SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Gary Contessa didn’t pull off a Grade 1 stakes surprise this summer at Saratoga like he did last year, but he may try to do something similar at Aqueduct.
Another Cleeshay, a New York-bred filly who won her debut by 9 1/2 lengths on Friday, will be pointed to the Grade 1 Frizette on Oct. 5 at Aqueduct, Contessa said.
“She might be a New York-bred stakes horse, she might be a Frizette horse, so I’m going to take the shot and go to the Frizette,” Contessa said Monday. “You know I like to shoot high.”
Another Cleeshay, a daughter of Volatile, broke slowly from the rail in her debut, but quickly caught up to set the pace under Junior Alvarado and left her rivals turning for home. She ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:18.34 and earned a 69 Beyer Speed Figure.
“The most amazing thing about her is I’d work her [a half-mile] in 47 and she’d gallop out [another quarter] in 24 flat,” Contessa said. “We never seem to be able to get to the bottom of that filly, so the further she goes the better she gets. I wasn’t surprised that she broke so slow and she still scooted away at the top of the stretch, that’s the type of filly she is.”
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Meanwhile, Contessa said that Nutella Fella, last year’s upset Hopeful winner, will have a CT scan done Sept. 15 on his hind ankle to determine if he can be put back in training. He has been dealing with bone bruising in a hind ankle since his third-place finish in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens on June 8 at Saratoga.
Nutella Fella won the Hopeful at 54-1 on closing day of the 2023 Saratoga meet before having to go the sidelines with the same bone bruising injury.
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