Indian Pride shows moxie to win Saratoga's Shine Again

Brereton Jones' homebred Indian Pride had shown talent winning two of her first three starts for trainer Chad Brown, but it was her moxie on full display when winning Friday's $85,000 Shine Again Stakes at Saratoga. 

The 4-year-old daughter of Proud Citizen was headed at the top of the lane by Jose Ortiz and Joy Epifora. After putting that rival away, she faced another challenge from the fast charging Blamed. Just when Blamed put her head in front, Indian Pride dug in deep for jockey Javier Castellano to keep the Bill Mott trainee at bay.

"I'm very proud of my filly, the way she responded," Castellano said from the Saratoga winner's circle. Any horse could give up at the top of the lane, but she never gives up, she always continues."

Indian Pride stopped the clock in 1:21.63 for 7 furlongs and paid $6.00. Blamed finished second and Risky Mandate checked in third.

The Shine Again was the first stakes win for lightly-raced Indian Pride. She finished third in her previous stakes try last October in Keeneland's Raven Run (G2), the only loss of her young career.

"She showed what she's made of today. I was really proud of her effort," Brown said. "She's always been a horse that had immense talent. When she broke her maiden here last summer it was breathtaking really, arguably the most impressive win we had last year.

"She's had some bumps and bruises along the way in terms of the interrupted schedule, but now she has two straight races under her belt and I hope to have her for the whole season," Brown added.

The Shine Again was the third consecutive win to start the Late Pick 4 for trainer Chad Brown on Friday's Saratoga card.

"Everything is coming together really well. We're off to a nice start and the horses are running well. Once again, another great ride by Javier [Castellano]. It's a jocks room loaded with talent and thankfully we have several of these guys that ride horses for us," Brown said.