Saratoga: McKulick, War Like Goddess clash in Flower Bowl

Multiple graded-stakes winner McKulick will look to secure her seventh graded-stakes conquest in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl, a 1 3/8-mile inner turf test for older fillies and mares at Saratoga.

The Flower Bowl provides its winner an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Del Mar.

Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown for Klaravich Stables, McKulick is coming off a 2 1/4-length repeat win in the Glens Falls (G2) going 1 1/2 miles on Aug. 1 at Saratoga. The 5-year-old Frankel mare stalked and pounced under a well-timed ride by Irad Ortiz Jr. to sweep by rivals in the turn and draw clear to victory in the lane well ahead of returning foe Parnac. She was awarded a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form for the effort.

Brown said McKulick relished the three-turn configuration of the Glens Falls, which she will see again in the Flower Bowl.

“It’s her preferred style of running, we’ve learned,” Brown said. “She’s done pretty well and lost her way with a couple starts, but all in all, she seems to be in good form again.”

The Glens Falls was the bay’s first win since a half-length score in the Orchid (G3) in March at Gulfstream Park. She then finished off the board in the Sheepshead Bay (G3) at Belmont at the Big A and the New York (G1) at Saratoga, but returned with aplomb to annex the Glens Falls.

The consistent McKulick boasts a career record of 18: 7-5-2 that includes a Grade 1 triumph as a sophomore in the Belmont Oaks Invitational, as well as a 5-for-6 in-the-money record at Saratoga. She has banked in excess of $1.8 million, making her well worth her purchase price of just over $245,000 out of the 2020 Tattersalls October yearling sale.

Ortiz retains the mount from post 7.

McKulick worked five furlongs in 1:02.65 Friday over Saratoga’s Oklahoma turf training track in company with Idea Generation, who also is entered in the Flower Bowl for Brown.

The Dubawi 4-year-old seeks her first victory against winners and arrives from a closing fifth in a local allowance on July 25 at Saratoga. She debuted with a nose second in a maiden special weight in July 2022 at the Spa that was declared a non-wagering event and went on to graduate at third asking by 1 3/4 lengths going 1 1/16 miles at Aqueduct. Since then, she has finished second twice in four outings, including in the Waya (G3) behind McKulick in October at the Big A over yielding footing.

“The first start didn’t go to plan and she didn’t get to the front,” Brown said of the filly’s last-out effort. “Hopefully she’ll be more forward in this race.”

Florent Geroux will have the call from post 8.

Multiple Grade 1-winner War Like Goddess breaks from the rail under Junior Alvarado. She contests her third Flower Bowl after a win in 2021, when it was a Grade 1 race, and a runner-up finish in 2022.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the 7-year-old English Channel mare was last seen posting a one-length victory in the Robert G. Dick Memorial (G3) on July 7 at Delaware Park, pouncing from four lengths off the pace under returning rider Junior Alvarado to drive past Chop Chop and earn her 10th career graded score.

“Last time, she won very nice there and Bill gave her good time between races. She should be sitting on a good run,” Alvarado said, “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a perfect distance and she seems to be training well.”

Alvarado has been aboard War Like Goddess for her last four outings, including the Robert Dick and a title defense in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) in October at Belmont at the Big A where the mare defeated male rivals for the second consecutive year. Jose Lezcano was aboard for her win in 2022.

“It’s got to be her way or her way,” Alvarado said, with a laugh. “You just have to stay out of her way and don’t try to make her do something you’ll regret. A couple jumps out of there, don’t rush her to try to move on her. That first sixteenth of a mile, she’ll do what she wants to do, and then come back to you and relax. She switches leads at the half-mile pole and knows when it’s time to start picking it up.”

In addition to her three Grade 1 wins, War Like Goddess also finished a narrow third in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf and posted the same result in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf against males. She finished seventh in the latter event again in November and was away from the races until a third in the New York in June.

Conditioner Christophe Clement seeks a repeat win in this event with Parnac, who breaks from post 3 under Dylan Davis. He has a second chance with La Mehana, who starts from post 2 with jockey Luis Saez.

Parnac was a last-out second to McKulick in the Glens Falls after stalking the pace and swinging three wide under returning rider Dylan Davis to come within 3/4 length of the lead at the stretch call but settled for second as McKulick drew away from the field.

The 5-year-old Zarak mare captured last year’s Flower Bowl in an upset victory over McKulick as the highlight of her five-start campaign, which also included a close third in the Robert Dick won by Sopran Basilea. This year, she has made two starts, beginning with a fifth in the Sheepshead Bay in May at Belmont at the Big A.

La Mehana seeks her first American victory in her fourth attempt after notching three stakes wins in 2022-23 in France when in the care of conditioner Jean-Claude Rouget. In her three starts for Clement, she finished a close third to McKulick in the Orchid and was bested by a head in the Sheepshead Bay to finish third in a three-way photo finish ahead of a last-out fifth in the Robert Dick.

Godolphin’s Irish homebred Eternal Hope starts from post 4 with Manny Franco in the irons. She seeks her third stateside graded victory for conditioner Charlie Appleby off a prominent fourth-place finish in the Glens Falls.

The 4-year-old Teofilo chestnut attended the pace set by Royalty Interest in the Glens Falls, but faltered when asked for more in the lane and was defeated 3 3/4 lengths. The effort was her first this year after winning the Jockey Club Oaks (G3) and Sands Point (G2) last fall at Belmont at the Big A, both over returning rival Neecie Marie.