The Spinaway Stakes, Purse $350.000, Grade 1, 7 Furlongs, Dirt for 2 Year Old Fillies
Today at Saratoga on closing weekend we move ever closer to finding out which of these 2 year old fillies in the Breeders Cup. This is a one of the tougher tests along the way as this Grade 1 always attracts some elite horses and is run at the challenging 7 furlong distance. In today’s edition there are 7 talented 2 year old fillies that will all be looking to add their first Grade 1 win to their resume. This race will have a little for everyone with a couple of proven graded stakes horses against others that are just coming off their maiden scores. Plus we also get to see Primera Fajita and Notarized Kate hook up again as they did earlier this year for an epic battle. Let’s take a look at the field and see if we can separate some of these runners :
1-Disney Music (Sarah Stables)- This home-bred comes into the race winning 1 of her 2 races, with the win coming in her last start on August 15th going 6 furlongs and this win was by a measured length. In her other race she finished a nice closing 2nd losing only by a 1/4th a length. She is a nice big filly at this point in her career and has posted some nice workouts in the morning. The most recent work was a nice 110 and 4 work coming out of her last win that shows that she is doing well off that race. Running on August 15th and coming back here is a quick 3 week turn around, will she be able to handle that?
2-Notarized Kate (Pristine Stable)- She is the most decorated horse in this field as she comes into the race winning 3 out of 4 lifetime races, with 2 of those wins coming in stakes races including her most recent start in a grade 2 race. She has been able to win on both fast and off tracks and has been able to go head to head and beat some of the best 2 year old fillies in the game. Just like the horse to her inside she ran on August 15th and is running back after 3 weeks rest. She is also running on shorter rest for the 2nd time in a row and this will be her third race since July 24th. Could this take a toll on her? She hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down yet.
3-Dogs Money Maka (Teamf Racing)- She comes into the race winning 1 out of 4 lifetime races and that win came 2 races back. She was stepped up into a grade 2 race last time out and responded well finishing a nice 2nd going 6.5 furlongs at DMR where she took the lead at the 6 furlong mark but got beat in the end by a head. She came out of that race and posted a solid mile work going 138 flat. She most recently raced on August 12th so she will have a few more days off then the horses to her inside, could that be enough to get her over the hump against them?
4-Pitch (D J C Racing Stables)- She comes into this race winning 2 out of 3 lifetime races with her 2 wins coming in her last 2 races. She has shown the ability to win on both fast and off tracks with her most recent win coming in an OC race here at Saratoga. When you look at her public works in the morning you are not blown away by them working 112 flat on the dirt with a jock up yet it doesn’t seem to matter much for her. This is what she was working before each of her wins so maybe she is like Allen Iverson and doesn’t care much for practice and just shows up at game time. She is also coming into this race well rested not having run since July 24th, which may give her an advantage on the horses to her inside.
5-Klassy With AK (Halo Thoroughbreds) She has been raced 6 times so far this year with 3 wins coming in those 6 starts. She was moved up the class ladder winning a MSW then won an allowance race then an overnight stake. She tried a stakes race in between the MSW win and the allowance win against some others in here and finished 5th. She also raced on August 15th in the grade 2 race where she finished 2nd to Notarized Kate and much like Notarized Kate she has been run often over the last month and a half. Actually this will be her 4th race in just over 2 months but it does not seem to affect her, as she is a very large filly for a 2 year old.
6-Osailia (Blushing Meadows)- She comes into the race having started 2 times winning 1 of those starts and that win came last out. This homebred is lightly raced and well rested having not raced since July 8th when she won at Woodbine by a head going 5.5 furlongs. If you are worried about her being off for almost 2 months I wouldn’t as her maiden score came off a 3 month break so she can run well off a layoff. She is working well off her win posting solid low 1:11’s handy workouts at the track. In looking at the works it appears as if Blushing Meadows is testing out commands to try and figure out what will give her the best chance to win. I think this could be a sleeper horse here.
7-Primera Fajita (EasyMoney Stables)- She comes into the race winning 2 out of her 3 lifetime races with her only loss being a loss to Notarized Kate by a head in an stakes race on June 4th. She returned the favor on July 24th winning that Grade 3 race against Notarized Kate. Unlike some of the other proven stakes horse here EasyMoney Stables decided to keep this homebred out of the race on August 15th and appeared to want to keep her fresh for this race. To me that seems like a smart calculated move that could pay off huge. She obviously came out of that graded stakes win well and I can tell this when she blazed up the track at DMR on August 8th going a 136 and 4 dirt mile work. The only thing I don’t like about this horse is the post but she has won from further outside in the past.
This a great 2 year old race with 7 talented 2 year olds signed on to do battle. I have said this before and I will keep saying it until the Breeders Cup is here and gone, I love 2 year old racing and it’s races like this that get me excited about it!! Here is my prediction. 7-2-6-4
Warbucks
Categories: Grade I