Sharp Fillies Step Up in Riskaverse

A talented field of 3-year-old fillies will contest Thursday's $100,000 Riskaverse Stakes on Thursday going one mile on the Saratoga Race Course turf.

Three of the fillies in the field won their last race and are taking a step up in class.

Aljalela, owned by Al Shaqab Racing and trained by Todd Pletcher, is 2-for-2 since making her racing debut last fall. She broke her maiden at first asking at Delaware Park and most recently won a $75,000 allowance race at Belmont on July 17.

"She's doing well. She's won her first two starts. She's stepping up into a different level and we hope she can compete," said Pletcher of his promising 3-year-old. 

Aljalela will break from the No. 7 post and will be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez.

Another filly looking to add a stakes win to her resume is Greywalls, trained by John Terranova and ridden by Eric Cancel from the outside. After being unable to break her maiden as a 2-year-old, Greywalls took the winter off and has come back with a bang in 2015. She broke her maiden in her first start of the year at Belmont, and finished second in a $77,000 allowance race, also at Belmont, and won at the Spa on August 9 in a one-mile turf race.

"She's doing great. She has had a great season so far. She ran great up here in her last race," said Terranova. "It was a tough allowance field like they all are this year. She won and came out of the race fantastic. We're going to take a shot here and see what we can do in the Riskaverse."

Christophe Clement trainee Stormy Regatta is also looking for another victory, having taken the Little Silver Stakes at Monmouth Park by a nose last time out.

"She's a very nice filly. We are excited to see how she does in the Riskaverse and look forward to running," said Clement. Stormy Regatta will have Irad Ortiz, Jr in the irons and will break from post 8.

The lone graded stakes winner in the race is Three Chimneys Farm's Rainha Da Bateria, who was supplemented into the race. Rainha Da Bateria, a $435,000 yearling purchase, won the Grade 3 JP Morgan Chase Jessamine Stakes last October at Keeneland and then finished ninth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Rainha Da Bateria has not been seen at the races since a pair of starts in California during the winter, but she has been working steadily at Fair Hill Training Center.

Trained by Graham Motion, she will break from post 4 with Luis Saez aboard.

Also entered are two veterans of the Grade 2 Lake George: the Chad Brown-trained Partisan Politics, who was fourth, and All in Fun, trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, who was fifth.

Rounding out the field are the British-bred Lola Beaux, no worse than second in five career starts; Love's Illusion, who took five tries to break her maiden this year; My Cara Mia, who most recently finished sixth in the Coronation Cup on August 3 at Saratoga; and Bugle, who has two wins and two seconds this year from five starts.