Dayoutoftheoffice upsets Schuylerville at 19-1

Dayoutoftheoffice, a 2-year-old filly by Into Mischief that was sent off as a 19-1 longshot in the field of seven, sat off the pace but stormed home in the stretch to easily take the 102nd Schuylerville Stakes, the traditional opening day stakes feature at Saratoga.  

Make Mischief and Hara fought for the early lead through opening fractions of :22.29, :45.57 and :57.86 for five furlongs. Make Mischief, another Into Michief filly, took the lead into the stretch as Dayoutoftheoffice and Hopeful Princess put in their runs. Junior Alvarado then steered Dayoutoftheoffice wide coming out of the turn and she pulled away from the field with ease.  Trained by Tim Hamm, Dayoutoftheoffice completed the six furlongs in 1:10.43 and paid $41.60 for the win.  

Make Mischief held on for second at 16-1, followed by 5-2 second choice Hopeful Princess.  Hara, a 36-1 longshot finished fourth. Beautiful Memories, the 1-2 overwhelming favorite off a powerful maiden win at Churchill Downs last month for trainer Mark Casse, never got going and pulled up in the race. 

Trainer Tim Hamm had been pointing his filly to this.race.

"Our thought process was not to run her 4 1/2 [furlongs, where she won her debut in May at Gulfstream] because we knew she wanted more ground.  She got up that day and we had confidence in her, gave her a little break, and pointed her to this race."

With that in mind, Hamm wasn't overly surprised with the performance, even with the 19-1 odds. 

"I knew there was a lot of speed," he said. "I thought if we could be third or fourth early, we had a big chance.  When I saw her coming into the turn laying third, I thought we had a big shot." 

Hamm talked through pre-race strategy with rider Junior Alvarado, and the race unfolded as they hoped.

"We got the trip we were hoping to get. In the paddock, he [jockey Junior Alvarado] said to me, 'into the turn if you could pick a spot for me to be, where would that be?' I said third right outside the speed. When I saw him laying there, I said, 'wow we're still alive.'"

Even though she was stepping up into stakes company, Alvarado said he felt confident today.

"Last time in the first sixteenth of a mile, it took her a little bit to get going, so my goal today was to get a good position," he said. "I knew she would handle the distance fine today. She broke good and put me in a good spot and I was for sure a smiling person the whole way around. I knew what I had under me and she responded very well when I asked her turning for home."

Jockey Jose Ortiz, aboard Beautiful Memories, said he pulled her up out of caution. 

"She stumbled out of the gate and was traveling OK, but she was getting a lot of dirt in her face," Ortiz said. "Going into the turn, she switched leads and I noticed she wasn't traveling well, so I decided to take care of her. It was a tough decision to make. She had a small cut on her right front. I don't think it's serious."