Trainer confident Little Alexis can stretch out in Cotillion

Little Alexis gave a good account of herself when she went from a listed stakes win to a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Test last month at Saratoga. Trainer Carlo Vaccarezza said he believes she will again be competitive when Little Alexis makes her first start around two turns in the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion Stakes going 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Parx.

“She’s bred to go two turns. We’ve been prepping at Gulfstream Park for her to go two turns,” Vaccarezza said. “She was really unlucky in the Test. She got problems from the get-go. She got bumped a couple of times on the backstretch, and then I think Jose [Lezcano] moved too late. If it would have been 7 1/2 furlongs, I think she would have won the race.

“She galloped out beautifully,” Vaccarezza added. “I think she deserves the opportunity. I think she’s a quality filly. We always knew she was going to be a good filly.”

Joel Rosario will ride Little Alexis from post 6.

Vaccarrezza will once again be the listed trainer for Little Alexis after he had to run the filly in trainer Donna Green’s name at Saratoga. Vaccarezza is not licensed in New York and has not applied for a license after having been denied a Standardbred trainer’s license many years ago. Vaccarezza is licensed in Florida and Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, Little Alexis propped while galloping and unseated jockey Jackie Davis near the quarter pole. Little Alexis did not run off, and Davis did get back aboard to finish the training session.

“It felt like she knew what she was doing, like it’s been done before,” Davis said.