Saratoga 2022: Champion Malathaat will make 2 starts at meet
Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher said 2021 champion 3-year-old filly Malathaat will race twice this summer at Saratoga Race Course.
Shadwell Stables’ 4-year-old Curlin filly was second to Clairiere, also by Curlin, in the Ogden Phipps (G1) on June 11 at Belmont Park, seven weeks after capturing her seasonal debut in the Doubledogdare (G3) at Keeneland.
Malathaat will likely make her next start in the Grade 2, $200,000 Shuvee on July 24 ahead of running in the Grade 1, $600,000 Personal Ensign on Aug. 27, both nine-furlong events.
Never out of the money in 10 lifetime starts, Malathaat won her first five races, including the Ashland (G1) and Kentucky Oaks, before suffering her first career loss last summer at the Spa in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) to Maracuja.
Malathaat would not be denied next out, successfully earning redemption in the Alabama (G1). Malathaat recently worked a half-mile in 49.77 seconds over the Belmont training track on Saturday.
“We wanted to keep her home and get two races at Saratoga with her,” Pletcher said. “The Shuvee first and the Personal Ensign is the current plan.”
Malathaat, an earner of more than $2 million, is out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia.