Stephanie's Kitten didn't have much luck in her Saratoga debut last month, finishing a troubled fourth in the Lake George Stakes (gr. II) after encountering traffic in the stretch. But things went better in her second start at the historic track, as the top filly was able to extract herself from traffic in time to win Sunday's $200,000 Woodford Reserve Lake Placid Stakes (gr. II) by a half-length.
Ridden to victory by John Velazquez, the daughter of Kitten's Joy got off to a good start and settled into third place early on as Medolina and Centre Court set moderate fractions of :23.62, :48.88, and 1:13.25. Better Lucky, Disposablepleasure, and Somali Lemonade were the trailers.
The positions remained unchanged down the backstretch and around the far turn, but entering the homestretch, the really running began. Medolina and Centre Court were still the leaders passing the eighth pole, but Stephanie's Kitten was right behind them, full of run and waiting for racing room. She found it at the sixteenth pole, and with a tremendous display of acceleration, she shifted to the outside and blew past the front-runners to win by a half-length in 1:48.51.
Centre Court held on to second over a late-charging Somali Lemonade, while Medolina, Better Lucky, and Disposablepleasure completed the order of finish. The winner is trained by Wayne Catalano and owned by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey.
-Keelerman
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