Saratoga
Christophe Clement Turf Stakes (Grade 1)
GEORGE Boughey may have lost his stable star to premature retirement last week but he still picked up a Grade 1 win and there’s possibly more to come.
In the Michael Tabor colours, the five-year-old mare Survie returned just 13 days after she won the Grade 2 Glens Falls Stakes at Saratoga on her US debut.
And in similar style, she showed a great turn of foot for jockey Manny Franco to swoop from last and win the Grade 1 Christophe Clement Turf Stakes at Saratoga, a race renamed in memory of trainer Christophe Clement, who died last year.
She had been a Tattersalls December purchase last year by M.V. Magnier for 1,900,000gns, bought out of France.
She was last early through a slow six furlongs as Ole Crazy Bone cantered through the early stages.
Minaret Station, who raced second, forged to the front in the stretch, with Program Trading moving up outside.
But neither could resist the late charge of Survie and jockey Manny Franco, sent off just the fourth choice in the betting. They challenged on the far outside and swooped to the lead to register a three-quarter-length triumph over Minaret Station who held on to second by a half-length over Program Trading.
“When I asked her to go, she just took off and I was a passenger from there,” Franco said.
“What a great filly she is to win two important races at Saratoga in the space of 13 days. It’s a testament to the filly and to George Boughey and his team who have done a great job with her,” Adrian Wallace of Coolmore was quoted on Blood-Horse. “She’s got a great turn of foot and, being by Churchill, she is very close to our heart here at Coolmore.”
“She came wide with that big sweeping run and it didn’t seem to take too much out of her [last time]. So, I think they felt that she was here and they could take a chance in a race that suited her, distance-wise,” Wallace said.
Boughey said the focus is on the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.
“The plan was to run her twice and then bring her home and prepare her for Keeneland,” said Boughey. “Her stamina is a big thing. That turn of foot that she’s got is pretty lethal out in America.”
The favourite, Amo Racing’s Ancient Egypt, could only finish fourth, not having the acceleration of the winner. He was slowly away but, on the slow early pace, he was not sent forward this time.
“Typical European,” said his rider David Egan. “Not as quick as these Americans. The rain yesterday didn’t help. From the half-mile down, I was squeezing him along and he just wasn’t quick enough on that slow turf.”
Survie was bred by Franklin Finance and has now earnings of $1,500,565.
Good two-year-olds emerging on both coasts
THE better two-year-olds are beginning to emerge stateside and there were two taking performances last weekend, one on each coast.
The progeny of the brilliant Horse of the Year in 2022, Flightline, are eagerly awaited on track and at Del Mar on Saturday a colt by him trained by John Sadler made a winning debut in impressive style.
Ridden by Joel Rosario, Inshallah made all the running to win first time out, paying back a fraction of his $2.1 million purchase price at the Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic Sale.
At Saratoga, word was out that Chad Brown’s top juvenile filly was going to be the Into Mischief filly Libby Lloyd and she looked the part in making all and winning by 10 lengths over four rivals on her debut on Saturday for owner Bret Jones.
Canada
Woodbine
IN recent years fillies have had a good record in Woodbine’s famous King’s Plate and the outstanding performance at the Saturday meeting came when the Josie Carroll-trained filly Luster, ridden by John Velazquez, beat 10 Canadian-bred three-year-old males and one filly, scoring by seven and a quarter lengths.
She became the 40th filly to win the race which is the oldest continuously run horse race in North America. The Knicks Go filly was favourite at 1/5, and the Woodbine Oaks winner never gave her backers concern, settling a few lengths off the lead of longshot Fire And Wine.
John Velazquez angled Luster into the clear on the second turn, and she accelerated away under a confident ride. Military Time finished second, three lengths ahead of Fire And Wine.
“I asked her to go, and she responded really nice,” said Velazquez, who was winning his second Plate following Wonder Gadot in 2018. “I’ve been in the business over 40 years, and winning a race like this is just fantastic,” added Andrew Rosen, who owns Luster with Gainesway.
Luster’s dominant victory conjured memories of Canadian Horse of the Year Moira, in the 2022 race, who won the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf and an Eclipse Award for female turf horse.
Carroll was winning her fourth Plate and indicated Luster might get a short break, ruling out the next legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, with the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes in October for three-year-old fillies on turf at Keeneland a target. The filly cost only $80,000 at Keeneland September in 2024 and has now won $925,939.
The Grade 3 Canadian Stakes on turf had a little Irish link, won by the Brendan Walsh-trained favourite Proctor Street, ridden by top apprentice Pietro Moran.