Matareya leads Test, one of four stakes on Whitney undercard
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Matareya, undefeated in four starts this year including the Grade 1 Acorn, and Hot Peppers, a winner of five of six starts this year, head the field of seven 3-year-old fillies entered in the Grade 1, $500,000 Test Stakes at seven furlongs.
The Test and the Grade 1, $1 million Saratoga Derby Invitational, for 3-year-olds going 1 3/16 miles on turf, head the undercard stakes on a 12-race program topped by the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney Stakes for older males on dirt.
Trainer Brad Cox won last year’s Whitney with Knicks Go. He doesn’t have a runner in this year’s Whitney, but in Matareya, he has the probable favorite in the seven-furlong Test. Matareya, a daughter of Pioneeerof the Nile, has recorded three straight graded stakes victories starting with an 8 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3 Beaumont at Keeneland and the Grade 2 Eight Belles at Churchill Downs. In the Grade 1 Acorn, she was supposed to be the second choice behind champion Echo Zulu, but that filly was scratched at the gate, leaving Matareya as the 1-5 favorite and she didn’t disappoint, winning by 6 1/4 lengths.
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Matareya, the 124-pound highweight, drew the rail for the Test and will be ridden by Flavien Prat.
Hot Peppers, a daughter of Khozan, is 2 for 2 since being switched to trainer Rudy Rodriguez’s barn. She previously raced for Ron Spatz in Florida, even for one race following a private purchase by Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso.
For Rodriguez, Hot Peppers won the Jersey Girl Stakes on June 12 and the Grade 3 Victory Ride, both at Belmont Park. She breaks from post 6 under Luis Saez and 120 pounds.
Also entered in the Test, which goes as race 9, are Sterling Silver, Elm Drive, Wish You Well, November Rein, and Chi Town Lady.
Annapolis stretches out in Saratoga Derby
Trainer Todd Pletcher felt Annapolis would be better served by having one more race before stretching out in distance, which is why he kept that War Front colt out of the Belmont Derby last month. Saturday, he’ll put his theory to the test when Annapolis runs as part of an 11-horse field in the Grade 1, $1 million Saratoga Derby Invitational at 1 3/16 miles.
Annapolis went 2 for 2 last year and had his 3-year-old debut delayed due to an injury that knocked him out of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He debuted in the Penn Mile and was upset as the 1-2 favorite, owing to extremely soft ground at Penn National. Annapolis came back to win the one-mile Manila Stakes at Belmont by a comfortable 2 3/4 lengths on July 4.
Annapolis, who drew post 6, was one of three horses Pletcher entered in the Saratoga Derby. Grand Sonata, who was fourth, beaten, a length, in the Belmont Derby, and Emmanuel, scratched out of the Belmont Derby the morning of the race owing to medication issue, were the others.
Front-running Belmont Derby winner Classic Causeway is back as are Nations Pride and Stone Age, who finished second and third behind him, respectively.
Also entered in the Saratoga Derby were Main Event, Royal Patronage, Stolen Base, Sy Dog, and Ethereal Road.
War Like Goddess tops Glens Falls
War Like Goddess, who last summer won the Glens Falls and Grade 1 Flower Bowl here, will seek a repeat in at least the Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls, for which she figures to be heavily favored on Saturday.
War Like Goddess has only started once this year, that being a 1 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Bewitch at Keeneland in April. She missed the New York Stakes in June due to tying up, a minor physical issue.
War Like Goddess, who is 7 for 9 overall, will break from post 6 as the 124-pound highweight under Joel Rosario in the 1 1/2-mile Glens Falls. She will face Virginia Joy, fourth in the Grade 1 Diana after winning the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay by 14 1/4 lengths, Temple City Terror, Treasure Tails, Key Biscayne, Petricor, and Flanigan’s Cove.
Public Sector supplemented to Lure
Public Sector a winner of two graded stakes here last summer, was supplemented to the $135,000 Lure Stakes at 1 1/16 miles over the Mellon Turf Course.
Public Sector, trained by Chad Brown, won the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, and the Grade 3 Saranac here last summer. He has struggled to find his form this year, going 0 for 3 in stakes company.
Brown also sends out Sifting Sands, who was a two-time winner here last summer including a 28-1 victory in an allowance race and an 8-1 score in the Better Talk Now Stakes.
Also entered in the Lure were 2021 Queen's Plate winner Safe Conduct, multiple stakes winner Somelikeithotbrown, South Bend, T D Dance, and Dynadrive.