De La Rose a Perfect Sting rematch; pick-six carryover just shy of $194K

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Evvie Jets will try to prove her game victory over the more highly regarded Chad Brown-trained duo of Technical Analysis and Haughty in the Perfect Sting Stakes at Belmont Park on July 2 was no fluke when the trio meet again under similar condition, at a mile on the turf, in Wednesday’s $135,000 De La Rose Stakes.

The De La Rose goes as the eighth event on a 10-race program at Saratoga and will be the fourth leg of a pick-six sequence that begins with a carryover of $193,972.

Evvie Jets led at every call under clever rating by jockey Javier Castellano, clinging resolutely to her narrow advantage the length of the stretch before holding safe the odds-on favorite Technical Analysis to register a half-length decision while earning a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure in the Perfect Sting. The De La Rose is written for fillies and mares who have not won a graded stakes in 2023. Evvie Jets fits those conditions perfectly having won the Grade 3 Noble Damsel during the fall of 2022.

“She’s done very well since her last race and I think she will give the same effort again this time,” her trainer, Merktan Kantarmaci, predicted. “We’ve given her two easy half-mile works on the dirt but she doesn’t need to do much since the races are only a month apart. Her last was probably her best effort yet, she beat a really good horse. Hopefully no one bothers her [on the lead] again although I think she might actually be better if she has someone to chase, a target. I’ll just leave all that up to Javier.”

Technical Analysis eased back from inside Evvie Jets in the run down the backstretch in the Perfect Sting, angled outside of that rival to race in perfect position but could not get to the winner despite having the entire stretch to run her down. The Perfect Sting was her first start in nearly nine months.

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Technical Analysis, who will likely be the heavy favorite once again, figures to benefit from making her second start off the layoff while also returning to her favorite course. She has won three of her four starts at Saratoga, all graded stakes, with her lone setback a second-place finish behind stablemate In Italian last summer in the Grade 1 Diana.

“She’s a nice filly, the one who beat us last time, and this will probably be a similar type of race,” said Brown. “As far as strategy, we’ll just play the break and let the riders feel it out in the first turn.

“Technical Analysis has always had a good record at Saratoga, she seems to thrive here, and she’s training great up to the race and I’m hoping to get her best race of the season out of her. The conditions fit her perfect. It’s a nice little spot.”

Haughty raced within easy striking distance of the two leaders in the Perfect Sting but never kicked on, finishing evenly, 2 3/4 lengths behind the winner while making just her second start of the year. She too is a graded stakes winner locally, having captured the Grade 2 Lake Placid in her 3-year-old finale here last summer.

Brown will send out a third key contender, Eminent Victory, who exits a fifth-place finish over a yielding course in Woodbine’s Nassau Stakes.

“She’s another one I’ve been waiting to round into form. She ran a very solid race last time up in Canada and if she moves forward off that race she should be very competitive,” Brown said.

The Grade 1-placed White Frost, red-hot Regal Realm, and New York-bred Runaway Rumour complete the field, which also has three fillies – Chi Town Lady, Movie Moxy and Sunset Louise – entered main-track only.

The pick six is a challenging one that includes four turf races, weather permitting, and kicks off with a real head scratcher in the fifth race, a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight on the grass for 2-year-old New York-breds that drew a field of nine, six of whom will be making their career debuts.

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Once an Eagle, a first-time starter by Tonalist and a half to stakes winner Tapitation, figures to draw plenty of attention as should Charity First, who adds blinkers and exits a key race going five furlongs on the grass in her debut for trainer Rudy Rodriguez.

Leg five, carded at 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass for fillies and mares, should find Mail Order and Adaay in Asia getting plenty of support, having finished second and fourth, respectively, behind the recent graded stakes winner Roses for Debra under similar allowance conditions last month at Belmont. The multiple graded stakes-placed Scotish Star also is a contender.

Vax will likely be a single in the sequence for many but looms a big question mark for those still alive in the finale. She drops in for a $16,000 tag while taking on older horses for the first time while making her first start since being claimed for $40,000 by leading trainer Linda Rice out of a third-place finish last month at Belmont.

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