Leave Me Alone all by herself

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Leave Me Alone left eight rivals in her wake as she romped to a 7 3/4-length win in Saturday's Grade 1 for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga.

Hide and Chic finished second, three-quarters of length in front of her entrymate, In the Gold, who broke tardily. The entry of Hide and Chic and In the Gold was made the favorite at 6-5.

When the gates opened in the seven-furlong Test, In the Gold broke well behind the field. Maddalena also broke slowly and bumped with In the Gold.

Leave Me Alone, under Kent Desormeaux, sailed to the early lead. Maddalena came with a rush to challenge Leave Me Alone from the outside. After setting fractions of 22.46 seconds, 45.46, and 1:09.98, Leave Me Alone had a five-length lead on the rest of the field. Leave Me Alone's final time was 1:22.76 over a fast track.

Leave Me Alone returned $10.80.

Sense of Style, the second choice in the wagering with her entrymate, Maddalena, never showed any spark and finished last in the nine-horse field.

Gary Stevens said that his mount, In the Gold, "hit the side of the gate coming out."

The win was Leave Me Alone's third in a stakes this year. In her last start, Leave Me Alone won the Grade 3 Azalea Breeders' Cup at Calder.

Trained by Eric Kruljac in California, Leave Me Alone is owned by Steven Mitchell, who races under the name Mitchell Ranch.

Kruljac selected Leave Me Alone, a daughter of Bold Badgett, from a Del Mar yearling sale for Mitchell, who paid $35,000 for the filly.

With her win in the $250,000 Test, Leave Me Alone boosted her earnings to $486,370.

Desormeaux said Leave Me Alone made his job easy.

"All I had to do was keep her between the fences," the rider said.

Kruljac was delighted that she went for the early lead.

"She will rate, but I felt she was very dominant with the speed that she has," Kruljac said. "My big concern was the 1-hole. She is just getting better and better."

Kruljac said it's unlikely that Leave Me Alone would run back in the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 28.

- All Trumps came with a late rush to win the $67,650 Sir Cat Stakes over favored Classic Campaign. Ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, All Trumps returned $24.20 and covered the mile on the firm inner turf in 1:34.43.