Saratoga Special ready to show her best in Daisycutter Handicap

DEL MAR, Calif. – The long-term significance of the Daisycutter Handicap is dubious, but for bettors, the short-term appeal of the filly-mare turf sprint is certain.

Every summer at Del Mar, the $100,000 Daisycutter offers horseplayers a reliable opportunity to beat the chalk. Favorites have won only one of the last 12 Daisycutter editions, a streak that top-weighted Amorita or Saratoga Special could resolve Saturday in race 9.

Ten are entered in the five-furlong Daisycutter. They include Grade 3 winner Princesa Moche, Grade 3-placed Lee’s Baby Girl, longshot late-runner Imaboutago, and Grade 3-placed Amorita. Stakes winner Saratoga Special might be the right choice returning to a sprint. Hopefully, this year’s Daisycutter winner finds better fortune than past winners.

Is the Daisycutter cursed? Seems like it. The last three winners (Amy C, Connie Swingle, Pushiness) never ran again. The previous eight winners, 2015 to 2022, never won again. Historical babble aside, the 2026 Daisycutter offers Saratoga Special a chance to right the ship.

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Saratoga Special won a stakes in England before being purchased at auction for a reported $431,338. Her U.S. debut for trainer Richard Baltas was a promising second in a restricted turf sprint stakes in February at Santa Anita. Things went south in her next two starts, with excuses.

She pressed the pace and cracked in the Grade 2 Giant’s Causeway at Keeneland. “She had a little foot issue coming out of the race, I don’t know if it was bugging her in the race,” Baltas said. “The inside quarter was a little sore in the foot.”

Saratoga Special stayed in Kentucky, recovered from the foot issue, and Baltas stretched her to two turns. She set the pace and stopped.

“I don’t think she wants to go the mile; that was an experiment,” Baltas said. “She’s definitely a sprinter, and looks like a sprinter.”

Saratoga Special has trained well since her route try in May, and benefits from the distance cutback. If she runs as well Saturday as her U.S. debut, she can win the Daisycutter with a forwardly placed trip saving ground from the rail under Joel Rosario.

Amorita carries top weight of 121 pounds and will be among the pacesetters in a field with at least five front-runners/pressers. Amorita finished behind Saratoga Special when fourth in February, then followed up with a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Monrovia at Santa Anita.

Saturday is the first start for Amorita since May, when she was unplaced in a stakes race at Santa Anita. Trainer Richard Mandella acknowledged the five-furlong distance is shorter than preferred, but he is optimistic about her recent training.

“Wish it was a little farther, but that’s all we got,” Mandella said. “She is fast. I think she’s as good as she could be.”

Amorita, whose rider is Antonio Fresu, worked a half-mile last week in a blazing 46.60 seconds.

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The bomb is Imaboutago, fourth as favorite in last year’s Daisycutter. Late-runner Imaboutago was compromised by the race shape last out when she rallied from last to fourth in a race dominated by three front-runners. The pace of the Daisycutter should be fast with front-runners including Amorita, Bit’s Tiger Magic, Tahini, Princess Moche, and Saratoga Special.

Leonard Powell trains Imaboutago, whose rider is Armando Ayuso. Princesa Moche, a Grade 3 winner in January, tailed off in spring but returns Saturday from a two-month freshening for trainer Doug O’Neill. Joe Bravo rides Princesa Moche.

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