Moonage Daydream triumphs in Yaddo Stakes as trainer Abreu's frustration ends
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - One fantastic day made up for six weeks of frustration this summer for trainer Jorge Abreu, who won three races on Saratoga's New York Showcase Day program on Sunday capped by a 13-1 upset recorded by Moonage Daydream in the $200,000 Yaddo Stakes.
Abreu, who entered Sunday’s 34th card at Saratoga with one win and seven seconds from 20 starters, also won an allowance race on dirt with Silver Satin and an allowance race on the turf with Busy Morning. From seven runners on the card, Abreu had three wins, three seventh-place finishes and a 10th.
“We’ve been frustrated early on with off-the-turf and a lot of horses finishing second,” Abreu said. “I was just waiting for things to turn around.”
Moonage Daydream, coming out of a fourth-place finish in the Perfect Sting Stakes at Aqueduct on July 4, stalked Abreu’s other runner in the field, Venti Valentine, through six furlongs in 1:13.85. Under Jose Ortiz, Moonage Daydream took over nearing the quarter pole and was never seriously threatened in the lane as she finished 1 1/4 lengths clear of Marvelous Maude. It was a neck back to Whatlovelookslike.
This was the farthest Moonage Daydream had run, but Abreu said he was encouraged she could get the distance after getting beat just 1 3/4 lengths in the one-mile Perfect Sting.
“When she ran at Aqueduct she made the lead and she got a little tired towards the end and Jose told me you just got to try and relax her a little bit,” Abreu said. “I told Jose whatever you do, don’t make the lead with this filly, I don’t care if you have to stand up in the stirrups, do not make the lead and he did a good job.”
Ortiz, who earlier on the card won the Seeking the Ante Stakes on the Steve Asmussen-trained Accelerating, said it was not easy to get Moonage Daydream off horses early on.
“I had to wrestle with her in the first turn to take her back, but I did take her back. She settled on the backside. Three-eighths pole, I was traveling really well and I was very confident.”
Moonage Daydream, a daughter of Candy Ride, owned by Chris Larsen, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.71 and returned $29 to win.
West Point
Jockey Dylan Davis engineered one of the bigger upsets of Sunday’s six stakes when he rallied Dakota Gold to a nose victory over heavily favored Spirit of St Louis in the $200,000 West Point Handicap. It was a length back to City Man in third.
Davis felt he had gotten Dakota Gold into the clear a little later than he wanted in last month’s Hudson Valley Stakes when Spirit of St Louis beat him by three lengths.
On Sunday, Davis had Dakota Gold last of five early, but he was able to put Dakota Gold outside and into the clear before turning for home and the 5-year-old gelding responded with a strong late run to give trainer Danny Gargan his first win of the meet.
“It’s been some bad beats, we run a few young horses, we’re just trying to get them started,” Gargan said of his meet. “To win another stakes race at Saratoga, it’s the [third] straight year we won a stakes at Saratoga … It’s not like we got a big stable, we’re just proud of what we got done.”
It was the fourth straight year that Dakota Gold has won a stakes. Sunday was Dakota Gold’s first win since he took the Hudson Valley at Belmont Park on July 3, 2023.
“The main focus was to get him running and into the clear and he was able to run down St Louis,” Davis said.
Spirit of St Louis was the heavy favorite based on having won five consecutive stakes, during which he beat Dakota Gold three straight times. Those wins led to Spirit of St Louis being the 126-pound highweight in the West Point, spotting six pounds to the winner.
“They finally created a weight spread that allowed a horse to come get him, that was the difference,” said Chad Brown, trainer of Spirit of St Louis.
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