La Mehana tough to peg in Flower Bowl
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – La Mehana is probably not as good as her last race makes it seem. How far away she is from that level is the question handicappers must grapple with when deciding whether to play her at a relatively short price in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl Stakes at Saratoga.
La Mehana was the only who relished the yielding turf when she galloped to an 8 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Glens Falls here on July 27. Her performance earned her a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, equaling the highest figure for a turf runner in races beyond one mile.
While trainer Miguel Clement admits that La Mehana moves up on softer turf, he was also impressed with her allowance victory over firm ground at Aqueduct in June.
“If you look at that the pace that day, they went [a half-mile] in 52 [seconds] and she was off the pace,” Clement said. “She really dazzled me that day. I’m not entirely sure why she’s improving her form at the age of 6, but she’s running as well as ever.”
The ground Saturday figures to be in between yielding and firm, as there was rain forecast Friday morning. La Mehana, ridden by Flavien Prat in her previous two starts, will be ridden by Kendrick Carmouche on Saturday as Prat – as well as many others from this colony – is at Kentucky Downs.
Clement will start two others in the Flower Bowl, run at 1 3/8 miles. Bellezza won the Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay at Aqueduct – where La Mehana was fourth – in her U.S. debut before catching yielding ground when third in the New York and second in the Glens Falls. In Time won a second-level allowance going 1 1/2 miles in front-running fashion here on July 6.
“Bellezza, I believe, is a very talented filly. She has a great turn of foot,” Clement said. “She’s been very unlucky with the weather her last couple of starts.”
In Time “loves Saratoga and has tactical speed,” Clement said. “A lot of times, these turf marathons are paceless affairs, so she would benefit from that.”
This turf marathon is not shaping up to be a paceless affair.
Be Your Best wheels back three weeks after she finished third in the Beverly D at Colonial Downs. Despite breaking on top, Be Your Best took up a stalking position behind Charlene’s Dream, a filly that kept on going to win the race. Be Your Best was nailed for second in the final jump by Spanish Eyes.
Saffie Joseph Jr., the trainer of Be Your Best, said he didn’t want his filly to get into a head-and-head battle with Charlene’s Dream, so jockey Tyler Gaffalione took her back.
“It kind of compromised us,” Joseph said. “We had to grab pretty hard into the first turn and then we were a little keen for the next half-mile of the race. She ran decent, but obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted.”
Be Your Best has previously won at 1 3/8 miles, doing so in front-running fashion in the Grade 3 Long Island Stakes last fall at Aqueduct. La Mehana finished seventh in that race. Be Your Best portends to be on the front-end on Saturday under Edgard Zayas, who won two stakes on her last winter, including the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
“She’s naturally faster than anybody in the race,” Joseph said. “She doesn’t need the lead, obviously, but she’s naturally quicker from a pace standpoint than most of them at a mile and three-eighths.”
Marksman Queen won the Keertana at Churchill Downs and the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park, both marathon turf stakes, in front-running fashion. Breaking from the rail under Luan Machado, who is riding for trainer Graham Motion for the first time, Marksman Queen figures to be a forward factor – if she wants to be.
“She has her own way of running. It’s best to leave her alone a little bit. That’s what we’ve discovered in these last two races,” Motion said.
Long Ago is another with marathon-type speed. She won a 1 3/8-mile allowance race at Churchill in June and set the pace before finishing third, 12 lengths behind La Mehana, in the Glens Falls. She figures to benefit from good-to-firm turf.
Amber Cascade dead-heated for second in the Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf Mile Stakes on Aug. 3. Madame Mischief finished sixth of seven in the Grade 3 Matchmaker at Monmouth on July 19.
The Flower Bowl, which awards a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, goes as race 10 on a 13-race card that begins at 12:05 p.m. and includes the Grade 1 Spinaway for 2-year-old fillies and the Grade 3 Prioress for 3-year-old fillies on dirt.
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