SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Nitrogen, the best 3-year-old turf filly in the country, made her bid Saturday to simply be called the best 3-year-old filly in the country.  Sitting second, but at least three paths away from pacesetting stablemate La Cara down the backstretch, Nitrogen took over from La Cara before the quarter pole and, despite drifting out several paths in the stretch under Jose Ortiz, recorded a 1 1/2-length victory over favored Good Cheer in Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga.  Good Cheer, the Kentucky Oaks winner, finished six lengths clear of her Brad Cox-trained stablemate Margie’s Intention. La Cara faded to fourth, followed by Queen Azteca and Kinzie Queen.  Nitrogen won her sixth stakes race of the year and second on dirt. Two starts back, Nitrogen won the off-the-turf Wonder Again Stakes here by 17 lengths over a sloppy track against two rivals. Nitrogen’s lone defeat this year came by a nose to Fionn in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks, in which both fillies ran a course-record time.  :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The Alabama win establishes Nitrogen as the top 3-year-old filly in the country going into the fall. “Now I just have to not screw that up,” Mark Casse, trainer of Nitrogen, said.  Casse held the Alabama in such high regard that he eschewed a trip to Woodbine, where he started the favorite for the King’s Plate, a race he typically attends because he’s usually participating in it.  “This race has always been something special, to win it is unbelievable,” said Casse, whose two runners in the King’s Plate finished ninth and 13th.  Nitrogen, a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, won four turf stakes - three graded  - from March through May. The Wonder Again, on June 7, was a prep for the Belmont Oaks and even when it came off, Casse kept Nitrogen in and she galloped to a 17-length victory.  It was Casse’s intent to always run her in the Alabama, and a July 25 workout over a dry track sealed the deal.  “I was concerned that maybe she just likes the slop and after I breezed her on the [fast] dirt, I have no concerns,” Casse said.  Casse was concerned about his other filly in the Alabama, La Cara. Though she was a two-time Grade 1 winner on dirt, La Cara missed the Coaching Club American Oaks on July 20 because of a quarantine issue in the barn in which she was stabled.  Still, La Cara appeared to have the pace advantage and did get out to a comfortable lead under Dylan Davis, setting fractions of 24.94 for the quarter, 49.90 for the half and 1:13.24 for six furlongs.  Ortiz, on Nitrogen, had his filly right in the race, but he opted to keep her away from La Cara so as not to force the pace and have both go too fast. Ortiz also wanted to give Nitrogen a chance to prove to him she was handling the dirt.  “The main thing for me was getting to the backside and getting her to relax,” Ortiz said. “She took a big, deep breath at the six-furlong pole, I was happy with that. I put her in the four path, then I just have to see if she handled it. I was very careful where I asked her, I didn’t want to make an early move, but when I asked her for the first time she jumped on the bridle. I was very happy with that.”  Nitrogen had a clear lead in the stretch, so her drifting out was not an issue as she covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:03.31 and returned $6.10 as the second choice. Nitrogen is owned by the D J Stables of Len and Jon Green.  “When she gets by herself she tries to get a little bit lost,” Ortiz said. “Luckily, I was clear and nothing happened so I’ll take it.”  Good Cheer, who won her first seven starts before failing to handle the slop in the Acorn, in which she finished fifth behind La Cara, was sitting third. But jockey Luis Saez was already asking her around the far turn and Saez said he didn’t have enough horse in the stretch.  “I don’t have the horse to get there,” Saez said.  Brad Cox, the trainer of Good Cheer, believes the slow pace compromised his filly’s chances.  “Short fields. That’s why horses like this are good in the Kentucky Oaks, you got a big field and today you’re up against it, but she tried hard," Cox said. “I think she showed that she was ready to run. … Our two fillies, they put themselves where they needed to be and it didn’t work out today. I felt [pace] could be an issue coming into today.”  Casse wasn’t sure where Nitrogen would run next, but he’s pretty sure it will be on dirt.  “I doubt she would go back to the grass,” Casse said. “We’re going to enjoy this and figure it out.”  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.