Sisterson trying to make Breeders' Cup with Aspen Grove
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Jack Sisterson believes Aspen Grove has the talent to run in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 2 at Del Mar. She’ll likely have to do more to get in that field, but on Thursday she may have taken a first step toward doing that.
Aspen Grove won a second-level allowance race at Saratoga, overcoming a pedestrian pace over soft-ish ground to beat Avenue Niel by a neck. It was Aspen Grove’s first win since she captured the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks in July 2023 when still racing for the European-based trainer James Stack.
In three prior runs for Sisterson in 2024, Aspen Grove finished second, beaten a half-length, in the Grade 2 Hillsborough on March 9 at Tampa Bay Downs; third, beaten a length in the Grade 3 Modesty on May 3 at Churchill Downs; and seventh, beaten five lengths in the Grade 1 New York on June 7 at Saratoga.
“Obviously, we dropped her down in grade just to get her confidence back up,” Sisterson said Friday morning. “I’m probably going to be a bit biased here, but I think she’s been a bit unlucky. In the Hillsborough, they went no pace up front. The Modesty, she got squeezed at the start. I think she ran a better race visually than on paper in the New York here. If you look at the first bend, she got checked pretty hard, got a bit banged up, but she came finishing well.”
Thursday, Sisterson felt Aspen Grove was again compromised by a lack of pace and “Tyler [Gaffalione] rode her perfectly,” he said.
Aspen Grove earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure for the win.
Sisterson will speak with the co-owners, Glen Hill Farm and Coolmore, about where to run Aspen Grove next. The Grade 2, $200,000 Rodeo Drive on Oct. 5 at Santa Anita is one option. The New York Racing Association has not yet released its Belmont at Aqueduct fall stakes schedule, but it will likely offer the Grade 2, $200,000 Waya on or about Oct. 5.
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