Mythical a hard target to catch in Adirondack
?q=100)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The 2-year-old filly Mythical has hardly taken a deep breath winning her first two starts with a display of speed that has yet to be matched by her competition, be it males or females.
After dispatching of four male rivals – two of whom have already come back to win – in the Tremont Stakes here on June 5, Mythical is back with her own gender in Sunday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga.
There will likely come a distance at which Mythical’s speed may peter out, but trainer Jorge Delgado doesn’t believe it will be the 6 1/2 furlongs she’ll be asked to navigate Sunday.
“The last 25 days of training, sometimes I give her a little more distance in her gallops,” Delgado said. “She’s doing everything excellent. I can’t complain or find any excuses. Distance is not a concern.”
Delgado said owner Brian Cohen, who races under the Arindel banner, chose to run Mythical against males in the Tremont rather than females in the Astoria because he felt the Tremont had less speed in it. Sassy C W was a front-running winner of the Astoria.
“We didn’t want anybody near her in the race,” Delgado said. “We know her speed is her strength, that’s where her potential is.”
There are five fillies entered again Mythical, though trainer Danny Gargan said Iron Orchard, a front-running, 5 1/2-length winner of a maiden, is not definite to run.
Tiz in Sight won her debut at Churchill Downs in a professional manner on June 25. Breaking from the rail, she initially was up on the pace, dropped back to fourth, had to wait for room until midstretch, then tipped three wide. After bumping with a rival to her outside, Tiz in Sight set sail for the two leaders and got up in the final jump.
“She ran a hell of a race,” trainer Mark Casse said. “This is a case where we’re going to let her get her feet under her and come running. We’re certainly not going to chase Mythical.”
Trainer Rodolphe Brisset, who won the Schuylerville Stakes here on July 5 with the maiden Kingsolver, will send out Meringue in the Adirondack. Meringue, a daughter of Frosted, got off to a rough start in her debut, but rallied from last to get up in time to win a five-furlong turf race at Churchill on June 19.
Brisset said he ran Meringue on turf because that was the race that was available when she was ready to run and he felt she would benefit from getting the experience.
“From there we’ve seen a lot of maturation in the morning, and just felt like the timing is right to try the dirt and it’s the right race and we’ve got Flavien [Prat],” Brisset said. “Everything is lined up to give it a try.”
Angel Gift was a four-length debut winner against New York-breds on June 8 for Todd Pletcher, who through Thursday was 7 for 17 with 2-year-olds at the Saratoga meet that began July 10.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.