Despite the expansion of the Saratoga meet from 24 days over four weeks in the late 1980s to 40 days over eight weeks today, there have been few if any attempts by a two-year-old filly to sweep all three of the track’s open dirt stakes for the division. But The Queens M G will attempt that rare feat when she heads a field of 11 in the $300,000 Spinaway (G1) on Saturday.
The seven-furlong Spinaway is one of the three graded stakes for females that kicks off closing weekend, the others being the $500,000 Flower Bowl (G2) for older horses on turf and the Prioress (G3) for three-year-old sprinters.
The Queens M G kicked off the Saratoga season on a surprise note, winning the opening-day Schuylerville S. by 2 3/4 lengths as a 44-1 longshot. Her odds were considerably shorter in the Aug. 4 Adirondack (G3), but the result was the same if more emphatic, as The Queens M G coasted to victory by nine lengths.
It has been 37 years since the Schuylerville, Adirondack, and Spinaway were won by the same filly. The D. Wayne Lukas-trained Over All achieved the feat in 1987, but over a much shorter span of 27 days, from Aug. 5 through Aug. 31.
“She is 3-for-4, just one blemish in her career. She regrouped and got it done, with last time being the most impressive win so far,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “She seems like she keeps getting better and hopefully they don’t catch up to her yet.”
Quietside, a dominating winner on debut by more than six lengths this month, figures to attract significant support. Trainer John Ortiz has had an outstanding meet from limited action, winning with five of his first eight starters.
Other potential contenders include the Godolphin-owned Immersive and Pondering, both of whom won on debut last time for different trainers. The Brad Cox-trained Immersive won by two lengths at Saratoga on July 21, while Pondering followed a day later at Ellis Park for trainer Brendan Walsh. Hoping for a strong pace is Sherbini, who rallied to finish a clear second to The Queens M G in the Schuylerville.
The Flower Bowl will be run over the same 1 3/8-mile distance as the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) and serves as a “Win & You’re In” prep for the Del Mar highlight.
The Flower Bowl has again attracted veteran War Like Goddess. The multiple Grade 1-winning seven-year-old captured the 2021 Flower Bowl, was beaten a neck in 2022, but missed last year’s edition won by Parnac over McKulick.
War Like Goddess exits a one-length win as the even-money choice in the Robert G. Dick Memorial (G3) at Delaware Park, while McKulick toppled Parnac by 2 1/4 lengths in the Glens Falls (G2) last time.
Eternal Hope, fourth when favored in the Glens Falls, should improve in what will be her second start of the season. Another consistent player is Neecie Marie, who has won or placed in three of four graded attempts this summer.
The six-furlong Prioress marks the return to action of Brightwork, last year’s Spinaway and Adirondack heroine who has not raced since finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) in November.
Brightwork was entered and scratched from the Test (G1) earlier in the meet after flipping in the paddock before the race.
