Sentiero Italia was best in the Lake Placid (G2)
The 2015 Lake Placid (G2) at Saratoga had a contentious field of five, all of whom had been defeated by the Chad Brown trained, unbeaten superstar, Lady Eli. Without Lady Eli in the field, Sentiero Italia was able to win her first graded stakes in this $300,000 mile and an eighth turf event for three-year-old fillies.
Brown recently gave a very encouraging update on Lady Eli’s battle with laminitis that first set in after she stepped on a nail walking back to her Belmont Park stall following her win in the Belmont Oaks (G1) on the Fourth of July.
"She's doing very well. She continues to improve every week and increase her exercise around the barn," said Brown, who trains Lady Eli for Sheep Pond Partners. "She's walking twice a day and doing great, so we're very happy with her progress to this point."
From the start of the Lake Placid; Heath, Consumer Credit, and Miss Temple City would lead the race as a trio in that order from the rail out. The three fillies stayed in position, virtually unchanged, well into the clubhouse turn with Sentiero Italia about a length behind the top three and Strict Compliance a few lengths behind her in fifth place. The early fractions were 25.10, 49.25, and 1:12.54.
As the field turned for home Consumer Credit and Heath began to fade and Miss Temple City, the Graham Motion runner who most recently had finished fourth in the Coronation (G1) at Royal Ascot in England, inherited the lead. At the same time it was Sentiero Italia who was moving the fastest. This Godolphin owned and Kiaran McLaughlin trained daughter of Medaglio d’Oro was able to easily take the lead while running down the middle of the Mellon Turf Course.
McLaughlin described his filly’s the winning trip, "You never know with a short field, but Joel [Rosario] rode her great. He saved a little ground the first turn and waited. We were angling out and I knew that we were going to finish strong. I had a lot of confidence in her; she was doing great. She's a very talented filly and has a big kick, so it worked out very well today."
Sentiero Italia, which means “The Grand Italian Trail”, is also a 6166 km long hiking trail that winds its way throughout Italy. This was McLaughlin and jockey Joel Rosario’s first victory in the Lake Placid.
Sentiero Italia was sent off as the 8-5 betting favorite and paid $5.30, 3.10, and 2.40. For the place Miss Temple City paid $4.20 and 2.70. Strict Compliance lugged up for a distant third place finish paying $2.20. The time for the nine furlongs was 1:49.25 with the final furlong being run in 11.16. The margin of victory for Sentiero Italia was 1 ¼ lengths.
In the end McLaughlin talked about plans for the winner and about Lady Eli, "She [Sentiero Italia] had a rough trip last time and ran into Lady Eli, who's the best of this group by quite a ways. We were the only one that ran further than her that day. We were in the way outside post. Today worked out great. We'll go forward from here, maybe the Queen Elizabeth at Keeneland or something in between, but this is a big win and we'll soak this up for a little while before we find the next spot."