Spaliday finds another gear, reels in Macanga to win Sands Point

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Entering the far turn of Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point Stakes at Aqueduct, Spaliday was about six lengths off the pace and appeared to have plenty left to do in order to catch the loose-leader Macanga in the turf race for 3-year-old fillies.

“At the three-eighths marker, I was just looking for her to hit the board in this race because I didn’t think she could get there,” Chad Brown, trainer of Spaliday, said.

Gradually advancing in the stretch under Manny Franco, Spaliday seemed to find another gear inside the eighth pole and she reeled in Macanga late to win the Sands Point by a neck. It was two lengths back to favored Style Points, who was forced to check going into the turn.

Mo Fox Givin was fourth followed by Courbe, Justdeny, and Shade of Pale.

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The victory was the third in seven starts, all this year, for Spaliday, a daughter of More Than Ready owned by Peter Brant. Spaliday is out of the dam Dayatthespa, the 2014 champion female turf horse trained by Brown.

Spaliday won the Boiling Springs at Monmouth Park in June and was a late-running fourth behind stablemate Grayosh in the Grade 2 Lake Placid in August at Saratoga. Her closing style was aided by a strong early pace established by Macanga, who went an opening half-mile in 46.77 seconds under Jose Lezcano.

At that point, Spaliday was 12 lengths back, but that didn’t bother Franco.

“I was pleased because I knew the pace was cooking up front,” Franco said. “I was waiting for the moment.”

Franco said he thought Spaliday was going to have an easier time getting past Macanga, who, in her previous races, had displayed this same runaway speed but typically stopped.

“I thought [Macanga] was going to come back a little bit more, but she was tough to go by” Franco said. “I thought my filly was going to pass her because my filly was running.”

Spaliday covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.77 and returned $8.30 as the second choice.

“The runner-up was probably feeling her legs a little bit late and our filly was finding her best stride,” said Brown, who won his sixth Sands Point. “The combination of the two probably got her there.”

Brown said Spaliday is likely to get a break before a 4-year-old campaign in 2025.

Style Points, with jockey Joel Rosario aboard, was the even-money favorite coming off a dead-heat for win in the Virginia Oaks last out. In the Sands Point, she did well to re-rally up the rail after having to check sharply entering the far turn when Justdeny came into her path.

“It didn’t look like I had any horse at that point to keep my spot, they made it a little tight for her, but it didn’t look like she wanted to be there and she sucked herself out of there,” Rosario said. “For a second it looked like she was going to come back and win the race after all that happened, but it was too much to do.”

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