SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It was at Saratoga last summer where Nitrogen proved she could handle dirt as well, if not better, than turf, and that versatility translated into a championship campaign.  It was at Saratoga late Friday afternoon that Nitrogen, now 4, proved she still prefers dirt – especially Saratoga dirt – as she romped to an impressive 12 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps that could very well kick-start another championship campaign.  Taking command soon after the start under Jose Ortiz, Nitrogen led the Phipps field at each point of call, and despite drifting out seven to eight paths in the stretch, she won in a romp. Her final time of 1:46.93 for 1 1/8 miles was only .29 seconds off the track record set by Lawyer Ron in the 2007 Whitney Stakes, and Nitrogen earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 113 for the extraordinary effort.  Mark Casse, the trainer of Nitrogen, hopes that puts to bed talk about returning Nitrogen to the turf, a surface on which she had won four of eight starts and banked more than $1 million before last summer.  “I just want to officially say I’m tired of everybody saying she doesn’t like the dirt,” Casse said.  :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save big on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Fully Subscribed and Bless the Broken dead-heated for second in the Phipps. Nitrogen paid $4 to win in the six-horse field. Nitrogen had run three times at Oaklawn Park during the winter and spring. She won the Grade 3 Bayakoa, finished third in the Grade 2 Azeri run over a sloppy track, and was second to Claret Beret in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom. Claret Beret, who in March won the Royal Delta at Gulfstream Park, suffered a cardiac event last month in a workout and died.  “I’m sad what happened to her because it could be a nice rivalry,” Ortiz said.  Though Nitrogen has speed, she had only been on the lead once in her career, that being in the Grade 1 Natalma, a turf race in her second start where she finished third.  Looking at the past performances of the Phipps field, Casse told Ortiz when he got to the paddock that Nitrogen could be on the lead.  “I said to him in the paddock ‘I think you’re going to be on the lead. If she breaks running, ‘let’s go for it,’ ” Casse said. “I feel like sometimes we take her back and then she has to make this move.”  Ortiz said he thought Bless the Broken, who broke from the outside under Florent Geroux, might be on the lead in the Phipps, but Nitrogen was simply quicker.  “She broke, I took the position, and [Geroux] sat there,” Ortiz said. "We were rolling, we weren’t walking. The track is fast, I don’t want to fool myself.”  Ortiz said that Nitrogen ran well at Oaklawn “but she doesn’t run as well as she runs here. She’s got a better turn of foot up here than she had at Oaklawn.”  Nitrogen won the off-the-turf Wonder Again by 17 lengths on this card last year and then captured the Grade 1 Alabama, with a second-place finish in the Belmont Oaks on turf in between.  :: Bet the Belmont Stakes with confidence! Betting Strategies by Mike Beer and David Aragona feature exclusive wager recommendations! The big race for older females on dirt here this summer is the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Aug. 29 and that is a likely target for Nitrogen. There will likely be a race in between. The Grade 2, $200,000 Shuvee on July 25 is the prep for the Personal Ensign. Should Casse and owners Len and Jonathan Green of D. J. Stable want to take a swing, there is the Grade 1 Whitney at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 8 where she would likely face a talented group of older dirt males.  The only thing one can be sure of is Nitrogen’s next race won’t come on turf. :: Get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts. Available each race day at Saratoga.