Introduced needs to relax better in Smart N Fancy

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The competition will be decidedly easier when Introduced and three other also-rans from the Caress Stakes here earlier this month meet again in Thursday’s $85,000 Smart N Fancy Stakes at Saratoga. The 5 1/2-furlong sprint is for fillies and mares on the turf, although there is a 60 percent chance of rain in the forecast for the local area Thursday.

Introduced finished fourth after forcing the early pace in the Caress, well clear of Miss Gossip, Getmotherarose, and Saratoga Treasure, who checked in seventh, ninth, and 10th, respectively, behind race winner Cariba. The loss snapped a modest winning streak for Introduced, who began the season posting back-to-back victories at Laurel and Delaware Park for Colts Neck Stables LLC and trainer Jorge Duarte.

Introduced, a statebred stakes winner on the turf last summer at Laurel, got off to a bit of a late start in 2020 after spending much of the winter on her owner’s farm in New Jersey.

“We usually take a dozen or so down to Florida for the winter and lay up the rest to freshen on the farm for the spring,” Duarte said. “But because of the COVID situation, she got going a little later than planned this year. Her first two races back were very good, she was very relaxed in both those races. Unfortunately, she got a little too keen and ended up a little more forwardly placed than we planned in her last start at Saratoga and wound up chasing that fast horse of Mike Maker’s [Jakarta], which we didn’t expect her to do.”

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Duarte said Introduced came out of the Caress doing great and he’s looking forward to bringing her back Thursday in what he acknowledges is a much softer spot.

“I was kind of happy when I saw the overnight and looked over the competition and saw our post,” Duarte said. “The only thing that might be a question is the lack of pace. But she is such a consistent horse, except for the one time I ran her long on Preakness weekend last year, she’s never run poorly. She always shows up and runs her race, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she were able to step up and win the stakes on Thursday.”

Getmotherarose had all sorts of trouble from her inside post in the Caress and has license to move forward off that effort with a little better racing luck in the Smart N Fancy. Getmotherarose will tote high weight of 124 pounds under the allowance conditions of the race as a result of her victory in the Grade 3 Honey Fox going a mile in her second start of the season this winter at Gulfstream Park.

Miss Gossip broke from the extreme outside and got hung wide while never a factor in the Caress, finishing off the board for the first time in three tries this season. Miss Gossip will attempt to snap a 10-race winless streak dating back to her victory in a high-priced allowance and optional-claiming race here during the summer of 2018.

Saratoga Treasure was pinched some at the start and trailed much of the way while also forced wide into the stretch in the Caress. She also has been lightly campaigned in 2020 after winning 3 of 8 outings a year ago, including the Autumn Days Stakes decided on a yielding course at Aqueduct.

What pace there is in the Smart N Fancy should come from Peaceful, a wire-to-wire winner under allowance conditions here last month, and A Great Time, third after racing forwardly in the License Fee Stakes on July 3 at Belmont Park.

The biggest question mark in the field is Victory Kingdom, who makes her U.S. debut for trainer Rodolphe Brisset after racing exclusively in her native Australia. Victory Kingdom, Group 2-placed at 3, will race on Lasix and with blinkers for the first time Thursday.