Daring Dancer bounces back from dud to win Lake George

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.- Trainer Graham Motion is too high on Daring Dancer to give up on her after one poor effort.

Undeterred by Daring Dancer’s fifth-place finish as the odds-on favorite in the Wonder Again Stakes two months ago at Belmont Park, Motion put her in Wednesday‘s Grade 2, $200,000 Lake George Stakes at Saratoga with confidence.

That confidence was rewarded as, under a superb ground-saving ride by Alan Garcia, Daring Dancer ran down A Little Bit Sassy in the final stride to win the Lake George by a short head. It was 1 1/4 lengths back to the pacesetting Daring Kathy in third. She was followed, in order, by Sweet Acclaim, Speed Seeker, Duff One, and Little Journey.

The win was the fourth from five career starts for Daring Dancer, a daughter of Empire Maker owned and bred by Sagamore Farm.

Daring Dancer had won her first three starts - including the Grade 3 Appalachian Stakes- quite impressively. In the Wonder Again, Daring Dancer caught soft ground that she just didn’t handle, was never in the race, and finished fifth, beaten 9 3/4 lengths by Sea Queen.

Despite showers that hit about 15 minutes before post, Saratoga’s turf remained firm and Motion could see immediately that Wednesday would be different.

“Right from the beginning today she was on the bridle,” Motion said. “She never picked up the bit last time. The ground was pretty soft that day and she just didn’t care for it at all.”

Daring Dancer settled into fifth position while saving all the ground as Daring Kathy set the pace, tracked by A Little Bit Sassy. Luis Saez, on A Little Bit Sassy, went after Daring Kathy outside the eighth pole while Garcia came off the rail turning for home and guided Daring Dancer into the clear. With four-right handed smacks of Garcia’s whip, and three left-handed, Daring Dancer ran down A Little Bit Sassy.

Daring Dancer covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.92 and returned $8.30 as the lukewarm 3-1 favorite.

“I thought Alan gave her a really good ride. He gave her a super patient ride. He’s got a lot of confidence in her,” said Motion, who won his seventh stakes race of the month. “I could tell she was a different horse right from the beginning today.”

Motion said he would likely run Daring Dancer back in the Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid Stakes here on Aug. 16.