Saratoga: Effie Trinket hangs on to win Aristie

Tom Keyser

Effie Trinket (right) holds off Agilion to win the Aristie Stakes at Saratoga.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After wresting the lead from My Smartness aboard Effie Trinket, jockey Alan Garcia took a peek at the infield television monitor to see who, if anyone, would be making a late run at him and his 2-year-old New York-bred filly in the $100,000 Aristie Stakes.

Garcia immediately picked up the black and gold silks of Agilion, the 4-5 favorite, and got back to the business of riding. Garcia and Effie Trinket had just enough to hold off Agilion at the wire to win the Aristie by a head. It was 1 1/4 lengths back to Zekes Surprise in third.

“I had to check it out because I didn’t want to keep hitting my filly,” Garcia said when asked about the peek at the board. “I had enough horse. When I saw the wire coming I said, ‘It’s going to be too late to catch me,’ so I was very excited about it.”

Effie Trinket was running back on just 16 days’ rest and had to work hard to get past My Smartness, who had led the six-furlong race through fractions of 23.01 seconds and 46.75. Watching in the grandstand, trainer Rick Violette was hoping Garcia would take his a filly out a path or two as Agilion was coming.

“Sometimes I wish Alan wouldn’t be so polite and would race-ride a little bit and float out a horse or two like some of the others in the jockey community do,” Violette said. “It was a little tighter than I had hoped for. They’re probably two pretty nice fillies.”

Effie Trinket, a daughter of Freud owned by Patsy Symons, covered six furlongs in 1:11.86 and returned $6.50 as the second choice.

Violette said Effie Trinket is bred to handle the turf and he might give her a shot over that surface n her next start to “see if she really sprouts wings.”