Like many turf features for fillies and mares held in New York, trainer Chad Brown has the $300,000 Ballston Spa (G2) at Saratoga on Thursday surrounded. If weather permits the 1 1/16-mile race to remain on the grass as scheduled, Brown trainees will make up four of the expected five runners.
The controlling speed of the quintet appears to be Beaute Cachee, who turned in a stunner at Keeneland in April winning the Jenny Wiley (G1) as a 25-1 chance. Last month’s Matchmaker (G3) at Monmouth Park proved a more difficult win for the gray to eke out, but she again was up to the task while sent off at bettable odds of 9-2.
“She’s really doing well. I’m proud of her. She’s just come off of a super work here and I’m really pleased with how she’s developed this year,” Brown said. “She’s showed a new dimension this year with her speed.”
Delahaye, third in the Matchmaker when favored at 3-2, captured the Mint Julep (G3) at Churchill Downs and Tom Benson Memorial at Fair Grounds earlier this season.
“She may have been compromised a little bit on the pace last time, but she’s a very consistent horse for us and we’ve always thought a lot of her,” Brown said.
Gina Romantica, a dual Grade 1 winner at the last two fall meets at Keeneland, has been less effective reaching the winner’s circle elsewhere. However, she was beaten less than a length in the Diana (G1) last month, finishing behind stablemate Whitebeam and subsequent Beverly D. (G2) winner Moira.
“Looking at her last couple of years of racing, it seems like she may be a second half of the year type of filly, and this is the time of year she’s at her best,” Brown said
Coppice so far has underachieved in three North American starts, losing the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2) and Just a Game (G1) as the favorite prior to finishing fifth in the Diana.
“The last couple of races have been a little frustrating — not the greatest of trips, not terrible, but maybe not the setups she wants,” Brown said. “She’s a bit of a temperamental horse in the mornings, but she’s training like she has a big race in her at some point in time.”
The only one standing in the way of the Brown juggernaut is the Todd Pletcher-trained Surprisingly. Most recently fourth in the Matchmaker, the five-year-old is winless since taking the Endeavour (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs in February 2023.
