Averly Jane coasts home an easy winner in off-the-turf Skidmore Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The day may not have started out like trainer Wesley Ward hoped, with his Golden Pal finishing a disappointing seventh about seven hours earlier in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York. But it certainly ended well enough for Ward after his Averly Jane dominated Friday’s $120,000 Skidmore Stakes at Saratoga, coasting home a comfortable 7 1/4 lengths in front of Pure Panic in a race switched from the turf to a fast main track.

Averly Jane was one of four horses Ward entered and three he started in the 5 1/2-furlong Skidmore along with Golden Bell and Overbore. Averly Jane and Golden Bell were the only two fillies in the starting lineup, the former having already beaten males once before when cruising to a 3 1/4-length triumph in the Kentucky Juvenile in her most recent start on April 28 at Churchill Downs.

With Tyler Gaffalione in the irons once again, Averly Jane broke like a shot and opened three lengths on the field in the blink of an eye. The daughter of Midshipman was in complete control thereafter, widening her advantage through the stretch before being taken in hand by Gaffalione with the issue never in doubt in the final yards.

Pure Panic was forwardly placed from the outset, continuing willingly near the center of the course to be second best while never a threat to the winner. Overbore finished another three-quarters of a length further back in third.

Owned by Hat Creek Racing, Averly Jane set early splits of 21.96 and 45.00 before completing the distance in 1:03.79 over a track upgraded from “good” to fast after the second race. She paid $5.20 as the favorite in a field of nine juveniles.

“She broke on top, I just put my hands down, let her relax, and she did everything on her own,” said Gaffalione. “She’s a rocket. We had plenty left in the tank. We could have gone quicker, even early on. We used what we needed.”

When asked to compare Averly Jane to the last time he rode her nearly four months early in the Kentucky Juvenile, Gaffalione said she was “like night and day.

“Today she’s much more forward, she’s definitely grown up and matured a little bit and I’m really looking forward to her down the road,” Gaffalione said.