Saratoga wrap: Immersive, Brightwork win graded stakes

Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Immersive, making just her second overall start, collared 5-2 favorite Quietside in the stretch with a strong move from the outside to post a 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway for 2-year-old fillies going seven furlongs at Saratoga.

Immersive, who posted a two-length debut win going six furlongs over the same track July 21, gave trainer Brad Cox a potential contender in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

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Under steady rain, Immersive broke sharply from the inside post under jockey Manny Franco and was content to sit off the pace of Reliable Source, who led the field with an opening quarter-mile in 22.68 seconds. The Queens M G took over through a half-mile in 46.04 over a track listed as muddy and sealed.

Entering the turn, Quietside took command under rider Luis Sáez, but Franco helped Immersive find another gear when straightened for home. Immersive continued to gain ground before overtaking the favorite in the final sixteenth while surging from the outside, completing the course with a 1:25.31 final time.

Quietside, trained by John Ortiz and entering off a 6 1/4-length, first-out win earlier this month at the Spa, finished four lengths ahead of Sherbini for second. Strong State finished fourth. Adirondack (G3) winner The Queens M G, Reliable Source, Pondering, Salted, Tiz Purple, and Bellacose completed the order of finish.

Slang was pulled up by jockey Kendrick Carmouche soon after the start and transported back the barn via equine ambulance. According to the New York Racing Association veterinary department, there was no obvious or apparent injury upon initial examination.

Off at 12-1, Immersive returned $27.40 on a $2 win bet.

With the Stanley Cup being displayed Saturday at Saratoga, it was fitting a filly by Nyquist, named for long-time NHL player Gustav Nyquist, captured the 133rd Spinaway. Immersive banked $165,000 in victory and improved her career bankroll to $220,000.

“I love her even more now. She is good. She really is,” Cox said. “She kind of stamped herself as being good from day 1. She showed at Keeneland that she had some talent. We moved her over to Churchill. We thought she was a Saratoga filly for a while. She came up here and ran a big race first time out. I thought she galloped out huge that day and always thought she’d stretch out. Most often Godolphin horses do with their pedigrees. They breed for two-turn horses. I think she’ll handle the two turns when she gets the opportunity.

“She is lightly raced. It is hard to say what she wants to do and what she is going to like. She is a really good, smooth mover, great stride, so I was hoping she would handle it, and she did.”

Cox said the next opportunity could come in the Alcibiades (G1) on Oct. 4 at Keeneland.

"We will talk it over with the Godolphin team. I would say that probably would be the game plan,” Cox said. “I'd like to ship her back to Churchill on Monday and come up with a game plan. I would say that would probably be plan A.”

Franco got his first Spinaway win and said he was impressed with how his charge finished off the race.

“The plan was to go forward and be in the first flight of the race. I don’t want to be too far (back) because of the sealed track,” Franco said. “I was in a good stalking position, and my filly kept coming little by little. I knew that I can get there, because the other filly just run once. I think my filly wanted to go that far, and I was comfortable where I was. I just tried to engage her to see the other horse. I tried to make my way in a little bit, and she was coming.”

Quietside, a Shortleaf Stable homebred, made a strong account in elevating to stakes company after exiting the outermost post 11.

“I expected this kind of effort from this filly,” Ortiz said. “I think we got a little unlucky with this post. At first I loved it, but we got caught four wide the entire race. Luis tried to get the jump on them, and I have to give credit to Brad Cox’s filly. She ran a huge effort today to run us down and catch us at the wire. I always like these kind of performances. If I get beat, I like to get beat at the wire. I don’t want to see my horses struggling or not getting there in time. It was an honest race, and I’m very proud of her.”

Brightwork comes off bench, wins Prioress

Brightwork made a successful return to the scene of her biggest career win with a determined neck score over Two Sharp in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Prioress, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga.

Trained by John Ortiz and piloted by Luis Sáez, the Outwork bay returning from a nearly 10-month layoff dueled the length of the stretch to the outside of 4-5 mutuel favorite Two Sharp, holding the advantage in the final jumps.

Owned by WSS Racing, Brightwork won the Spinaway (G1) a year ago and was slated to return in the local Test (G1) on Aug. 3 but was a late scratch after flipping in the paddock.

“We were just very blessed that we had another opportunity to get another win at Saratoga. This was not the original plan, but God had his plans, and things happened for a reason,” Ortiz said. “She looked like she was tiring very hard at the end. She dug in. It didn’t surprise me how much heart she had at the end. It was good to see such guts in an athlete like that. It was just a beautiful race.”

Two Sharp, making her stakes debut from an 11 1/4-length, second-out graduation Aug. 2 at Saratoga, led through splits of 22.55 and 45.92 seconds over the good main track. Brightwork, who exited the outermost post 8, tracked in second.

Miuccia, who broke alertly from the inside post under Irad Ortiz Jr., was taken off the rail and angled outside to track the front duo through the turn from fourth to the outside of Carmelina.

Sáez gave Brightwork her cue late in the turn as Júnior Alvarado-piloted Two Sharp spun the field in and set up an epic stretch battle with neither filly willing to give way. The talented sophomores fought on gamely to the wire. Brightwork took command approaching the eighth pole and stayed on strongly while responding to left-handed encouragement in the final sixteenth to secure the win with a final time of 1:10.86.

“The frontrunner was a pretty tough filly, a nice filly. The key with her (Brightwork) was to be stuck in right behind her and make the move a little early. If we let the filly go in front, maybe we wouldn’t catch her,” Sáez said.

It was three-quarters of a length back to the rallying Miuccia in third with Autumn Evening, Carmelina, Tricky Temper, Lady Moscato and Belle’s Blue Bell rounding out the finish in that order. Pacific Rose was scratched.

Brightwork enjoyed a tremendous juvenile campaign, winning 4 of 6 starts, including the six-furlong, listed Debutante at Ellis Park along with Spa scores in the 6 1/2-furlong Adirondack (G3) and seven-furlong Spinaway. She finished off the board when stretched out for a pair of Grade 1s to close out her campaign when fifth in the Alcibiades at Keeneland and sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in November at Santa Anita.

Sáez, back aboard for the first time since the Debutante, credited Ortiz for having the talented bay prepared for a return to sprinting at the Spa.

“Brightwork is a pretty tough filly, and John was working pretty hard with her. She was ready,” Sáez said. “She kind of got a little tired at the end, but she came from a long layoff. She’s supposed to get tired. Today she was pretty calm (in the paddock), and she ran a pretty good race.”

Bred in Kentucky by Wynnstay and Allen Poindexter, Brightwork banked $110,000 in victory while improving her record to 7: 5-0-0. She returned $7.10 for a $2 win bet.