Patience pays off as Italian Soiree upsets Coronation Cup in turf sprint debut
?q=100)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Going into Friday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Coronation Cup for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga, Italian Soiree had run seven times, but never in a turf sprint.
“This is what we were waiting to try,” Tonja Terranova, assistant trainer to her husband John said.
It proved well worth the wait as Italian Soiree, under Luis Saez, rallied along the inside in the stretch and outfinished a wide-rallying Laurice, under Junior Alvarado, to win the Coronation Cup by one length at Saratoga. It was a neck back to Abientot in third.
Cloe finished fourth followed by Gata Brazil and Make Haste, the 9-5 favorite who faltered after setting a quick early pace. Spirited Boss scratched.
Italian Soiree, a daughter of Uncle Mo, won her debut sprinting on dirt at Aqueduct on July 4, 2024. Following a well-beaten second in the Grade 3 Adirondack, another dirt sprint, Italian Soiree was stretched out on turf and then later on dirt, with hopes of potentially getting on the Kentucky Oaks trail.
Following a troubled fifth on turf in the one-mile Memories of Silver, and a sixth-place finish sprinting on dirt, the Coronation Cup, at 5 1/2 furlongs, represented the first chance Italian Soiree got to sprint on turf.
The Coronation Cup was the only one of five scheduled turf races on Friday that was run on turf. Heavy rains that came shortly after Thursday’s card ended prompted NYRA officials to move the non-stakes to the dirt.
In the Coronation Cup, Make Haste shot out to the lead but was pressed by Cloe through a quarter in 44.07 seconds. Saez had Italian Soiree in the next flight on the inside of Laurice.
Cloe put Make Haste away in upper stretch and had a clear advantage at the eighth pole. But Italian Soiree came up the fence and took control inside the sixteenth pole. Italian Soiree, a daughter of Uncle Mo owned by Hit the Bid Racing Stable, Morplay Racing and Randall Hartley, covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02.21 over a course labeled good. She returned $31.20 and topped a $1 exacta of $180.75 with fellow 14-1 shot Laurice as the two longest prices on the board finished one-two.
“I was a little worried at the top of the stretch, I didn’t really have anywhere to go, but we found a way and she gave me a good turn of foot,” Saez said.
It’s not exactly clear where Italian Soiree will run next. What is virtually certain, her next start will come in a turf sprint.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.