All “Alone” in Test
Up against top-class sophomores trained by Todd Pletcher, Patrick Biancone
and an entry from the barn of Nick Zito, Mitchell Ranch LLC’s LEAVE ME ALONE
(Bold Badgett) proved best in Saturday’s $250,000
Test S. (G1) at Saratoga by an
impressive 7 3/4 lengths. Ridden to victory by Kent Desormeaux, the chestnut
miss covered seven furlongs in 1:22 3/5 over the fast track.
The Eric Kruljac trainee went right to the lead after the break and never
looked back, setting the pace from the inside while getting the first quarter in
:22 2/5. Maddalena (Good and Tough), part of an entry owned by Michael Tabor and
Derrick Smith, tracked the leader through a half-mile in :45 2/5 and six
furlongs in 1:09 4/5, but the Pletcher-conditioned miss tired in the stretch.
Hide and Chic (Seeking the Gold), another entrant for Zito, came on late to grab
second, but never threatened Leave Me Alone, who widened her margin of victory
with every stride through the lane. In the Gold (Golden Missile) finished a
valiant third after a troubled trip to give Zito the third-place spot as well.
Leave Me Alone paid $10.80, $4.40 and $3.80 for the win while Hide and Chic
and In the Gold both gave back $2.70 and $3 as the 6-5 co-favorites. The exacta
totaled $29.20 and the 3-1-6 trifecta, with fourth-place finisher Aspen Tree
(Holy Bull), was worth $236. Next came Maddalena, Lady Pegasus (Fusaichi
Pegasus), Pommes Frites (Dynaformer), Acey Deucey (Abaginone) and the other half
of the Tabor/Smith entry, Sense of Style (Thunder Gulch).
Bred in California by Old English Rancho, Quinn and Pond, Leave Me Alone is
out of the Moscow Ballet mare Fabulous Ballet and counts California Sprint
Championship H. winner Stoney as a full brother and a yearling colt by In Excess
(Ire) and 2005 filly by Perfect Mandate as half siblings.
The $35,000 California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Yearling sale
purchase has now won two graded stakes in a row after taking the Azalea
Breeders’ Cup S. (G3) last out, and she also annexed the Melair S. three back. Her
line now reads 8-5-1-0 with earnings of $486,370.
Kruljac ruled out the August 28 Ballerina H. (G1) for his first winner at
Saratoga.
“This is the first horse I ever saddled at Saratoga,” the trainer
said. “I kind of doubt the Ballerina. If it was a full month, I would consider
it.”