The Lake Placid – (Grade ll)

Purse $400.00 – For Fillies Three Years Old – One Mile – InTurf

Saratoga – August 29, 2026

From an N1X to a Grade Two—Mb Stables’ Avicea led every step of the way in the 23rd edition of The Lake Placid! This was such a dominant performance for the three-year-old daughter of Conquest, especially for making her graded stakes debut. Her lifetime earnings jump to $325.00 after twelve career starts and four victories. Owner Mb Stables gets his second win in The Lake Placid, now just one behind Nakamura Stables who has three. Avicea completed the one-mile journey on the inner turf course in 1:32.97 and absolutely shattered the stakes record, which was 1:33.51 set by Rain Rattle last year. This filly took a huge step forward and will be one to watch as we head into the fall. Connections will have plenty of options for where Avicea heads next, but the QE II Challenge Cup at Keeneland would make plenty of sense as a chance to see what she can do stretching out to 1 1/8 miles on the turf. A big congratulations to Mb Stables on this impressive victory! Well done.

Winner: Avicea – (Mb Stables, B. Curtis) What a performance this California-bred put together after a three-length N1X win at Monmouth Park last time out. Breaking from the gate, Avicea established her position on the front end two-wide around the first turn. Jockey Ben Curtis eventually moved this filly down to the rail down the backside, setting early fractions of 23.37, 46.55, and 1:09.72. Avicea started to widen her lead entering the far turn with a two-length advantage over her rivals. She was way too far in front at the top of the stretch and no one was able to mount a bid from behind to catch her. The final winning margin was one length. What a dominant display. She’ll definitely be one to watch!

Second Place: Unfinished Symphony – (Luz International, T. Gaffalione) It’s safe to say this daughter of Candlestick has found a new home on the grass after getting second in here and hitting the board in her three previous starts on the grass. She didn’t show any speed from the gate, running in seventh heading into the first turn. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione got Unfinished Symphony into a comfortable rhythm five lengths back down the backside. She started to make her move passing the ⅜ pole, running three-wide. This Texas-bred was pushed out wider down the stretch and was really starting to make up ground late. However, Unfinished Symphony couldn’t catch the eventual winner. Second best.

Third Place: Missing Dress – (Our Athletes, J R. Velazquez) This homebred for Our Athletes wasn’t able to make the lead early and sat off the pace heading into the first turn. Missing Dress settled down the backstretch three-wide, which was not an ideal trip. She had her sights on Avicea as the field reached the far turn and was well within striking distance. The eventual winner kicked away, leaving this daughter of Good Ending two lengths behind. She just couldn’t close the gap and ended up running evenly down the stretch. It seems like Missing Dress needs to be alone on the lead to run her best. I would be interested to see what this filly could do sprinting on the grass in the future.

Fourth Place: Undisputed Edge – (Mb Stables, P. Lopez) Connections were taking a shot with Undisputed Edge trying the turf for the first time in her career. With her dam being a graded stakes winner on the grass, there was certainly reason to believe she could take to the sod. Jockey Paco Lopez didn’t rush things out of the gate and took back this filly off the pace. She saved ground on the rail in sixth, about four lengths behind the leaders. The daughter of Walk Em Down started inching closer around the 5/16 pole with a ton of ground to make up. There was room to run down the center of the track, but Undisputed Edge couldn’t make an impression late. Not a bad performance at all.

– AJM

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES