Motion duo of Blame Debbie, Cat's Pajamas can use speed to their advantage in Lake Placid Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A lack of pace and the lack of a standout should make Sunday’s $150,000 Lake Placid one of the more interesting Grade 2 turf races of the Saratoga season.

The 1 1/8-mile Lake Placid lured a field of eight 3-year-old fillies, including the Graham Motion-trained duo of Blame Debbie and Cat’s Pajamas, both of whom have enough tactical speed to take advantage of a projected slow pace.

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Blame Debbie is the only member of the field with a graded stakes placing, having finished third in the Grade 2 Demoiselle over the main track last fall at Aqueduct. She did not make her turf debut until late this winter, finishing 11th in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa on March 7 before bouncing back last month with a game third-place finish going 1 1/4 miles under first-level allowance conditions against older females on the turf at Belmont Park.

“She ran such a big race at Aqueduct and then we kind of lost our way with her over the winter,” said Motion. “There weren’t really a lot of options for her down there, so we started playing with the idea of putting her on grass. The freshening after the Florida Oaks really helped her and I was very pleased with her last race. Off that, this seemed like the logical place to try her back. She was pretty handy going a mile and one-quarter and I don’t expect she’ll be too far back this time, either.”

The lightly raced Cat’s Pajamas has shown big improvement since switching to turf for her 3-year-old season, posting back-to-back victories on the grass in a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs and then in an entry-level allowance four weeks later at Belmont Park. Both races were at 1 1/16 miles.

“She always impressed us breezing over the synthetic at Fair Hill and I wasn’t surprised with her effort at Churchill Downs,” said Motion. “I was worried bringing her back off such a big race the next time, and the fact she was able to duplicate her previous race against winners was encouraging. And I think she should appreciate the added distance on Sunday.”

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The late-running Stunning Sky is pace dependent, but may go postward the slight choice in the Lake Placid coming off a sixth-place finish, beaten just four lengths, in the Grade 3 Regret at Churchill Downs for which she received a career- and field-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure. Claimed for $50,000 in her 2-year-old finale, Stunning Sky became stakes placed when she rallied to be third in the Honey Ryder this past spring at Gulfstream Park.

Lashara gets a second chance at Cat’s Pajamas after finishing second to her, beaten a half-length, under allowance conditions at Belmont on June 14. She, too, is a lightly raced but much improved since switching to turf.

Queens Embrace is already a five-time winner. Trained by Kathleen O’Connell, she exits an impressive 4 1/2-length triumph over older allowance competition just 16 days earlier at Monmouth Park. Like most of the others in this lineup, she remains a bit of a question mark stretching out to 1 1/8 miles for the first time on Sunday.

Completing the lineup are Speaktomeofsummer, an even fourth racing with blinkers on for the first time in the Grade 3 Wonder Again at Belmont; Florida invader Key Biscayne; and the idled Mirabell Mei.