Victory Ride J

AMERICAN
GRADED STAKES PREVIEWS

Grade 3 heroine SARA LOUISE (Malibu Moon) will make her much anticipated
three-year-old debut in Saturday’s $100,000 Victory Ride S. (G3) for
three-year-old fillies at Saratoga. Purchased privately following a second-place showing in
the Golden Rod S. (G2) last fall, the Kentucky-bred hasn’t been seen since but
she’s posted a pair of serious drills on this oval in preparation of this. We
like the outside draw for the miss and she isn’t in too deep in this
evenly-matched field, so we’ll give the last horse to beat Rachel Alexandra
(Medaglia d’Oro) a chance at the win under Edgar Prado.

SELVA (Forest Wildcat) always runs for Eddie Kenneally and looks well-spotted
in this six-furlong affair. The talented filly was a solid fourth in the
Prioress S. (G1) last out and has more than held her own throughout her career, which includes a pair of black-type tallies. The dark bay toppled a
stellar field at first asking over a sloppy Saratoga oval, and with the
likelihood of a wet surface Saturday, she must be included.

BOLD UNION (Dixie Union) is the inside speed of the field and she may be the
one to pass down the lane under John Velazquez. The bay lass is very fast from
the gate, and as she showed early in her career, she’s really good when she’s
right, so it’s hard to dismiss the Kelly Breen charge.

JULIET’S SPIRIT (Exchange Rate) was a stakes winner in her lone try on dirt
for Steve Asmussen, and the in-form filly looks like a live exotics player
against this bunch. The three-time stakes star has posted a pair of maintenance
drills over the Oklahoma training surface of late and has enough tactical
speed to be in the mix early beneath Robby Albarado.

ALL OF HER TWIST (Forest Wildcat) stayed on well in the Test S. (G1) over
this strip last out and looks like another contender on the cut back in distance
for Kelly Breen. The Dearly Precious S. vixen, who is coupled in the wagering
with Bold Union, has never been better should be
rolling late if there is any pace to run at down the lane.

SKY HAVEN (Sky Mesa) comes off a stakes score versus fellow Keystone
State-bred foes for Steve Asmussen and will hope to handle the class rise like a
pro in this field. The bay filly has never been worse than third in her career,
and while she is not on our list of win contenders, we’ll toss her in the
gimmicks. Stakes queen STEP OUT SMARTLY (Came Home) looked good in posting a strong 97
BRIS Speed number in an allowance tally for Rusty Arnold. We like the
connections and the fact that the sophomore has crossed the line first in half
of her career starts, but she’s not our favorite runner in this field.

While Linda Rice has been white-hot at this meeting, we can’t envision TRIX
IN THE CITY (Friends Lake) doing more than closing for a minor award. Grade
1-placed REFORESTATION (Forestry) didn’t show much in the Test and has the wrong
running style for this race, so we’ll pass on the Billy Turner filly.