Chi Town Lady pulls off shocker with Test victory

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Considering Chi Town Lady had finished nearly 16 lengths behind Matareya when the pair first met this spring at Keeneland, one couldn’t blame trainer Wesley Ward for thinking his filly was running for second money at best in Saturday’s $500,000 Test Stakes at Saratoga.

But over a racetrack sealed and downgraded to “good” following a heavy shower less than an hour before the race, Chi Town Lady was able to pull off the stunning upset, rallying from last to a 1 1/2-length victory over Hot Peppers with the 1-5 Matareya struggling home over the wet going a disappointing third in the prestigious Grade 1 fixture for 3-year-old fillies.

“We got lucky,” Ward said with a laugh in the winner’s circle after the race. “I told the owners we’d probably be running a 30-1 shot but I wanted to take one shot to come from way back. To be honest we were hoping for second or third, a graded placing, if the race fell apart, and here we are in the winner’s circle. But that’s why they run these races. Thank God it didn’t happen to me yesterday.”

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Ward was referring to his Golden Pal, who narrowly prevailed in the final strides as the 1-5 favorite in Friday’s Grade 3 Troy.

Chi Town Lady briefly delayed the start of the seven-furlong Test, acting up a bit in the starting gate. Once underway, she quickly dropped back to last under jockey Joel Rosario, falling a dozen lengths behind the pacesetting Hot Peppers in the run down the backstretch.

Chi Town Lady, idle since finishing a late-running second in a second-level allowance race at Churchill Downs on May 19, commenced her bid after the opening half-mile. She swung well wide leaving the turn and rallied resolutely down the center of the track, lugging in briefly to bump Matareya near mid-stretch before continuing strongly to win going away.

Hot Peppers quickly sprinted to a clear lead, dug in gamely when engaged by the odds-on favorite while coming out a tad inside the furlong marker, turning back that one’s bid while ultimately proving no match for the winner in the end.

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Matareya raced within easy striking distance from the outset, slipped along the rail to go after the leader entering the stretch, eased outside Hot Peppers to challenge for command after six furlongs, but hung late while bumped fairly soundly by the winner a sixteenth from the wire.

Following a steward’s inquiry, the result stood as is.

Chi Town Lady, a daughter of Verrazano, is owned by Castleton Lyons. She covered the distance over the wet track in 1:23.87 and paid $36, getting a 90 Beyer Speed Figure. The victory gave Rosario his ninth graded stakes win of the meet.

“I was looking at this race after her last race when she showed she wanted to come from behind,” Ward explained. “I gave her some time and had Joel work her a couple of times and she was just working phenomenal. I actually thought the sealed track might hinder us a little bit because generally when the rain comes over this course, it helps the speed. When I saw that first fraction come up, I thought it wasn’t quite fast enough for what we needed. At the three-eighths pole she started to make her run and I thought maybe we had a shot.”

Ward said he had some concern when the inquiry sign went up.

“I saw it happen and I thought I was coming down,” said Ward. “I was a little worried until I saw the replay and I knew the stewards would probably rule in our favor. And they did.”

Trainer Brad Cox said he believed the sealed, wet surface played a part in Matareya’s disappointing third-place finish coming off her 6 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park seven weeks earlier.

“My first thought was that she didn’t seem to be traveling or handling the track up the backside that well,” said Cox. “Flavien thought the same, she really wasn’t taking him up there. I think she’s a very good filly, maybe it was not a favorable surface for her, and she still ran a good race.”