By the Moon now a Grade 1 winner at ages 2 and 5

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - By the Moon turned a rare double Saturday at Saratoga by winning the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina. She is now a Grade 1 winner at ages 2 and 5.

Trained throughout her career by Michelle Nevin, By the Moon was precocious enough to win the Grade 1 Frizette in fall 2014 at Belmont Park. She came close to winning Grade 1 races as a 3-year-old and as a 4-year-old, but was denied both times.

In the 2015 Acorn at Belmont Park, By the Moon held a two-length lead entering the final furlong of the one-mile race. She was nailed by a neck in deep stretch by Curalina. In last year's Ballerina, she looked like a winner but ultimately dropped a half-length decision to Haveyougoneaway.

By the Moon benefited Saturday from a beautiful ride by Rajiv Maragh, who sent By the Moon to the lead in the seven-furlong race when nobody else seemed to want it. Maragh slowed the pace on By the Moon and then outfought Highway Star after a stretch-long battle to score by a head.

Samantha Siegel, owner and breeder of By the Moon, admits she was nervous during the stretch run.

"Yesterday was fantastic, especially after last year when it looked like she was home free and got beat," Siegel said. "The year before she got nailed in the Acorn. Two brutal beats. Yesterday, in the stretch, I was thinking, 'Oh no, not again.' But she pinned her ears back and won."

By the Moon is now 7 for 19 in her career with earnings of $1.5 million.

"She is special to me because we raised her and because she was my first Grade 1 winner as a breeder and Michelle's first Grade 1 winner as a trainer," Siegel said.

The Ballerina is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, so By the Moon earned a fees-paid berth in the $1 million Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 4 at Del Mar with her victory. She finished fifth in last year's BC Filly and Mare Sprint.

"We may have brought her to California too early last year," Siegel said.

** Highway Star finished a gallant second in the Ballerina. She attended the early pace outside By the Moon and then fought hard in the stretch but couldn't get by and was beaten a head.

Trainer Rodrigo Ubillo said Highway Star came out of the Ballerina in good shape but that he doesn't have a concrete plan going forward.

"My plan was to win the race yesterday and then come back in the Breeders' Cup," Ubillo said.

Ubillo said one race under consideration for Highway Star is the Grade 2 Presque Isle Masters, a 6 1/2-furlong race over Tapeta on Sept. 18.

"It's a $400,000 race and I don't think the surface will be a problem for her," Ubillo said.

** Paulassilverlining, the 2-1 Ballerina favorite, tracked By the Moon and Highway Star to the stretch but lacked the needed response when asked and finished fifth. She came into the race 3 for 3 on the year with victories in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss, Grade 1 Humana Distaff, and Grade 1 Madison.

"Obviously we're disappointed with her performance," trainer Chad Brown said. "She was boxed in a little, but she's such a good mare I can't really give her an excuse. We'll get her back on the track and come up with a plan for her start."