Even an opposing odds-on favorite wasn’t enough to halt trainer Chad Brown’s recent dominance of the $200,000 Lake Placid (G2) at Saratoga on Saturday.
Brown, who had won the three previous editions of the Lake Placid for three-year-old fillies, made it four in a row when one of his three entries, Grayosh, outkicked 3-4 favorite She Feels Pretty to win the Lake Placid by a neck.
A ground-saving third down the backside while She Feels Pretty rated nearby in fourth, Grayosh commenced her bid on the far turn with She Feels Pretty also making a move on the outside. The pair swallowed up long-time leader Ori in midstretch, but it was Grayosh who found more in the run to the wire under Flavien Prat.
“[Flavien] took advantage of a good post and he’s a good judge of pace, even when the leader had a lengthy advantage on the backside,” Brown said. “I was thinking maybe he should be a little closer and get the jump on She Feels Pretty, but he had it timed right. He rated her and took advantage of the good post. That was the difference.”
Owned by Flanagan Racing, Grayosh finished up 1 1/16 miles over a turf rated good in 1:43.74 and paid $17.60. Grade 1 winner She Feels Pretty, who dropped another close one last month in the Belmont Oaks (G1), had a half-length on the Brown-trained Dynamic Pricing. The final Brown trainee, Spaliday, finished fourth and was followed by Ori, Beautiful Love, Gala Brand, and De Regreso.
The Lake Placid was the first stakes win for Grayosh, who broke her maiden at Aqueduct on April 20 in her third lifetime start. Subsequently fourth in the Wonder Again (G2) in her stakes debut, she entered Saturday’s race off a nose loss in an allowance to Proctor Street, who was one of several scratches from the Lake Placid field.
“The more I saw her train, I just treated [her last race] as a win. I was using it maybe as a prep for this race and I started to get past the fact that she got beat,” Brown said. “She really was training super, and then I just entered to take a look. When she drew so well, I said, ‘You know what, let’s give it a go, I think she can at least be competitive and get a piece.'”
Brown said Grayosh could be worthy of a spot in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 12, a race the trainer has won five times.
“She could be an interesting horse for the Queen Elizabeth. I know it’s a big step, but I’ve had luck in that race and she fits,” he said.
A Kentucky-bred daughter of Yoshida and the the stakes-placed Paddy O’Prado mare Rosie O’Prado, Grayosh was bred by Susan Bedwell and sold for $25,000 as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling.
