Gina Romantica rallies to upset Riskaverse Stakes
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Chad Brown won another turf stakes Thursday at Saratoga, but not with one of the favorites as is typically the case. Instead, it was 14-1 Gina Romantica who rallied to a 1 1/4-length victory over fellow longshot and stablemate Faith in Humanity in the $135,000 Riskaverse. The one-mile Riskaverse was restricted to 3-year-old fillies who had never won a stakes other than statebred at a mile or longer.
Gina Romantica, making her turf debut, rated at the rear of the 10-horse field, nearly a dozen lengths off the pace of Missy Greer. The daughter of Into Mischief had to steady in traffic approaching the furlong grounds, angled outside for clearance, and then finished full of run down the center of the course to overtake Faith in Humanity to win going away. The win was the fourth on the card for her rider, Flavien Prat.
Faith in Humanity, who had won her only previous start earlier this summer at Monmouth Park, was forwardly placed from the outset, readily overtook the tiring leader and edged clear upon settling into the stretch, but proved no match for the winner at the end. A Mo Reay rallied belatedly to finish another head further back in third. Customer List, the third of Brown’s four starters in the main event, was fourth.
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Gina Romantica completed the distance over a firm course in 1:35.94 and paid $30.
“She hit a bit of a wall on the dirt last time on a heavy track, so I breezed her on turf. It was pretty good, so I figured I would take a shot,” Brown explained. “It’s a great race they offer here because it’s restricted to 3-year-old fillies that hadn’t won a stakes, and it’s a nice bridge for a horse that’s already cleared their N1X allowance condition. I’m just happy Flavien ended up working out a good trip.”