Brown duo might fill Lake George exacta

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Chad Brown can’t sweep the top four spots like he did in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Diana, but it wouldn’t be stunning if the trainer ran one-two in Friday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Lake George Stakes for 3-year-old turf fillies at Saratoga.

Brown sends out the duo of Eminent Victor and Dolce Zel in the one-mile Lake George, a race he has won five of the last seven years, including a one-two-three sweep in 2019 with the only three runners who started in the race.

In her only race this year, Eminent Victor beat three rivals in the listed Wild Applause Stakes on June 25 at Belmont Park. She took advantage of a swift pace and outfinished her stablemate Oakhurst by a half-length. The Wild Applause was run at a mile, as is the Lake George.

“Pretty strong effort, I’m hopeful she can take a little step forward, she hadn’t run in a while,” Brown said. “It’s back just a little tight on time, but I like the distance of the race for her. I was very pleased with her first effort back.”

Flavien Prat rides Eminent Victor from post 6 in the nine-horse field.

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Dolce Zel began her year with a victory in the Grade 2 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs. She followed that with a second to Spendarella in the Grade 2 Appalachian at Keeneland. In her most recent start, Dolce Zel finished a well-beaten third behind New Year’s Eve and McKulick in the Grade 2 Edgewood on May 6 at Churchill Downs. McKulick, also trained by Brown, came back to win the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks.

Of Dolce Zel’s performance in the Edgewood, Brown said “I think she got a little tired, needed a little bit of a freshening. Now that she’s coming in fresh, she’ll hopefully come back in form.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Dolce Zel from post 5.

Koala Princess, trained by Arnaud Delacour, makes her first start since last November’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar, where she finished seventh, beaten 2 1/4 lengths as the favorite.

Koala Princess is the last member of the Juvenile Fillies Turf field to run back at 3. That proved to be a key race as members of the field have come back to win 10 stakes in 2022.

Delacour said his one regret about the Breeders’ Cup for Koala Princess is that she was positioned 10th early on.

“I thought she would have shown a bit more speed, I probably would have liked to have seen her a little bit closer,” he said. “She only got beat 2 1/4 lengths, and those fillies came back and ran well.”

Toward that end, Delacour worked Koala Princess out of the gate on July 14 “to make sure her head was still in the game,” he said.

Delacour said Koala Princess got sick on him earlier in the year, which is why it has taken until late July for her to make it back to the races.

“She has a solid work tab, it looks like she’s improved a lot physically,” Delacour said. “She hasn’t grown that much, but she looks stronger and she’s filled out great.”

Trevor McCarthy rides from post 4.

Skims and Spirit and Glory are interesting contenders in the field. Skims, trained by Shug McGaughey, finished third in both the Grade 2 Appalachian and Grade 2 Wonder Again.

Spirit and Glory, in her first start in the United States and first for trainer Robert Falcone Jr., sprung a 24-1 upset in an allowance on June 16 at Belmont.

Republique, Heavenly Hellos, Al Qahira, and Sister Lou Ann complete the field.

Keepmeinmind starting over

Keepmeinmind, last seen finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers here 11 months ago, returns to the races Friday at Saratoga in a first-level allowance race at 1 1/8 miles.

He also returns with a new trainer as the horse was transferred from Robertino Diodoro to Todd Pletcher earlier this year.

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After finishing second in his debut in September 2020 at Churchill Downs, Keepmeinmind has competed in 10 consecutive graded stakes. He won the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill in November 2020.

At 3, Keepmeinmind went 0 for 7, finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness. After half-length losses in the Ohio Derby (third) and Jim Dandy (second), Keepmeinmind finished fourth, 5 1/2 lengths behind Essential Quality, in the Travers.Friday marks the first time Keepmeinmind runs in an allowance race.

“He’s had a layoff, but I’m going to run him long because that’s what he wants to do,” Pletcher said. “I feel like he’s trained strongly enough and feel like he’s fit enough off the layoff.”

A good performance Friday figures to lead Keepmeinmind back to stakes company, perhaps in the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup here Sept. 3.

Joel Rosario rides Keepmeinmind from the rail in an eight-horse field that includes Naval Aviator and Tiwanaku, both of whom have won two straight, and a pair of Chad Brown-trained 3-year-olds, Efficiency and Fighter in the Win.