Pedigree Stars: 5 to watch in Schuylerville at the Spa

The $150,000 Schuylerville Stakes starts the celebration of the 2021 Saratoga racing meet. The second of two Grade 3 events carded for opening day, the six-furlong Schuylerville attracted nine 2-year-old fillies.

This is a contentious field, and anyone can step up and win. All eight youngsters won their last race, most by multiple lengths. The tricky part is figuring out which of the last-out maiden winners will progress in their next start. Hear are the most likely suspects to hit the board.

No. 7 Happy Soul (Runhappy - Cowgirl Lucky, by Stephen Got Even) is the class of the Schuylerville, although she won a very weak edition of the Astoria by 11 1/2 lengths. All except one other filly in the five-horse Astoria field was still a maiden. Wesley Ward gave Happy Soul two quick works, including a pre-race 59.2-second breeze, the second fastest of eight at the distance at Keeneland. 

Pedigree: Happy Soul’s half-brother Calgary Caper is a multiple-stakes-winning handicap horse, primarily at Hastings.

Happy Soul’s main competition is No. 2 Mainstay (Astern - Vero Amore, by Mineshaft). The Butch Reid trainee graduated in a paid workout at Monmouth under her own power the entire way with no urging except for a slight shakeup in the stretch. She got 4 1/2 furlongs in 52.59 seconds over a sloppy track. Mainstay has the best work pattern in the field with three bullets and a second-best work. Her pre-race breeze was a bullet 58.77 for five furlongs.

Pedigree: Astern, an Australian-bred son of Medaglia d’Oro, is represented by his first North American crop this year. Two of his seven starters are winners. Mainstay is a half-sister to last year’s 2-year-old female champion Vequist.

Mentioned in the June 25 Pedigree Stars article, No. 3 Pipeline Girl (Air Force Blue - Guide, by Pulpit) is the only one in the Schuylerville field who has navigated six furlongs.  In her debut at Churchill she was hemmed in on the rail behind the pacesetter for much of the race. Colby Hernandez swung Pipeline Girl to the outside in the stretch, and the pair wore down the pacesetter to win by a head at 1:10.85. The Amoss trainee was very professional, kept a straight course and switched leads properly. Jose Ortiz takes over the reins for the Schuylerville. He won the race in 2018 with Catherinethegreat.

Pedigree: Pipeline Girl has Claiborne bloodlines. Her half-brother The Great War is a stakes-winning turf sprinter in Ireland. After shipping to North America he captured a listed stakes at Turfway and placed in both the Nearctic (G2) at Woodbine and the Quick Call Stakes at Saratoga. The second generation of Pipeline Girl’s female family is filled with black-type earners, including Grade 1 winners Zensational, Bolt d’Oro, Global Campaign plus other graded winners like Departing and Recruiting Ready.

Mentioned in the June 18 Pedigree Stars article, No. 1 Pretty Birdie (Bird Song - Bird Sense, by Street Sense) grabbed the lead at the start in her debut at Churchill and established a one-length lead. She was not under pressure; her ears were up or flickering the entire time, indicating she had plenty in the tank. Joe Talamo asked for speed in mid-stretch, and Pretty Birdie took flight, opening up to win by 3 3/4 lengths, getting five furlongs in 57.28 seconds. The maiden special event at Churchill may prove to be a key race as the fourth- and sixth-place finishers won their next starts.

Pretty Birdie’s post-race breeze equaled her pre-race (before maiden) time of 47.8 seconds for four furlongs, a good sign she will not regress. She had an easy pre-race maintenance spin, just a leg stretcher around the Saratoga training track, galloping along under a slight hold  enjoying herself.

Pedigree: Pretty Birdie is a product of the famed Whitney Stables breeding program. She is the first runner for her first-crop sire, who was sent to Saudi Arabia after his first year at stud in the U.S. Pretty Birdie’s dam was in the money 11 of 12 starts. She is a half-sister to Golden Rod (G2) runner-up Bird Maker and to stakes-placed sprinter Cheechako.

Mentioned in the June 9 Pedigree Stars article, the New York-bred No. 4 Velvet Sister (Bernardini - Backslash, by Sharp Humor) faced only two other fillies in her debut at Belmont over a fast track. The other three entrants were vet scratches. She broke quickly and was pressed around the turn but opened up by 9 3/4 lengths under a hand ride without much urging. Joel Rosario geared her down in the stretch, getting 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:06.47. 

The Asmussen trainee’s work pattern is unremarkable but steady. One thing to note is her Schuylerville pre-race breeze at Saratoga that covered four furlongs in 49.84 seconds (11th fastest of 22 at that distance) was quicker than her works at Belmont.

Pedigree: Velvet Sister sold for $500,000 at the Fasig-Tipton March 2-year-olds-in-training auction. Her half-brother My Boy Tate is a multiple-stakes-winning sprinter who earned $584,988 in 24 starts.

Take a look at No. 6 Queen Camilla (Connect - And Away We Go, by Awesome  Again) for a long-shot bomb.

In her second start Queen Camilla broke with the field in a Florida state-bred maiden special weight but lingered near the back of the pack early. She split horses around the turn and gradually passed the pacesetter, going away by a length. Queen Camilla traveled 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:06.17. Her Brisnet Speed Rating improved in her second start, and she has the second-highest late-pace figure in the field.

Antonio Sano rarely ships his juveniles to Saratoga, so pay attention. The last two times he shipped, Sano won the Sanford with Gunnevera and placed fourth in last year’s Schuylerville with Hara. He tapped last year’s Schuylerville winning jock, Junior Alvarado, to ride.

Pedigree: First crop sire Connect is a son of Curlin, and he has four winners from 14 starters. His babies should improve with distance and age. Queen Camilla’s dam is a half to multiple stakes-winning sprinter Awesome Ashley, and Queen Camilla’s second dam is multiple Grade 1 winner, Queens Court Queen.

Race keys

In the last 10 years only three favorites have won the Schuylerville Stakes, the last in 2014. The majority of the winners pressed the pace, sitting within two lengths of the lead.

#2 Mainstay (7-2)

#4 Velvet Sister (8-1)

#7 Happy Soul (8-5)

#3 Pipeline Girl  (8-1)