Yaddo a clash of Grade 1 winners

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The $150,000 Yaddo for fillies and mares on Sunday at Saratoga will provide an intriguing matchup of Grade 1 winners. The Yaddo, at 1 1/16 miles on turf, is one of six stakes for New York-breds on an 11-race card consisting entirely of races for statebreds.

The principal players are Discreet Marq and Dayatthespa, who are drawn next to each other in posts 6 and 5 in the seven-horse field.

Trainer Chistophe Clement wants to give Discreet Marq, winner of last year's Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, some class relief before moving her back into Grade 1 company. She has been right there at the finish of her three starts this year, all Grade 1's, but has not won.

"We would consider the First Lady at Keeneland for her next if she is doing well," Clement said.

Discreet Marq, a 4-year-old, is a winner of 6 of 16 starts and $915,900. She races for her breeder, Patricia Generazio.

Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup winner Dayatthespa was scratched out of Saturday's Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes by trainer Chad Brown to instead run here. Dayatthespa has started only once this year, finishing second to Filimbi, one of the top choices in Saturday's Ballston Spa.

Dayatthespa, 5, has won 8 of her 15 races and earned $858,892. She is owned by Jerry Frankel, Ronald Frankel, Steve Laymon, and Bradley Thoroughbreds.

Both Discreet Marq and Dayatthespa have good speed, but Dayatthespa has enjoyed considerable success on the lead while Discreet Marq typically takes up a stalking position in her races. When the pair hook up at some point in the race, it will be interesting to see what develops.

It is only fitting that these two class runners meet on Sunday, a card that is intended to showcase the best New York-breds in training.

N.Y. Oaks top trio rematched

The $200,000 Fleet Indian Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile, main-track stakes for 3-year-old fillies, matches the first three finishers from the $75,000 New York Oaks – Flipcup, Alwaysinstilettos, and Storied Lady – against Star Grazing, who has won two straight for trainer Jimmy Jerkens.

The New York Oaks contingent was separated by a neck at the wire of the two-turn, 1 1/16-mile race. Runner-up Alwaysinstilettos set the pace, dug in when challenged by Flipcup, who lodged a strong bid nearing the far turn, but ultimately came up a neck short. Storied Lady chased the top pair for the final three furlongs and was moving best at the wire while beaten a nose for second.

The added one-sixteenth of a mile here may benefit Storied Lady, who is trained by John Hertler. Storied Lady is a daughter of New York-bred Read the Footnotes, who won the Nashua, Remsen, and Fountain of Youth.

“The distance is not going to bother my filly,” Hertler said Friday. “She was flying at the end when we ran her two turns at Finger Lakes. She just ran out of ground.”

Bred and owned by the Tri County Stables of Charlie Goldberg, Storied Lady has also finished second in the Bouwerie and third in a New York Stallion Stakes this year.

Flipcup’s rider may have moved a bit too early in the New York Oaks even though she got up for the win. She has since traveled to Woodbine and finished a close second in a 1 1/16-mile restricted stakes, the Eternal Search.

Star Grazing successfully stretched out from a six-furlong maiden win to take a 1 1/8-mile first-level allowance. Although more lightly raced than Storied Lady or Flipcup, she seems to be rapidly coming into her own.