Juvenile Fillies Step up Big at the Spa
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In one of the best races so far at the Saratoga meet, heavily favored My Miss Aurelia dug down deep to take the 95th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Adirondack Stakes in front of more than 45,000 fans yesterday at Saratoga. The need for the courageous effort was forced by a near equal effort turned in by the clear second choice, Millionreasonswhy. After 6 ½ furlongs, and a thrilling stretch long dual between the two undefeated fillies, they were separated by a mere neck at the wire. Ridden by Julien Leparoux, it was the Stonestreet homebred My Miss Aurelia who got the win, but in defeat, Millionreasonswhy proved her class and talent. Illustrating the outstanding performance by the top two, Bellacourt checked in 3rd, but was some 15 lengths father back. As good as these two fillies performed in the feature, they very well may have been outdone by another two-year-old filly that ran a few races earlier.
Stopshoppingmaria, who had finished 3rd behind My Miss Aurelia in both fillies debut on July 22, rebounded in a big way yesterday. The daughter of More Than Ready romped home by nearly 10 lengths in a maiden special weight run two races before the Adirondack. Trained by Todd Pletcher, and owned by Mike Repole, Stopshoppingmaria had stumbled badly in that debut race, but had no such worries in yesterday’s six furlong affair, as she steadily widened her early advantage all the way to the wire. Her final time of 1:09.87 compares favorably to the 1:17.01. In fact, the Beyers for the two races came back with a solid 91 for the Adirondack, but a sterling 101 for Stopshoppingmaria.
[Where do My Miss Aurelia, Millionreasonswhy, and Stopshoppingmaria deserve to be ranked on HRN's 2yo Filly Power Rankings?]
While Stopshoppingmaria had everything her own way yesterday, it would be jumping to conclusions to assume she would have beaten the Adirondack duo. It’s not often you see a pair of youngsters hook up at the head of the lane and fight all the way to the wire. My Miss Aurelia, who is named after the mother of Stonesreet partner, George Bolton, is now perfect in two impressive performances. As for Millionreasonswhy, the daughter of Grand Slam was coming off a win in the Matron Stakes, and has now run three excellent races in three starts. She has also done it on three different surfaces, which should bode well as the season moves on.
I’m honestly not sure which of the three fillies that ran yesterday at the Spa impressed me the most. I like all three. So much so, that they compromise three of the seven spots on my first rankings of the juvenile fillies. Let’s hope all three get together next month in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes.
Photo by Adam Coglianese/NYRA
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