OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The Irish-bred Sandtrap is part of a successful turf family and it looks like she is prepared to carry on the tradition.
A full sister to Grade 1 winner Carl Spackler out of the multiple graded stakes winner Zindaya, Sandtrap returned from an 18-month layoff on Saturday to win a first-level allowance race by 4 1/2 lengths at Aqueduct. She may have earned only an 82 Beyer Speed Figure, but trainer Chad Brown believes there is more to come.
Brown - who trained both Carl Spackler and, at least for part of her career, Zindaya - believes Sandtrap is Grade 1 caliber and plans to give her that opportunity in the Grade 1 Just a Game at Saratoga on June 6. Brown has won eight of the last nine runnings of the Just a Game.
“She’s got a wicked turn of foot, like a good miler,” Brown said. “I had hoped she would perform like this [Saturday] to earn a spot in the Just a Game. This filly doesn’t need to go through her conditions. She’s a Group 1 horse.”
Sandtrap, by Lope de Vega, hadn’t run since Oct. 21, 2024, when she finished second to Gezora in the Group 3 Prix des Reservoirs at Deauville. Gezora would go on to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf last year for Francis-Henri Graffard. Gezora is now with Brown and is expected to make her first start for him in the Grade 3 Modesty Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 1.
Brown said Sandtrap came to him from John O’Connor at Ballylinch Farm in Ireland and was prepared earlier this year in the U.S. by Ian Brennan. Sandtrap races for Bridlewood Farm.
“She came in in mint condition and trained like a dream all winter,” Brown said.
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