According to the Internet, Ujjayi is a breathing technique used in yoga that commonly translates as “victorious breath.” In Sunday’s $100,000 Ruthless Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct, Ujjayi had her connections holding their collective breath until deep stretch, where she edged away from 4-5 favorite Miss Imperial to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Miss Imperial, confidently handled by jockey Manny Franco, settled for second, 4 1/2 lengths in front of Dovey Lovey. Takecharge Mirella, Enliven, Sheza Diva, and She’s a Black Belt completed the order of finish. Trainer Erin McClellan said she was somewhat reluctant to ship Ujjayi from Penn National to Aqueduct on Sunday because the filly had only trained one day during the week, owing to inclement weather that had Penn National’s track closed most of the week. That missed training weighed on McClellan as she watched Ujjayi, on the inside under Tyler Conner, slug it out with Miss Imperial down the stretch. “It was on my mind for sure,” McClellan said. McClellan also noticed that Franco was riding Miss Imperial like he had Ujjayi measured. “I wasn’t sure he wasn’t right,” McClellan said. “It looked like [Ujjayi] was getting weary. But she has such a big heart. She wanted it; she just dug in and found what she needed.” Breaking from post 3, Ujjayi was part of an early pace battle that included Sheza Diva and Miss Imperial. Sheza Diva retreated shortly after the opening quarter was run in 23.02 seconds. Miss Imperial hounded Ujjayi through a half-mile in 46.02. Approaching the top of the lane, Franco began to look around to see if anyone was coming. Nobody was, but Ujjayi wasn’t stopping. The two were head-and-head until inside the sixteenth pole, where Ujjayi moved away. Ujjayi, a Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Smarty Jones owned and bred by Thomas Lamarr Wise, covered the seven furlongs in 1:25.18 and returned $13 as the third choice. Conner, a Penn National-based jockey who had never before ridden at Aqueduct, said he thought he’d be sitting third early. When the pace didn’t develop like he thought, he found himself part of it. One thing he was confident of was that his filly would battle through the lane. “I was pretty confident because I know she’s very game,” Conner said. “I wanted to get close to Manny a little bit so she knew she was there, but otherwise, I know she’ll fight the whole way.” Franco, who won three races Sunday for the eighth time in last the 16 Aqueduct cards, tipped his hat to the winner. “When we passed the three-eighths pole, I started picking them up a little bit, and she gave me all she had, but the winner was much the best,” he said. McClellan said that if invited, Ujjayi would be considered for the $250,000 Busher Invitational, a one-turn-mile race here March 9.