Saratoga: Grade 1 winner Brightwork returns in Prioress

Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Prioress, a six-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies at Saratoga, will mark the long-awaited return of the talented Brightwork for trainer John Ortiz and owner WSS Racing.

The daughter of Outwork and the Malibu Moon mare Clarendon Fancy was entered in the Test (G1) on Aug. 3 but was a late scratch after flipping in the paddock.

“Off that mishap in the paddock, she had a little road rash, so the veterinarians scratched her which is in the best interest of the horse and the game. It was a very disappointing day because I thought she was going to be more than ready to run,” Ortiz said.

Brightwork will break from post 9 under jockey Luis Saez. She was a dominant juvenile, winning four of her six starts, including the Adirondack (G3) and Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga. Ortiz then tried to stretch her speed around two turns in the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park but she finished off the board on both occasions.

Brightwork now looks to get her season started with a return to sprinting.

“We were able to take care of her and just continue going forward. She’s been schooling quite regularly,” Ortiz said. “She’s very simple to train. She’s a very good girl. She knows what her job is in the morning. She doesn’t really overtrain herself, but she really applies herself to every work without doing too much.”

Ortiz said Brightwork has trained well in company with recent Spa allowance winner Boss Lady Bailey.

“I put a horse in front of her to give her a target, and she absolutely loved that,” Ortiz added. “She worked with Boss Lady Bailey and they finished at the wire together. I’m very happy with that, I wanted to put more intensity into her morning workouts - just to remind her that she can have fun in the morning as well.”

South Florida invader Miuccia, who breaks from the rail with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. in the saddle, will look to make the grade for owners JR Ranch and conditioner Gustavo Delgado.

The daughter of Mitole and the Speightstown mare Bay Harbor broke her maiden at second asking in a six-furlong maiden at Gulfstream Park on March 17. In her fourth start, she annexed the June 1 six-furlong Game Face at Gulfstream by 3 3/4-lengths, earning a career best Beyer Speed Figure of 90 from Daily Racing Form.

Miuccia followed that score with a second in the seven-furlong Azalea on July 13, also at the South Florida oval. She was 9 1/2-lengths back of Haulin Ice, who exited that effort to finish seventh in the Charles Town Oaks (G2).

Gustavo Delgado, Jr., assistant and son of trainer Gustavo Delgado, has been overseeing her preparations at Saratoga, including a bullet half-mile work in 47.85 seconds Saturday over the Oklahoma training track.

“Ever since she has gotten here to Saratoga it seems like she has really liked the weather and the surroundings here at the barn. She is giving us the feeling that she is in better form,” Delgado, Jr. said. “The last two races it looks like she has really woken up. I really like the way she is coming into this one.

“She has been working very well here. She has always looked very athletic,” Delgado, Jr. added.

Rigney Racing’s recent impressive maiden winner Two Sharp breaks from post 7 under Junior Alvarado in her stakes debut. The daughter of Twirling Candy was last seen winning by 11 1/4-lengths on Aug. 2 here in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden sprint. She earned a 98 Beyer in the effort, leading at every point of call.

New York-bred Jeremiah Englehart trainee Tricky Temper, who starts from post 3 with Dylan Davis riding, will make her fourth start of the meet in search of her third straight win.

She enters from a three-length score in the Aug. 16 Union Avenue Handicap, a six-furlong sprint for state-bred fillies and mares. There, she earned a career best 91 Beyer on the heels of a prominent state-bred optional-claiming score two weeks earlier.

The daughter of Into Mischief was bred in the Empire State by Sequel Thoroughbreds and Lakland Farm. She was purchased at the OBS April sale for $230,000 by her current owner Mark H. Stanley.

Cash is King and LC Racing’s multiple stakes-winning Pennsylvania-bred Carmelina, who starts from post 5 under Jose Lezcano, boasts a record of 12-5-2-0 for trainer Butch Reid, Jr.

The daughter of the Reid, Jr.-trained Maximus Mischief, out of the stakes-winning St Averil mare Complete St., posted state-bred stakes wins in the Keswick and Shamrock Rose last year before closing her juvenile campaign with a win in the open-company Gin Talking sprinting seven furlongs in December at Laurel Park. She enters from a frontrunning neck score against open-company in the seven-furlong Penny Chenery on Aug. 11 at Colonial Downs that garnered a career-best 81 Beyer.