The connections of the 2-year-old filly Meringue entered her in the Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway Stakes on Saturday. A horse named Tommy Jo ran brilliantly and won that race, a tough heat, in a romp. Meringue by that time had left town, and the decision to run Sunday at Kentucky Downs instead of Saturday at Saratoga paid off – big time.
A late surge under Luann Machado and Meringue was up by a head in the Juvenile Fillies, a race, despite lacking a standout like Tommy Jo, that was worth $996,000.
Machado rode his second winner on the card, both for trainer Rodolphe Brisset, who earlier in the week had termed the race choice, Spinaway or Juvenile Fillies, a “no-brainer.”
A decisive victory? Not so much. Red Beretta, a 75-1 shot who raced very wide on the turn, finished second and had just a nose on third-place To a Flame, who split horses in deep stretch while racing about two paths from the fence. In fourth, a mere head behind To a Flame, came Rose Room, who had raced last of 10 much of the one-mile trip before finishing fastest and quickly galloping out past the three who had beaten her.
Soloist, who took the lead with an aggressive mid-race move, tired in the final furlong and checked in fifth, just behind the leading quartet. Loveliest, surprisingly favored at 2-1, failed to reach contention and was seventh, one place behind another filly who took unexpected action, 5-2 second-choice Oscar’s Encore. Oscar’s Encore held the early lead, tracked Soloist from the fence once headed, came under heavy urging into the homestretch and spun her wheels.
Meringue, who paid a very generous $13.20, raced fourth in the early stages, dropped back a couple spots going into the turn, where she became slightly keen partway around, falling as far back as ninth with a little less than three furlongs remaining. Machado guided his mount to the far outside as she picked up momentum into the homestretch, Meringue began passing horses, making the lead in the final half-furlong and just barely holding clear her several close pursuers. Winning time over a firm, very dry course was recorded as 1:34.61.
Meringue campaigns for Elements Racing. She broke from the rail in her debut, a Churchill Downs turf sprint, fell back to last in a bulky field, and looked beat at the furlong grounds before surging to get home. Brisset tried her on dirt at Saratoga and Meringue responded with a solid second in the Adirondack Stakes, a performance good enough to earn her that Spinaway entry.
By Frosted out of Catbrier, by Street Sense, Meringue’s is not an obvious turf pedigree, but obviously she handles turf. New York dirt worked fine, too, but Kentucky grass was much better.
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