Bahnah, Brazen, Designer meet Pletcher pair in Spinaway

Schuylerville dead-heaters Brazen Persuasion (top) and Bahnah will look to settle accounts on Sunday (Courtesy of NYRA via Twitter) Sunday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway Stakes will determine the top two-year-old filly of the Saratoga season, and nearly all of the prominent candidates will clash in the seven-furlong affair. The field includes Bahnah and Brazen Persuasion, who kicked off the meet with a dramatic dead-heat win in the July 19 Schuylerville; Designer Legs, who was handed the August 11 Adirondack via disqualification; and a pair of well-regarded debut winners from the Todd Pletcher barn, Sweet Whiskey and Stopchargingmaria. Brazen Persuasion, a $210,000 OBS March two-year-old by Indian Charlie, and Bahnah, a daughter of Elusive Quality, both broke their maidens impressively at Churchill Downs in June. Making their mutual stakes debut in the six-furlong Schuylerville, Brazen Persuasion set a torrid pace under pressure, and Bahnah rallied down the stretch. The Steve Asmussen-trained Brazen Persuasion and the Bret Calhoun-trained Bahnah hit the wire together, producing the first dead-heat victory in the Schuylerville’s 95-year history. The two are drawn side by side in their rematch over an extra furlong on Sunday. Brazen Persuasion promises to blast from her rail post with regular rider Rosie Napravnik, and Bahnah will break from post 2 beneath a returning Corey Lanerie.

Asmussen’s assistant Scott Blasi believes that Brazen Persuasion’s experience
will stand her in good stead.

“I think it’s major,” Blasi said. “You still have to be fast enough, but
having races under your belt going seven-eighths of a mile for the first time
for all of them is a big deal. But you definitely have to be faster.”

Designer Legs also spent time at Churchill this spring before moving on to
Canterbury, where she opened her career with a driving maiden score on June 28.
The Louisiana-bred followed up with another big rally in the July 20 Prairie
Gold Lassie at Prairie Meadows, and earned a transfer from Gary Scherer to
Dallas Stewart’s string at Saratoga. Designer Legs was beaten only a neck in a
rough running of the Adirondack, and the first-past-the-post Who’s in Town was
demoted for repeated interference. Shaun Bridgmohan will be back aboard the
Valene Farms runner, who has landed next to Bahnah in post 3.

“She ran hard,” Stewart said of Designer Legs’ effort in the Adirondack. “She
got bumped, but she ran hard. She’s doing very well, and she looks like she’s
growing, and we’re happy with the way she’s coming up to the race. We hope for a
repeat of the performance from last time.”

Sweet Whiskey on the way to the paddock prior to her sensational maiden romp (Courtesy of NYRA via Twitter) The established stakes fillies will be tested by Pletcher’s up-and-coming duo. Sweet Whiskey, a $300,000 purchase at OBS in March, dominated a 5 1/2-furlong maiden at the Spa on August 11. Going easily while reeling off fast fractions, the daughter of freshman sire Old Fashioned extended her margin to 5 1/4 lengths at the wire and finished in a stellar 1:02.81, just off the track mark of 1:02.51. Sweet Whiskey fired a bullet half-mile in :47 3/5 over the track on Monday, and is tactically drawn on the outside in post 9. Hall of Famer John Velazquez can gauge how the race unfolds from that vantage point. “It’s a little bit of a short rest, and that’s always a concern,” Pletcher said, “and going to seven furlongs is always a concern, but she really impressed us with her breeze the other day and certainly showed us that she is behaving as if she’s ready to come back with another big effort. We hope she runs to her training.” Stopchargingmaria, the latest filly named after owner Mike Repole’s wife, was bought for $220,000 at OBS March. The Tale of the Cat filly wired an opening-day maiden by 5 1/2 lengths, in a much slower time than Sweet Whiskey would post later — 1:04 3/5. With Velazquez sticking with Sweet Whiskey, Javier Castellano picks up the mount on Stopchargingmaria. Art of the Game, a troubled fourth behind Stopchargingmaria, came right back to score on August 18 in front-running fashion. The Nick Zito pupil is a daughter of Elusive Quality, like Bahnah. Art of the Game was produced by the multiple Grade 1-placed Jade Queen.

The red-hot Kiaran McLaughlin sends out Dancing House, a blueblood
Darley-bred. By Tapit and out of multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Tout
Charmant, Dancing House got up in time to take a six-furlong maiden in her
unveiling here on July 31. She was subsequently promoted to Godolphin for her
stakes premiere.

Debut winner Sweet Reason was visually impressive when surging last to first
in an off-the-turf maiden August 9. That 6 1/4-length romp came in the slop, and
barring one of Saratoga’s famous storms, the Leah Gyarmati runner has to prove
that she’s equally effective on a fast track. Rounding out the field is True
Blue Nation, a 5 1/4-length victress in her Belmont bow, but only sixth after a
bad start in the Schuylerville.

Also on the Sunday program, Notacatbutallama bids to extend his winning
streak to four in the Grade 3, $150,000
Saranac
at 1 1/8 miles on the Mellon turf. Owned by Repole and trained by Pletcher, the
Harlan’s Holiday colt has swept the June 15 Hill Prince, July 13 Solar Splendor
and the off-the-turf National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame August 9.
Notacatbutallama will loom a major threat regardless of the weather. Pletcher
has also entered two main-track-onlies in Battier, third in the Hall of Fame,
and Micromanage, who forms a Repole entry with Notacatbutallama.

Frac Daddy, a bust on the Triple Crown trail, wheels back just eight days
after his successful turf debut. The Ken McPeek trainee stalked and pounced home
in an entry-level allowance on the inner turf, and accordingly steps back up
into graded company on what could be his preferred surface.

The Bill Mott-trained Tattenham likewise makes a quick turnaround after a
troubled ninth in the August 17 Secretariat. The Juddmonte Farms’ homebred had
previously held his own against solid older horses in allowances, and has the
look of an intriguing dark horse.

Other contenders include Joha, last year’s Breeders’ Futurity winner, who was
second to Notacatbutallama in the Solar Splendor and most recently runner-up
again in the July 28 Sir Cat; Woodbine shipper Five Iron, coming off a
pacesetting score in the July 27 Toronto Cup; and sharp allowance winner Favor
Factor representing the Chad Brown barn. Brown has also entered Saint Vigeur,
the Peter Pan and Dwyer runner-up, as a main-track-only hope.

The Spa’s penultimate day kicks off with the $100,000
Speed
Boat. The 1 1/16-mile inner turf test has lured a few graded-quality
distaffers, led by Brown’s Grade/Group 1 star Samitar, who gets class relief
after a fourth in the July 27 Diana; Phipps Stable’s homebred Abaco, the
Suwannee River runner-up who has been freshened since her fifth in the April 13
Jenny Wiley; and Grade 3 veteran Ruthenia, exiting a near-miss in the August 3
De La Rose for Christophe Clement.

Clement has another prime player in Orion Moon. A stakes-placed French import
with a thoroughly German pedigree, the Manduro filly is two-for-two in the
United States and appears ready for a class hike.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com