Mrs McDougal goes wide to win Lake George

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With Lady Eli fighting the good fight against laminitis at Belmont Park, trainer Chad Brown will need one of his plethora of other 3-year-old fillies to step up and fill those shoes for the major races in the division later this year.

On Friday, opening day at Saratoga, Mrs McDougal answered the call, overcoming a wide trip under Irad Ortiz Jr. with a strong late kick to win the Grade 2, $200,000 Lake George Stakes by a half-length over the pacesetting Feathered. It was a nose farther back to pace prompter Cara Marie in third.

Partisan Politics, another Brown trainee, finished fourth as the 2-1 favorite. She was followed by All in Fun, Jellicle Ball, Mississippi Delta, Robillard and Sivoliere, also trained by Brown. Celestine, My Year Is a Day, and Lady Zuzu scratched.

Brown was not going to run Lady Eli, the undefeated winner of the Belmont Oaks, in the Lake George. But he was looking at races like the Lake Placid on Aug. 14 and the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland in October for that filly.

Mrs McDougal, a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro owned by William Warren, was coming off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 American Oaks at 1 1/4 miles. Shortening up to 1 1/16 miles was a good thing.

Even though she moved from post 9 to post 6, Mrs McDougal was hung wide throughout the race while Feathered set a pace of 24.95 seconds for the quarter and 49.02 for the half-mile.

Ortiz had to spin five wide in the stretch, but when he asked Mrs McDougal to run, she kicked and was able to rally by Feathered, the 123-pound highweight. Mrs McDougal, who carried 117 pounds, covered the 1 1/16 miles over firm turf in 1:41.52 and returned $11 as the third betting choice.

“Eli was clearly the leader of the division,” Brown said. “With her out of commission the rest of this year, it’s probably up for grabs who’s next in line to maybe take control or be the best 3-year-old turf filly from what’s remaining.”

Noting how wide Mrs McDougal was, Brown said, “She ran huge. She was wide the whole way and still had enough. She was giving us every indication in the morning she was sitting on a big, big race.”

Brown, the runner-up to Todd Pletcher in the trainer standings the last three years at Saratoga, won two races on the opening-day card.

“As much planning as you do, and you can have as many horses as you want, and however good they are, Saratoga’s tough for anybody,” Brown said. “We don’t take any win for granted. To start with two wins opening day is huge.”