Awesome Czech gets up late to take Yaddo
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The summer of Santana continued Friday at Saratoga.
Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., who has enjoyed a sensational meet at the Spa, gave another exceptional ride Friday, getting Awesome Czech off the inside in mid-stretch and rallying her up in time to win the $150,000 Yaddo Stakes by a half-length over defending Yaddo winner Moonage Daydream, who was a nose better than pace-setting Spinning Colors.
The win was the 31st of the meet for Santana, which puts him in a tie for third in the standings with Flavien Prat. Irad Ortiz Jr. and his brother Jose are tied atop the standings with 49 wins.
Santana has not been doing it with favorites, as his $2.27 return-on-investment from 189 mounts illustrates. Awesome Czech was a 5-1 shot who returned $13.40 to win.
Coming into the Yaddo, about the only thing Santana had not done this summer was win a stakes race. He was 0-for-15.
“That’s the last thing I was worried about,” said Santana, who was walking with a limp after having been thrown by a horse on the gallop-out of a race earlier on the card. “I need to give a lot of credit to [agents] P.J. Campo and Matt Muzikar and [jockey] Tyler Gaffalione. Tyler Gaffalione pushed me to come to this meet and I’m really blessed to have a good meet.”
Santana had been riding the summers regularly at Saratoga since 2016, his best meet coming in 2021 when he won 35 races. Back then, he was a fixture in Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn. Lately, he has not necessarily had a major barn backing him, instead riding for a lot of different trainers.
“For me, since we were coming to Saratoga when I worked for Sagamore, he always rode with confidence for me,” said Awesome Czech's trainer, Horaco De Paz. “I always thought he was a very talented rider. Horses run for him and right now he’s just doing really good. He’s in a zone.”
Santana, who came to New York at the beginning of May, had ridden Awesome Czech in each of her previous three starts. Two back, Awesome Czech was third in the Mt. Vernon Stakes, compromised by a slow pace. De Paz added blinkers to Awesome Czech’s equipment for a July 4 allowance in which Santana guided her to a front-running victory.
There was more speed in the Yaddo, so Santana opted to take Awesome Czech off the pace. She was a joint fifth, less than four lengths off the pace, while Spinning Colors – who beat Awesome Czech in the Mt. Vernon – was loose on the lead through a half-mile in 48.18 seconds and six furlongs in 1:12.60. She was pursued by Moonage Daydream and Being Betty. Moonage Daydream won last year’s Yaddo but hadn’t been out since November.
Spinning Colors, under John Velazquez, was stubborn on the lead into deep stretch, but Moonage Daydream kept coming at her and, after getting off the inside, Awesome Czech was able to reel them both in strides before the wire.
Awesome Czech, a 4-year-old daughter of Mendelssohn owned and bred by Barry Schwartz, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.41.
“She’s a really tricky filly for me to ride,” Santana said. “Horacio, he never told me how to ride a horse. Today, I had a different game plan than the last time. I want to take her back because there’s plenty of speed. I’m just going to wait with her. She proved she can be on the lead, can come from behind. She’s a really decent filly.”
She’s better than decent at Saratoga, where she won for the fourth time from five starts. Overall, Awesome Czech has won five races from 16 starts and increased her bankroll to $445,990.
Though De Paz left the riding tactics up to Santana, he said he was concerned a couple of times in the race.
“She got a little rank with him down the backside. I was worried that maybe she was fighting him too much and I was worried he was going to get stuck,” De Paz said. “There were a lot of spots I was worried. But, game filly – she just ran great.”
She got a great ride, too.
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