Augustin Stable’s homebred SUGAR AGAIN (Syncline) held off Deluxe (Storm Cat)
by a diminishing head in Saturday’s $78,500
Paris
Opera S. at Saratoga, spoiling the highly-anticipated American debut of the
Juddmonte Farms blueblood. Under a perfectly-timed ride by Rajiv Maragh, the
Jonathan Sheppard filly got first run on Deluxe and made the most of it.
Sugar Again, the 5-1 third choice, was coming off a rallying runner-up effort
in the July 29 Red Carpet S. at Penn National in her reappearance. Deluxe, a
daughter of the outstanding broodmare Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi), had not raced
since last October in France, and her ring-rustiness showed as she took a while
to pick up.
In contrast, Sugar Again was push-button. Maragh reserved his mount in
midpack on the outside, one spot ahead of Deluxe, as the pacesetter Ultimate
Class (During) doled out splits of :24 3/5, :48 and 1:11 2/5. Evading Tempete
(GB) (Dubai Destination), the 5-2 favorite, and Thundering Emilia (Thunder
Gulch) pursued Ultimate Class into the stretch, but the longtime leader proved
stubborn.
Meanwhile, Sugar Again was unleashing a bold move to mow them down and strike
the front. Deluxe, who had tried to follow in her wake but was briefly outpaced,
finally found top gear in deep stretch. Although the 3-1 second choice rallied
furiously, she got going too late to catch Sugar Again. The winner completed one
mile on the firm inner turf in 1:35 1/5 and paid $12.20, $5.20 and $3.80.
Another 1 1/2 lengths back in third came Thundering Emilia, with Evading
Tempete settling for fourth. Sea Road (Tale of the Cat), Unbridled Essence
(Essence of Dubai), a weakening Ultimate Class, Hit It Rich (Smart Strike), Bet
on the Blue (E Dubai) and It’s Tea Time (Dynaformer) rounded out the order under
the wire.
Sugar Again’s scorecard now reads 9-5-3-0, $267,957. The Pennsylvania-bred
was originally trained by Canadian Hall of Famer MacDonald Benson, who retired
following the 2010 season. Sugar Again won three of five starts for Benson last
year and just missed by a neck in the other two. She ended her campaign in
stakes company, capturing the Ruling Angel S. in her stakes debut and coming up
a neck short in the Bessarabian S., both over Woodbine’s Polytrack.
The four-year-old chestnut is the second registered foal from Chilean
champion Wolanstonita (Chi) (Wagon Master), winner of the 2003 Gran Premio
Francisco Baeza (Chi-G1).