Classic Q sprints to front, holds off Brown pair in Wild Applause
?q=100)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Mark Casse had originally thought getting Classic Q covered up rather than having her on the early lead would be his preferred strategy for Thursday’s $150,000 Wild Applause Stakes at Saratoga. But after taking a closer look at the past performances, he realized keeping his speedy filly from controlling the pace might be a difficult task.
Fortunately for Casse and his up-and-coming young filly, sure enough it was. Classic Q ultimately led at every call under clever rating by jockey Jose Ortiz before holding safe the Chad Brown-trained duo of Play With Fire and Lavender Disaster to register a half-length victory in the listed stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
Classic Q came into the Wild Applause off a seventh-place finish in the Grade 3 Regret, a race in which she set a lively pace before faltering down the lane while stretching to 1 1/8 miles for the first time. The change in venue and cutback in distance to a mile were both key to her success here Thursday.
“She was a different horse today than at Churchill,” Casse said. “She was just a mess that day, but today she was calm and obviously the mile is good for her. Originally, I said I wanted to see her covered up, but after looking closer at the race, I realized that wasn’t happening. And it worked out fine.”
Classic Q broke well and sprinted right to the front, edging clear from Lavender Disaster around the clubhouse turn. She set a relatively quick pace – 23.34 seconds and 46.46 for the half – while prompted by that rival from the outset, opened a comfortable advantage around the second bend, and then dug in gamely to withstand the Brown pair through the final furlong.
Play With Fire, reserved about eight lengths off the early leader down the backstretch, angled out toward the middle of the track while commencing her bid into the stretch and finished willingly but could not reach the winner. It was another 1 3/4 lengths further back to Lavender Disaster who loomed boldly through the furlong grounds before flattening out some at the end. The others were never serious factors.
Classic Q, a daughter of Classic Empire, is owned in partnership by Hugh Dailey, Gary Barber, and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. She completed the distance in 1:33.21 over the firm course and paid $5.30 as the favorite.
:: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports
“I was good with the first one and not so good with the second one,” Casse said when asked what he was thinking when seeing Classic Q on the lead and posting swift early splits. The fractions were similar those she had set in the Regret. “To be honest, about the half-mile pole I was a little concerned. I thought they were coming to her. But [Ortiz] had something in reserve.”
Casse said he was undecided about what might be next for Classic Q, although he conceded stepping her up into graded stakes company would logically be the next step.
Ortiz said he just let Classic Q do her thing on the lead.
“There was not a lot of speed in the race, and she has speed,” said Ortiz, who captured the recently concluded Churchill Downs spring meet jockey title with 63 winners. “She broke well, and that was the main thing. She was relaxed, and when they came to her, she got a second kick.”
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.