Saratoga undercard: Alva Starr, Parnac win undercard stakes

Alva Starr, bred by owner P. Dale Ladner and trainer Brett Brinkman, utilized a prominent trip engineered by Jose Lezcano to secure a powerful 8 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress, a six-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies at Saratoga.

It was the second Prioress score for Ladner, who won this event in 2021 with Alva Starr’s half-sister Cilla, who raced that day in trainer Charlton Baker's care when Brinkman didn’t take out his New York license.

Alva Starr, a Lord Nelson bay, is out of the graded stakes-placed Into Mischief mare Sittin At the Bar, who was campaigned by Brinkman and Ladner. Alva Starr is also a half-sibling to multiple graded stakes-placed Club Car, and stakes-winner Jack the Umpire, all campaigned by the same connections.

Alva Starr arrived at her graded-stakes debut from a 6 3/4-length romp in the six-furlong Dashing Beauty on July 8 at her Delaware Park base.

“This filly had not missed a beat since the Delaware race and we just felt really good coming into the race. It doesn't put us into the winner's circle, but we felt good about it,” said Brinkman, who secured both his first official graded win and first Spa score. "A lot of times good horses make it look easy, but they are running fast and she's got a quick turn of foot from a high cruising speed and that's all I told Jose when he worked her and when he got on her today. I said, 'Let her be who she wants to be, she is very manageable and use her assets.'”

Alva Starr emerged from a three-pronged battle for the lead with Jersey Pearl and Unified Alliance to mark the opening quarter-mile in 21.73 seconds over the fast main track, with Unsung Melody and 3-5 mutuel favorite Dazzling Blue tracking their early foot.

Alva Starr led to the turn as Joel Rosario rushed Dazzling Blue into second position through a half-mile in 44.64 seconds and Jersey Pearl remained in contention while saving ground in third. Alva Starr opened up by 5 1/2-lengths at the stretch call to put away Dazzling Blue and drew off to a comfortable score in a final time of 1:09.14. Jersey Pearl completed the exacta by 2 1/2-lengths over Dazzling Blue with Unsung Melody and Unified Alliance completing the order of finish.

Lezcano worked Alva Starr a half-mile in 48.21 Sunday over the Spa main track in her final Prioress prep.

“I thought I worked her too slow, but when I checked the time she went 48 and change. She did it so easily and I felt I just galloped her out there,” Lezcano said. “... Today, I watched her replays and she looked like a very fast filly. I was very impressed with her today. She’s a very nice filly.”

Alva Starr graduated on debut last September at Delaware Park and returned to action in May with a runner-up effort to next-out stakes winner Unifying in an optional-claimer at Oaklawn. She followed with a close runner-up effort to Jersey Pearl in May in an optional claimer at Churchill Downs ahead of her recent stakes score.

The Darrin Miller-trained Jersey Pearl, who was fifth last out in the Test (G1) at Saratoga, was game to the wire to complete the exacta under leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr.

“The winner ran away from me and was much the best today,” Ortiz said. “She felt great. We had three horses with speed, so I expected to be forwardly placed and I go from there.”

Brinkman said he could potentially point Alva Starr to the seven-furlong Raven Run (G2) on Oct. 21 at Keeneland, a race Cilla finished third in following her Prioress score.

“We have a couple races marked out. We will go into Keeneland and see. I feel like she can get seven-eighths. The pedigree, you know, we'll see,” Brinkman said.

Alva Starr banked $137,500 in victory while improving her record to 5: 3-2-0. She returned $9 for a $2 win bet.

Parnac leads at every pole to take Flower Bowl

Parnac made the grade with a gate-to-wire performance to hold off Grade 1-winner McKulick in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl, an 11-furlong inner-turf test for older fillies and mares at Saratoga.

In victory, the 4-year-old French-bred daughter of Zarak, trained by Christophe Clement and expertly piloted by Dylan Davis, earned a “win and you’re in” berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf in November at Santa Anita Park.

It was the second stakes win of the meet for Davis, who guided the Clement-trained New Ginya to victory here last weekend in the state-bred Yaddo Handicap.

“Our plan was to come out running. I knew the three horse (Tamarama) was the other speed. She was able to break – inside post really helped us here get dominance for the lead,” Davis said. “The three came up to me, but didn’t really want to continue on, and I was able to take control from there. After that, she got real comfortable with easy fractions with no pressure and she’s kind of a grinder type – that’s what I heard and (saw) watching her videos. I was able to pick her up into the last turn, get her running going before they got too close to her, and then she was able to hold them off.”

Parnac led through splits of 25.19 and 51.33 seconds and 1:18.92 over the firm footing with 9-1 shot Tamarama in second, McKulick, the 2-5 mutuel favorite saving ground in third, and the Clement-trained Amazing Grace last of the four entrants.

She continued to dictate terms into the final turn as Tamarama was asked for her best by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano with Irad Ortiz Jr. giving McKulick her cue and the Joel Rosario-piloted Amazing Grace following suit. McKulick angled wide for the stretch run and took dead aim at the leader, but there was no reeling in Parnac, who posted the 1 1/4-length win in a final time of 2:18.60. McKulick completed the exacta by a neck over Amazing Grace with Tamarama another length back in fourth.

“The Clements had her ready. She’s a great horse and she likes the distance,” Davis said. “They had her ready today and I just was listening to them and what I needed to do. I hadn’t been on her before, so I watched replays and she was there for me when I asked her. She was able to pick up that last eighth of a mile to finish it up.”

Parnac launched her career with a pair of wins in October 2021 in Germany for conditioner Andreas Wohler before being purchased privately and transferred to the Clement barn last summer. She notched a rallying allowance score at fourth asking for her new owners, West Point Thoroughbreds and Dream With Me Stable, in October at Belmont at the Big A and was freshened following a seventh-place finish in the Winter Memories in November at Aqueduct.

Parnac opened her current campaign with an even fourth in the Monroe in May at Gulfstream Park ahead of a rallying neck score in an 11-furlong optional-claimer on June 11 at Belmont Park. She entered from a close third-place finish over soft going in the 11-furlong Robert G. Dick Memorial (G3) on July 1 in Delaware.

Tom Bellhouse, executive vice president of West Point Thoroughbreds, credited Clement and his son and assistant, Miguel, for having Parnac ready to run.

“We came out of the Dick Memorial, where a lot of horses had issues. We were asked to scratch from a race here a few weeks ago and we went ahead and did our due diligence,” Bellhouse said. “We got a full scan and passed with flying colors. Then Miguel and Christophe started putting their heads together to find the next spot for us. Sometimes, you get lucky in spite of things. Bad things happen, but good things happen to good people, too. They’ve done a phenomenal job with this filly."

Klaravich Stables' McKulick now sports a 4: 2-2-0 record over the Spa turf, beginning with a maiden score in August 2021 ahead of her last-out score in the Glens Falls (G2) at Saratoga on Aug. 3. The Chad Brown-trainee ran second behind With The Moonlight in last year’s Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G3).

Ortiz said McKulick was hindered by the slow pace but was reluctant to force the issue with last year’s Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) winner.

"She put me there. If they run away from me in the first part of the race, if I try to move that's probably going to be a premature move, I don't really want to do that, so I just rode my race,” Ortiz said.

Clement said Parnac has a number of options going forward, including the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, the Long Island (G3) in November at Aqueduct or the E. P. Taylor (G1) on Oct. 8 at Woodbine – a race he teamed up with Davis to win in 2021 with Mutamakina.

“We have a quite a few choices. Let’s enjoy this for a few days,” said Clement, who secured his eighth stakes win of the meet.

Bred in France by Jean-Pierre Dubois, Parnac banked $275,000 in victory while improving her record to 11: 5-1-1. She returned $18.40 for a $2 win bet.