Promising cast of 10 take next step in Adirondack

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Brightwork and Becky’s Joker are already stakes winners. Here U Come Again and Copper Em looked like future stakes winners in their debuts.

All four are entered as part of a 10-horse field of intriguing 2-year-old fillies in Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Adirondack Stakes going 6 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga. The 10 fillies have combined to win 11 of 12 starts.

Brightwork, a daughter of Outwork, overcame an awkward break from the rail to win her debut by three lengths in a field of 12 at Keeneland on April 26. Among the fillies she defeated was Crimson Advocate, who not only came back to win the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies at Gulfstream Park but also the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Brightwork returned to beat just three rivals – including 1-4 favorite V V’s Dream in the Debutante at Ellis Park on July 2.

“She had so much to overcome to break that maiden, she wasn’t even ready,” trainer John Ortiz said. “When she did that, we were very impressed. She has heart, fight, and most importantly, ability. She’s going to have to run her best race, but I think she’s only getting better and better each morning on the track.”

Ortiz said the Adirondack was circled on his calendar right after the maiden win. The Debutante was the way to get here.

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Luis Saez rode Brightwork in the Debutante, but he has commitments to ride Sunday at Ellis Park, so Irad Ortiz Jr. has picked up the mount.

Becky’s Joker in her career debut overcame a slow start to win the Grade 3 Schuylerville at 21-1 on opening day of this meet.

Trainer Gary Contessa said immediately afterward that he would point Becky’s Joker to the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sept. 3. But Becky’s Joker has done too well since the Schuylerville to sit this one out, so Contessa suggested to owner Lee Pokoik to reconsider the Adirondack.

“We still have 28 days to the Spinaway if we want to do both,” Contessa said. “I’m a firm believer in running them when they’re good.”

In the Schuylerville, Becky’s Joker broke last under Javier Castellano, sat up close behind a three-ply speed duel, split horses, and won despite drifting out in the lane.

“She went out there and ran like she had two or three starts under her belt,” Contessa said. “That was the one cloudy area that I didn’t know what to expect; you don’t know what to expect from a horse mentally. I knew physically I had a really good horse.”

Saratoga Secret was part of the pace battle in the Schuylerville and finished second, 3 1/2 lengths clear of race the third-place finisher.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who last year won his seventh Adirondack with Naughty Gal, believes his filly will benefit from having had a run over the Saratoga main track.

“I think most people are picking up on the fact that most of our horses second time are a little bit saltier,” Lukas said. “She’s trained super since. I think she’ll run a better race.”

Here U Come Again, a daughter of Liam’s Map trained by Brad Cox, was a visually impressive debut winner of a five-furlong race at Ellis Park on July 7. She prompted the pace, put away the other speed and won by 2 1/4 lengths over the first-time starter Hot Beach, who went off at 3-5. Hot Beach finished 7 1/4 lengths clear of the third-place finisher.

“I was concerned running her five-eighths, if she was quite quick enough, but she showed she obviously has some ability and talent,” Cox said. “I’m not saying she’s a two-turn filly, but I like the idea of her getting more ground.”

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p>Steve Asmussen, a four-time Adirondack winner, sends out Copper Em. A daughter of Copper Bullet, Copper Em broke very sharp from an outside post and, after shrugging off a pace challenge, went on to win by 4 1/2 lengths at Ellis, running five furlongs in 56.87 seconds, just .41 second off a 17-year-old track record.

“She ran fabulous first time out. Obviously she’s very quick,” Asmussen said. “Ellis was definitely playing to her style so it’ll be very interesting to see how she runs from her draw [post 9], which I like, against some extremely talented fillies. She’s trained nicely up here.”

Princesa Celina was a 6 1/2-length debut winner at Belmont in May for trainer Wesley Ward. Princesa Celina is a half-sister to two-time graded stakes winner Happy Like a Fool. Ward is removing blinkers from Princesa Celina despite her win in that equipment on debut.

Magic Cross was an off-the-pace winner of her debut at Belmont. Cara’s Time, Princess Indy, and Streaming Now complete the field.

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