SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Mark Casse had not originally planned on Classic Q going to the lead in the Wild Applause Stakes here earlier this month. But when the field came up void of any early speed, jockey Jose Ortiz called an audible, Classic Q ultimately getting loose on the front end before holding off Play With Fire by a half-length to register her first career stakes win.
While Casse would still prefer to see Classic Q “covered up” during the early stages of her races, a similar pace scenario is likely to unfold once again Saturday at Saratoga when the steadily improving 3-year-old filly returns against Play With Fire and eight other rivals going 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Lake George Stakes.
“I still really want her covered up because I think the best race she ever ran was her win at Churchill Downs” – an entry level allowance against older horses on April 30 – “when she came from off the pace,” Casse said. “But looking over the field, I’m not sure that’s going to happen in this spot either. I’m just going to leave that in Jose’s hands again.”
Although Classic Q, who earned a career-best 87 Beyer Speed Figure for her effort in the Wild Applause, has registered all three of her career victories at one mile, Casse is not concerned in the least about the added distance on Saturday.
“She relaxes and if you watched her last race, they came to her at the wire and then she took off again and ran clear on the gallop-out,” Casse noted. “With her, it’s all about settling and behaving in the paddock.”
Trainer Chad Brown will attempt to add to his record seven Lake George victories when sending out both Play With Fire and stablemate Lavender Disaster, who finished third after prompting Classic Q’s early pace in the Wild Applause. Brown admitted to being a bit concerned the race could play out in similar fashion on Saturday.
“When the weather is dry, the turf tends to get a little speedy, so we’ll have to see,” Brown said when asked how he might approach the race from a strategy standpoint. “Lavender Disaster went early then backed off the pace last time and maybe that emptied her a little bit, although I didn’t mind the trip. But she definitely has the speed to be forwardly placed.”
If Brown has any anxiety at all regarding Play With Fire, who won the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico during the spring, it’s the fact she’s drawn on the extreme outside in the bulky field.
“She definitely has a post issue and we’re going to have to navigate through that,” Brown said. “It’s really a pretty evenly matched group and ultimately the trips could be the deciding factor.”
Unlike Classic Q, both Play With Fire and Lavender Disaster have already won at this distance. Both captured their career debuts at this distance as 2-year-olds, the former at the Fair Grounds, the latter against maiden special weight opposition a couple of months earlier at Aqueduct.
The multiple stakes-placed Pretty Lavish will seek to avenge her second-place finish when beaten a length by Play With Fire in the Hilltop in the pair’s first encounter. She was also second best six weeks later in the Boiling Springs at Monmouth Park.
Princess Attitude is another in the well-matched lineup holding her form nicely at the present time, with a pair of stakes placings of her own since winning her maiden at Keeneland on April 24. Princess Attitude edged to a clear lead in early stretch of the Hilltop before settling for third money behind Play With Fire and Pretty Lavish.
Aterradora, fourth in a pair of graded stakes at Churchill Downs in her last two starts; Daisy Flyer, idle since beaten just a neck in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream Park on March 1; Pookie, Good Long Cry; and Reigning Flowers round out the field. Kay Cup is entered for the main track only.
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