Stonetastic brushes off foes in Prioress

Stonetastic won the Prioress in a geared-down hand ride from jockey Paco Lopez (NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography) Stoneway Farm’s Stonetastic was denied a stakes victory three different times as a juvenile, but that was not to be the case in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Prioress Stakes at Saratoga as the sophomore filly blew away the field by 8 1/2 lengths. “She’s fast,” trainer Kelly Breen said. “(Jockey) Paco (Lopez) came back and said she did it easy. I’m happy for all the connections; she ran great. Paco said he didn’t whip her. I don’t know what else to say, she went in 1:08 and four, and did it the right way. We’re happy to be here.” “This is a week since my father passed away, and he’s here with me,” Breen added. “It means a lot. It’s been a tough couple of weeks.” Stonetastic claimed the lead shortly after the break and posted an opening quarter in :22 1/5. The gray continued to lead the field around the far turn as Miss Behavior, the 2-1 favorite, was stalking on the outside and attempted to make a bid for the lead as they turned for home. Stonetastic ran a half-mile in :44 3/5 and as soon as she felt pressure on her outside she kicked it into another gear at the top of the stretch. She drew away from her competition under a hand ride, to go wire-to-wire in 1:08 4/5 for the six-furlong test over the fast main track. Sent off as the 5-1 third choice, the daughter of Mizzen Mast returned $13 for her first stakes score.

“Very impressive,” Lopez said. “I know the filly has never run here, but I
know that filly. I rode her last time at Monmouth. Kelly said, ‘Hey Paco, when
they open the gates, come away, take your position, and look where you are.’
Cutting back from a longer distance to a shorter distance, I thought someone
might be coming a little bit (in the stretch). But there was no competition for
this filly.”

Miss Behavior got up for second by a neck over third-place finisher Southern
Honey. Tea Time, Who’s In Town, Sweet Whiskey, Princess Violet and Thirteen
Arrows rounded out the order of finish.

Stonetastic broke her maiden by 12 lengths in her racing debut at Monmouth
Park in August 2013. She made her stakes bow in her next start the following
month in the Pocahontas at Churchill Downs, missing by a half-length to eventual
2014 Kentucky Oaks winner, Untapable. The gray had a difficult stretch trip in
the Tempted Stakes in November at Aqueduct, finishing fourth and closed out her
two-year-old campaign later that month with a third-place finish in the Golden
Rod back at Churchill.

Stonetastic came in third in her sophomore debut in the Gingerbrew Stakes at
Gulfstream Park on January 5, as she tried the grass for the first time. She was
not seen again until a 6 3/4-length win in an optional claiming race at Monmouth
Park on July 27. Stonetastic banked $180,000 to more than double her bankroll to
$299,121 from a 7-3-1-2 career line.

“I think we are (looking toward the Breeders’ Cup) today,” said Terri Burch,
racing manager for Stoneway Farm. “We shelved her for a little while in January
and brought her home to grow up. This is her second race back for us. But,
that’s what we’re looking for. That’s why we were here today, to challenge
everyone and see. So we’re excited.

“She was running fine (before her layoff earlier this year) but she was very
immature. We sent her home to grow up. She raced really hard for us in the fall,
but she didn’t grow. And then we put her back in training, she had a giant
growth spurt, so we had to wait and go slow on her and wait for her to come
around.”

Bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall and Carrie & Craig Brogden, Stonetastic is
out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Special Me, who is a half-sister to 2004 Dubai
Golden Shaheen victor, Our New Recruit. Her female family also includes Grade 2
victor Domasca Dan.

Stonetastic sold for $77,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

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