Estrechada eyes stakes on both coasts

CYPRESS, Calif. – Estrechada, the winner of the Grade 3 Waya Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 5, will have her next start at Aqueduct or Del Mar in early November.

Trainer Mike Puype said he is considering the Grade 2 Las Vegas Marathon against males at 1 3/4 miles on dirt at Del Mar on Nov. 3 or the Grade 3 Long Island Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on turf for fillies and mares at Aqueduct on Nov. 4.

The Waya Stakes, at 1 1/2 miles on turf, was the first stakes win in the United States for Estrechada, a 6-year-old Argentine-bred mare. More recently, Estrechada was fourth, beaten 3 1/2 lengths by winner Harmonize, in the Grade 3 Glens Falls at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Saratoga on Sept. 2.

“They went slow and turned it into a sprint,” Puype said. “She doesn’t have that turn of foot.”

Puype said the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Sept. 30 is “too short” for Estrechada.

“She’s a true stayer,” he said.