Leave No Trace lands in tough Bed o' Roses
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After Leave No Trace returned to her stakes-winning form in last month’s Grade 3 Vagrancy at Aqueduct, trainer Phil Serpe set her summer goal as the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga on Aug. 24. His choices on how to get Leave No Trace to that race were Saturday’s Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses or the Grade 2 Honorable Miss Handicap at Saratoga on July 24.
Serpe chose the Bed o’ Roses thinking it was going to come up a short field. Naturally, the Bed o’ Roses drew 10 fillies and mares when it was drawn on Tuesday.
“I thought they’d be lucky to get five, now there’s 10,” Serpe said.
Still, Serpe plans to run Leave No Trace in what looks to be a solid field for the Bed o’ Roses, that includes Big Pond and Hot Fudge, who finished second and third, respectively, behind Leave No Trace.
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Trainer Chad Brown entered two – Shidabhuti, winner of the Grade 3 Distaff on April 6, and Accede, who has won a pair of allowance races at Keeneland, one last fall, one on April 24.
Mid-Atlantic-based stakes winners Apple Picker and Morning Matcha, as well as Flying Connection, third in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff, add depth to the field.
Leave No Trace was dealing with foot issues last year and again early this year, but Serpe believes those are under control.
“She still trains with a bar shoe, but we’ll take it off for the race,” Serpe said.
Leave No Trace won her first two career starts, including the Grade 1 Spinaway in 2022. She’s won her last two starts, an allowance and the Vagrancy. The common thread is they are the only dirt sprint races in which she’s run. In between, she raced long on dirt and tried synthetic and turf.
“You just run them back where they win – which is sprinting on the dirt,” Serpe said. “It’s that simple.”
Leave No Trace, the co-highweight at 124 pounds, will break from post 8 under Jose Lezcano.
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