The Lake Placid (Grade 2)- $400.000 Purse
SAR- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile on the Inner Turf
August 23, 2025

It’s Travers Day at SAR, and that means plenty of good races on the undercard as well! Here, we’ll take a look at the 22nd running of the Lake Placid, which is held on the inner turf course for three-year-old fillies, at a mile. The purse for the race has doubled from where it had been in recent years, and the $400.000 represents a new high for this race. There has also been half a furlong cut from its distance. Nakamura Stables has won the last two editions of the race, including with Tokushima, who won in a photo finish last year. She remains active but hasn’t run in a stake for a while. Nakamura will relinquish his crown for the race as he does not have one of the six that will make their way to the starting gate. Let’s take a look at those fillies now:

1- Heart And Soul (Riggins Racing, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- A winner of three of her last four, and will make her graded debut off a long layoff. Despite being hot, she has not run since an allowance at PRX in April, and that does get my attention as to why that was the case, especially when there is no shortage of races for three-year-old fillies. She’s obviously fresh and will look to make up for some lost time here.

2- Lifes Good (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- The trainer makes a big change with her, sending her to the turf for the first time. She’s been pretty good over the main track, but can she better on the grass? D J C has been preparing for this for a little while with her based on her works, and she looked good here at the beginning of the month. Her last race saw her run against fellow ON-Breds in the WO Oaks, where she was fifth.

3- Rain Rattle (Bears Stable, ridden by J R Velazquez)- She’s a race ahead of Lifes Good right now, in that while that one makes her turf debut here, it’s something Lifes Good did in her last start. Bears Stable entered this filly into the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap out at DMR last month, and despite being the race’s high weight, she scored the victory! Since the trainer picked her up in a claimer, she has won six of nine, including the SA Oaks. That sent her to the KYO, where she was fifth.

4- Amazing Nation (Asgar, ridden by D E Centeno)- It’s not an entirely new thing for her, but Amazing Nation will be going long for the first time since March, and she’s never done that while on the turf. She’s actually won her last two races, including last month right here in the Grade 3 Victory Ride at six and a half furlongs on the dirt. She hasn’t hit the board going long yet but had a respectable fourth in February in the Grade 3 Las Virgenes.

5- Sweet Cherries (Mb Stables, ridden by M Franco)- A lightly raced filly making her fourth career start. Ran here last month and broke her maiden, and off of that Mb Stables is sending her here. Works well, but nothing that will make your jaw drop, either. If it goes well, the trainer can continue her on this path, and if not, he can still root on his other entry. Seems like every horse in this field has that one “question mark” on them, so you never know.

6- No Ones Comparing (Mb Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- A consistent filly that has never failed to hit the board in her career, although five of those eight races see her running third. That’s where she finished in each of the Gazelle, Black Eyed Susan, and the DEL Oaks, before ultimately upgraded that by one spot in the MTH Oaks. Yes, that’s a lot of running on the main track, but she’s not a newbie to running on the grass, it’s just been a while. Nice turf work at MTH in anticipation of this, and based on her mile dirt works, if she’s finishing that off as strong on the grass, then she’s the one to beat.

Prediction: 6-3-2-4

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES