Aug 14, 2024
Chelsea Durand Photo
by Christian Abdo
Richard Emmett’s Lady Orient ships in from Kentucky for a stakes attempt in Sunday’s Listed $150,000 Bolton Landing, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for juvenile fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Tom Amoss, the Liam’s Map dark bay was a professional debut winner at Sunday’s distance on July 13 over firm Ellis Park turf. There, she broke a beat slowly and traveled wide from towards the back of the 10-horse field, but overcame traffic trouble when closing along the rail to prevail by a head.
“It was really good. She had a troubled trip. She overcame it and had a really big surge at the end of the race down on the rail,” said Amoss. “I was really pleased with her. That is why we brought her up here. We thought the race was really good.”
The winning effort garnered a 72 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She handled the grass well, which is always a bit of a guess if you haven’t run on it before,” Amoss said. “It was a very nice debut and a mature effort on her part.”
Lady Orient gained a feel for the local turf with a pair of half-mile breezes on the Oklahoma green, including in 50.58 seconds on August 12.
“She’s had more than one breeze over the grass course at the Oklahoma, and she’s done well on it,” said Amoss. “We’ve been able to train her, despite the weather, exactly how we wanted to here.”
Out of the winning Ghostzapper mare Second Coming, Lady Orient was a $170,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her second dam, Sweet Awakening, produced Are You Kidding Me, twice Canadian Champion Older Horse.
Tyler Gaffalione has the mount from post 6.
Tracy Farmer’s Abientot was impressive over Sunday’s course and distance last-out on July 18. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the Not This Time dark bay improved upon a fourth in her first outing on June 21 at Aqueduct Racetrack with a half-length closing score under returning rider Dylan Davis.
“We ran her the one time at Aqueduct, it was a good fourth with a wide trip,” said Shane Tripp, assistant trainer to Casse. “It was respectable. Then she won a maiden on the grass here, which is always big, so we couldn’t be any happier with her.”
The second-out graduation earned a career-best 75 Beyer.
“She’s small, but she has all the right physical attributes to be an athlete,” said Tripp. “She gets across the ground like one, and we couldn’t be any happier.”
Abientot, a $210,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the More Than Ready mare Ready Ready Ready, who produced Canadian Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Mr. Hustle.
Davis looks to engineer a winning trip from the outermost post 8.
CJ Stables’ Viggiedal [post 4, Jose Ortiz] returns to the Spa but this time on turf after a misfire in the six-furlong Listed Schuylerville on July 11. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the Vekoma gray went off as the favorite after a five-length debut score going five furlongs in June at Churchill Downs, but she weakened from the front end in the race won by next-out Grade 3 Adirondack-winner The Queens M G.
Viggiedal, a $350,000 2024 OBS March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training purchase, is out of the winning Unbridled’s Song mare Minnelli, who is a half-sister to graded stakes-winner Wow Me Free and stakes-winner La Perouse. Her graded stakes-winning third dam, Triple Wow, produced Canada’s 1994 Horse of the Year Alywow – winner of that year’s Grade 3 Nijana on the Saratoga turf.
Three Diamond Farm’s Dreamgirl [post 3, Joel Rosario] takes a strikingly similar path to the Bolton Landing as Viggiedal. Trained by Mike Maker, the Mo Town dark bay also won a five-furlong sprint on debut in June at Churchill ahead of an off-the-board finish in the Schuylerville.
Out of the winning Dixie Union mare Box Office Smash, Dreamgirl was a $65,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training. Her stakes-placed second dam, Bees, produced 2018 Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap winner Bee Jersey.
Qatar Racing Limited and Fergus Galvin’s Group 2-placed Mighty Eriu [post 2, Flavien Prat] is set for her stateside debut. The Irish-bred Inns of Court bay is making her first start for conditioner Brendan Walsh, after three efforts overseas for trainer Gavin Cromwell.
While Mighty Eriu remains winless after her trio of outings, she did finish a good second at odds of 50-1 in the five-furlong Group 2 Queen Mary on June 19 at Royal Ascot. The classy placing warranted a try in the six-furlong Group 2 duch*ess Of Cambridge on July 12 at Newmarket, where she finished off-the-board.
Danbro Farms’ Me Governor [post 5, Luis Saez] carries a stakes placing for show-honors in the five-furlong Colleen last-out on July 28 at Monmouth Park. Trained by Carlos David, the dark bay, by The Factor, traveled a prominent trip but drifted wide at the quarter-pole and sacrificed some lengths to the eventual 5 1/4-length winner Dreamaway.
The stakes attempt came off a three-quarter length second-out graduation on dirt on July 4 at Monmouth Park. In her first start, Me Governor was defeated comfortably by Aguas de Cristal, who contested the Grade 3 Adirondack on August 4 and made little impact after a poor start.
Rounding out the field are Icona Mama [post 1, Junior Alvarado], a debut winner on the Presque Isle Downs synthetic for trainer Flint Stites, and maiden Yesterday [post 7, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] for conditioner George Weaver. Kimchi Cat, Fortuna Mia, and Obliging are entered for the main track-only.
The Bolton Landing is slated as Race 7 on Sunday’s 11-race card, which also features the re-scheduled Evan Shipman H. in Race 3. First post is at 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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Paradise Farms Corp., David Staudacher, Maxis Stable, and John Huber’s Maker’s Candy will look to secure his second career stakes win in Sunday’s $125,000 Evan Shipman, a one-mile handicap out of the Wilson Chute for New York-breds 3-year-olds and up, at Saratoga Race Course.
Originally slated for Friday, August 9, the Evan Shipman was canceled and re-drawn after the entire card was canceled due to heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Debby.
Five of the original six entrants have returned, including Sheriff Bianco [post 1, Jose Ortiz, 122 pounds], Bank Frenzy [post 3, Flavien Prat, 118 pounds], Maker’s Candy [post 4, Luis Saez, 121 pounds], Donegal Surges [post 5, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 123 pounds] and Whittington Park [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche, 124 pounds].
Drake's Passage, who finished sixth in an optional-claimer on August 3 here, did not re-enter. Joining the fray is Cicciobello [post 2, Javier Castellano, 117 pounds] for trainer Derek Ryan.
Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.
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