The two-year-old racing season at Saratoga began with a bang on the opening day of the meet, with Stopchargingmaria and Irish Sweepstakes breaking their maidens impressively while Bahnah and Brazen Persuasion put on a terrific show in the Schuylerville. Let's take a closer look at what happened . . .
Race 3: Maiden Special Weight
5-1/2 furlongs for 2yo fillies
As usual, it didn't take Todd Pletcher long to unveil a flashy debut winner, as heavily favored Stopchargingmaria flew to an impressive victory in the very first juvenile race of the meet. Sent off at 1-2, the daughter of Tale of the Cat got off to a quick start and went straight to the lead under John Velazquez. After setting fractions of :22.84 and :46.32, Stopchargingmaria charged threw her fifth furlong in :12.01 seconds before cruising home under a strong hand ride to win the race in 1:04.69. Owned by Mike Repole, Stopchargingmaria is expected to contest a stakes race sometime during the meet, with the Spinaway Stakes (gr. I) being a logical goal. J. Quirk, a 23-1 shot trained by Gary Contessa, chased the pace throughout to finish second, 5 1/2 lengths behind Stopchargingmaria and 7 1/2 lengths clear of Predicate, who ran evenly for third. Looking further down the road, fourth-place finisher Art of the Game deserves another chance after hitting the gate at the start, breaking several lengths behind the field, and rallying for fourth. Another name to watch is Ireland, a D. Wayne Lukas-trained filly that was a bit awkward during the early stages of the race before winding up in fifth place.
Race 5: Maiden Special Weight
5-1/2 furlongs for New York-bred 2yo fillies
Irish Sweepstakes was the favorite at just over even money, and she definitely ran to her odds. With Rajiv Maragh aboard for trainer Mark Hennig, Irish Sweepstakes dueled with Aspree for the early lead, disposed of that rival on the turn, and drew off strongly in the stretch to win by 7 1/2 lengths. The final time was 1:06.24 seconds, considerably slower that Stopchargingmaria's time two races earlier. Being a daughter of Any Given Saturday out of a Dynaformer mare, Irish Sweepstakes should have plenty of potential to succeed at longer distances in the future. Talk to Me received a very nice ride from jockey Joshua Navarro, riding the rail for most of the race, but proved no match for the winner in the stretch. Hangingwithsonny closed from last with a five-wide run to finish third in an effort that suggests that she could have a bright future.
Race 9: Schuylerville Stakes (gr. III)
6 furlongs for 2yo fillies
In what was without doubt the most exciting race on opening day, favored Bahnah rallied determinedly from third place to finish in a dead-heat with second choice Brazen Persuasion, who led throughout while setting fractions of :21.75 and :44.68 to just hang on at the finish. The final time was only 1:12.12 -- the result of a final furlong in :14.40 seconds -- but both fillies deserve credit for being part of such a fast pace and still finishing 1-2. Finishing third and fourth were the Todd Pletcher-trained fillies Elena Strikes and Yes Liz, the former being out-kicked in the late stages after making a rally on the turn and the latter tiring a bit after pressing the fast pace. True Blue Nation, who broke her maiden so impressively last month at Belmont, finished a dull sixth without any obvious excuse.
-Keelerman
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