million at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

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Pletcher has found recent success with first-time starting juveniles, saddling WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Major General and Robert and Lawanna Low's My Prankster to impressive maiden scores on Saturday at the Spa.

Major General, a son of third-crop sire Constitution, led at every point of call in the 6 ½-furlong maiden tilt, and shook off a stretch confrontation from third-time starter Bourbon Heist to win by a neck under leading rider Luis Saez. Major General registered a 77 Beyer for the debut win.

“Major General was a little bit green yesterday,” Pletcher said. When that horse came to him, he looked him in the eye and found some horse, so we're happy to see that.”

Six races later, My Prankster displayed stalking tactics down the backstretch along the rail before taking command from the outside around the far turn and romped home a 10-length winner under Saez. The son of leading sire Into Mischief garnered a 92 Beyer.

“He was very impressive, I thought he kicked on well down the lane and had something left in the tank, so it was very encouraging,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher did not have any plans for a next start for either horse.

“We'll let the dust settle and see how it goes,” Pletcher said.

Bred in Kentucky by Circular Road Breeders, Major General is the first offspring out of the unraced Uncle Mo mare No Mo Lemons. He was bought for $420,000 from the Woods Edge Farm consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

My Prankster, bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, was a $600,000 acquisition at the Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale, where he was consigned by Summerfield. His is out of the Flower Alley mare My Wandy's Girl who was a Group 1 winner in South America before scoring graded stakes black type in the United States.

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Thedayofthegrey, Pacific Coast Win Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund Stakes Races At Thistledown

A pair of $100,000 Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund Stakes (OTRF) were contested early on the JACK Thistledown program on Saturday, August 14 at JACK Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio.

Both events were for Ohio-registered 2-year-olds at six furlongs, with the first being the Best of Ohio Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes that featured a field of nine colts and geldings, while the second was the Best of Ohio Miss Ohio Stakes that saw six fillies vie.

Thedayofthegrey left no doubt he was much the best in the Cleveland Kindergarten, using a front-stepping effort to score in 1:12.06 under the handling of rider Sonny Leon. Bred by trainer Robert Cline, the grey son of Twinspired-Sharon's Way, by Proud Citizen left the gate at 9-1 odds and returned $20 on a two-dollar ticket to his backers. Thedayofthgrey bested 6-5 rival Tantrum (Malcolm Franklin) by nearly two lengths, with 20-1 Rumble Strip Ron (Scott Spieth) third and 6-5 Condemnation (Luan Machado) fourth.

Thedayofthegrey had only two previous starts under his belt coming into the Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes, and after winning his maiden effort on Jun 1 at Thistledown, was third in the $75,000 Hoover Stakes on July 23 at Belterra Park in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“He stumbled in the Hoover and kind of lost his footing,” explained Cline, who owns the youngster in partnership with Richard Wilkinson. “He broke well today, however, and he's an accredited-bred, so that shows what a nice colt he is.”

Thedayofthegrey, a striking deep grey gelding who dons a white hood with can't-see-back blinkers over a white bridle, now has $85,500 in career earnings as a result of today's triumph.

Pacific Coast gave an impressive showing of herself in the 53rd running of the Best of Ohio Miss Ohio Stakes, flying under the wire in 1:11.88 for rider Jose Bracho.

“Tim gave me the opportunity to ride this filly and I'm grateful for that,” Bracho said. “At the start, we got into a little bit of trouble, but once we got in the clear, by the three-eights, she just did it all by herself.”

The well-built, dark chestnut filly with the tiny star and beautifully braided mane, walked into the Thistledown winner's circle like an old campaigner for trainer Tim Hamm and owners-breeders WinStar Farm and Blazing Meadows Farm. Pacific Coast is by Exaggerator, out of the Indian Ocean mare Ocean Princess.

“Our operation started in 1992 or 1993,” Hamm stated. “We came out and watched the Best Of Ohio races at Thistledown and decided that was the way to go. We started breeding our own and our first crop was in 1995. We get our horses ready in Florida, and our partnership with WinStar has really boosted our program.”

Pacific Coast, who broke from the gate as the 6-1 choice, won by open lengths over 5-2 rival Candlelight Hours (Malcolm Franklin) with 4-1 Flatter Her Again (John McKee) third and 5-1 Squid (Luis Rivera) fourth. Pacific Coast now has $78,900 in her career coffers.

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First Captain Headlines Friday’s Curlin Stakes At Saratoga

First Captain has stamped himself as a rising star through a perfect 3-for-3 record, and will try to keep winning ways intact when racing outside of Belmont Park for the first time in Friday's 12th running of the $120,000 Curlin for sophomores going nine furlongs at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The restricted stakes outing for 3-year-olds who have not won a stakes race over one mile in 2021 is named in honor of the 2007-08 Horse of the Year who became the first North American thoroughbred to reach the $10 million earnings mark. Through a record of 16-11-2-2, Curlin captured the 2007 Preakness, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Breeders' Cup Classic during his 3-year-old campaign before adding four more Grade 1 events to his ledger in the Dubai World Cup, Stephen Foster, Woodward, and Jockey Club Gold Cup the following year.

First Captain will look to become the second Curlin offspring to capture his sire's namesake race after Connect won in 2013. Since breaking his maiden at seven furlongs by three-quarters of a length over next-out winner Mahaamel in April at Belmont Park, First Captain scored once more against winners five weeks later over Big Sandy going a one-turn mile.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey entered First Captain for his first stakes test last out in the Grade 3 Dwyer on July 5 at Belmont Park, and he handled the class boost with flying colors, capturing the one-turn mile by 1 ¾ lengths.

“He is doing really well up here,” McGaughey said. “He lost his whole 2-year-old year so he's still behind, but he's trying to catch up. I think that his last race was good and he certainly likes this track here. I'm looking forward to it. We have been taking it one step at a time.”

First Captain is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Woodford Racing, and celebrity culinary artist Bobby Flay, the latter of whom also bred the chestnut colt.

Purchased for $1.5 million from the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale, First Captain is out of the graded stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed A.P. Indy broodmare America and hails from the prestigious line of blue hen mare Best in Show, whose descendants include Belmont Stakes winners Jazil and Rags to Riches as well as multiple Group 1-winning Irish champion distaffer Peeping Fawn.

Jockey Jose Ortiz, who guided 2019 Curlin victor Highest Honors, retains the mount from post 4.

Three Chimneys Farm and e Five Thoroughbreds' Collaborate seeks to live up to the hype he garnered following an astonishing 12 ½-length maiden romp on February 27 at a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The son of Into Mischief followed with a distant fifth in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Florida Derby for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

After a significant cutback in distance when third to stablemate Moonlite Strike in the 6 ½-furlong Roar on May 15, Collaborate defeated winners in a one-mile allowance on June 20, both at Gulfstream Park.

“The Florida Derby was a bit disappointing; but it was probably a bit quick back also,” Joseph, Jr. said. “He ran third after that. We did a minor throat procedure on him and thought we saw the right horse last time going a mile again. I'm hoping to build on that. The Curlin will be a big test.”

Collaborate is out of the graded stakes-winning Quiet American mare Quiet Temper and was bought for $600,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione will ride from post 6.

Repole Stable, Phipps Stable, and St. Elias Stable's Dynamic One is the lone Kentucky Derby alumni in the Curlin field and has not raced since finishing 18th in the 'Run for the Roses.'

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the son of Union Rags broke his maiden at fourth asking at nine furlongs on March 7 at Aqueduct.

“He got a good freshening after the Derby, and we've been thinking about the Curlin since then,” said Pletcher, who previously saddled Turbo Compressor [2011] and Outplay [2017] to Curlin scores. “He's trained accordingly, and we'll see if he can make a move forward. He and [Kentucky Oaks winner] Malathaat trained quite a bit together at Belmont and made good companions on a similar schedule.”

Dynamic One registered his final work for the Curlin on Friday, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.20 over the Oklahoma training track.

“I thought he handled it fine,” Pletcher said of the breeze. “He's always been a good work horse and trained really well. He's still putting it all together. Hopefully, as he continues to mature, he will continue to improve.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the call from post 7.

Susan Quick and Christopher Feifarek's Beren arrives at the Curlin as the most seasoned horse in the field with ten starts and brings three consecutive stakes victories into the race for trainer Butch Reid, Jr.

The son of Weigelia, a previous track record holder at Belmont Park for six furlongs over the inner turf [1:07.04 on June 17, 2006], captured the Gold Fever and an off-the-turf edition of the Paradise Creek over Big Sandy before beating his Pennsylvania-bred counterparts in the Crowd Pleaser on June 22 at Parx Racing.

Reid, Jr. said Beren, who breezed a bullet half-mile in :46.60 seconds Friday over the Saratoga main track, could cross-enter in the $200,000 Grade 2 Amsterdam on August 1 going 6 ½ furlongs.

“We may end up cross-entering in the Amsterdam. He breezed awful fast the other day and I'm not sure that's conducive to going a mile and eighth the way he breezed. He came out of it great and hasn't missed an oat. He's doing very well,” Reid, Jr. said. “My inclination is to keep him around two turns, but the way he breezed the other day, it looks like he really handled the track well. He gives you options, that's for sure.”

Reid, Jr. did not rule out starting Beren on turf at some point.

“We wanted to try the turf with him too, but that one rained off,” Reid, Jr. said. “His father was the track record holder at Belmont at six furlongs on the turf. His mother, Silmaril, was a multiple-graded-stakes winner. He's very well bred and we have a lot of options. We'll see how he goes the next couple of days and make up our minds.”

Jockey Frankie Pennington retains the mount from post 5.

Trainer Rodolphe Brisset will saddle CHC and WinStar Farm's regally-bred Harvard, a full-brother to 2016 Champion 2-Year-Old Classic Empire who is unbeaten in two starts around two turns.

After making the third time the charm in his two-turn debut in May at Indiana Grand, the son of Pioneerof the Nile bested winners in a nine-furlong allowance race on June 11 at Churchill Downs, which featured next-out winner Dack Janiel's.

Harvard will be ridden by Luis Saez from post 3.

Peter Brant and Robert V. LaPenta's Miles D, a son of Curlin, makes his two-turn debut for trainer Chad Brown after a sharp one-turn mile maiden triumph on June 12 at Belmont Park. The bay colt made his first start since October, when fourth on debut finishing behind Speaker's Corner and stakes-winners Caddo River and Greatest Honour.

Breaking from post 1, Miles D will be ridden by Joel Rosario.

Completing the field is Juddmonte Farms' Snow House, who was previously third in the Grade 3 Dwyer. The bay son of Twirling Candy broke his maiden going a two-turn mile on April 21 at Keeneland Race Course before defeating winners around a one-turn mile on May 29 at Churchill Downs for trainer Brad Cox.

Snow House will break from post 2 under Manny Franco.

The Curlin is slated as Race 9 on Friday's 10-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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Malathaat to Target Alabama

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat (Curlin), who suffered her first career defeat when second behind Maracuja (Honor Code) as the heavy favorite in the four-horse GI Coaching Club American Oaks Saturday, will be aimed at a likely rematch with that filly in the Aug. 21 GI Alabama S.

“We had a difficult time analyzing the race beforehand and how we thought it might unfold,” admitted trainer Todd Pletcher. “There wasn't a lot of speed on paper and we were in the one post with a target on our backs, so our strategy was to let her run away from the gate and try to establish a position into the first turn, or if someone was to clear us, hopefully move out into the clear.

“Everyone left there with the same intention and by the time we got to the first quarter, we'd gone :23 and 1, which is fine if we could have a little breather along the way,” Pletcher continued. “But as soon as we got on the backside, Irad [Ortiz, Jr. aboard Clairiere] made a move and put pressure on her. She kind of had to fight off the whole field. When you're a heavy favorite in a race like that with a short field, those things can happen. I'm not disappointed with the filly at all. I thought she ran bravely considering everything that was thrown at her off the layoff. If she comes back well, we'll point towards the Alabama.”

Pletcher said CHC and WinStar Farm's Life is Good (Into Mischief), a recent addition to his New York-based stable, could make his next start in the Aug. 28 GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. or in the Aug. 24 GIII Smarty Jones S. at Parx following a four-furlong drill in :48.88 (5/27) at Saratoga Saturday.

“He's a very impressive horse to watch train. He did that well in hand throughout,” Pletcher said of the work. “We'll play it by ear, but we have a couple of options with the Allen Jerkens here and the Smarty Jones at Parx would be a possibility if we needed more time. He's a super talented horse and we're fortunate to have him.”

Unbeaten in three lifetime starts, Life is Good has not started since romping to an eight-length victory in the Mar. 6 GII San Felipe S. for trainer Bob Baffert.

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