Nitrogen to remain on dirt as she closes on BC Distaff
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Following her victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, dual-surface graded stakes winner Nitrogen will remain on the dirt for at least the remainder of this year with the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 1 at Del Mar as the year-end goal.
Trainer Mark Casse said he plans to run Nitrogen once before the Distaff, but as of Sunday morning had not yet figured out where that race would be.
“We know what our final target is, we just don’t know how we’re going to get there,” Casse said.
Casse said he probably wouldn’t run Nitrogen in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx Racing on Sept. 20. His other options include the $175,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race at Churchill Downs on Sept. 20, or the Grade 1, $650,000 Spinster Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile race at Keeneland on Oct. 5. The Spinster would mean facing older horses.
“If you go to the Seneca, it gives you six weeks to the Breeders’ Cup versus four weeks,” Casse said.
It also likely means leading her out of her own stall as Nitrogen is expected to ship back to Churchill after the Saratoga meet concludes on Sept. 1.
Nitrogen, who began her 3-year-old campaign with four stakes wins on turf, won her first Grade 1 in the Alabama, stalking the pedestrian pace established by her stablemate La Cara before taking over on the far turn. Nitrogen won despite drifting out in the stretch, something Casse believes she did because she was by herself in the stretch.
“She likes a target, I think the slower pace hurt her a little bit,” Casse said.
Nitrogen, a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro and owned and bred by the D J Stable of Len and Jon Green, improved her record to 6-2-2 from 10 starts but is 2 for 2 on dirt. She previously won the Grade 3 Wonder Again, a race scheduled for the turf that was rained off to a sloppy dirt surface.
Nitrogen earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure for the Alabama win.
Casse said La Cara, who set that slow pace before fading to fourth in the Alabama, was hurt by missing a start in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 20 due to a quarantine that was placed on the barn in which she was stabled due to a suspected case of strangles.
Casse said La Cara, already a two-time Grade 1 winner this year, could be considered for the Cotillion.
Trainer Brad Cox reported that both Good Cheer and Margie’s Intention, the second- and third-place finishers from the Alabama, came out in good order. He has no set plan for either filly.
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