SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - After seeing his undefeated filly post a 44.86-second opening half-mile split, Arindel Farm President Brian Cohen admitted to being a bit concerned his homebred filly might have been going just a little too fast on the lead in Sunday’s Grade 3 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga.
“When I saw 44 and 4, I shut my eyes and said just let me know when it’s over,” said Cohen, the son of Arindel owner Alan Cohen.
But in the end, Cohen really had little to be worried about. Mythical cruised to her third one-sided victory in as many starts, by 3 1/4 lengths over Meringue, with the others strung out far behind at the end of the 6 1/2-furlong Adirondack for 2-year-old fillies.
Mythical came into the Adirondack having won her career debut by 8 1/2 lengths going 4 1/2 furlongs on April 17 at Gulfstream Park, and the Tremont Stakes against males by 3 1/2 lengths stretching out to 5 1/2 panels seven weeks later at Aqueduct. She used her blazing speed to lead at every call in both races. And she put that speed to good use again in her graded stakes debut.
With regular rider Emisael Jaramillo aboard again, Mythical ($3.80) broke alertly from post one and sped to the lead along the inside, opening a clear early advantage after posting an opening quarter-mile split of 21.99. She increased her advantage when sharply roused on settling into the stretch, then held sway while kept under vigorous urging to the end.
Meringue raced at the rear of the compact five-horse field down the backstretch, saved ground on the turn, steadied briefly looking to split horses in early stretch, then continued willingly to prove second-best while never menacing the winner. Spa Prospector outlasted the others to finish third, followed by Tiz in Sight and the tiring Angel Gift.
Mythical, a homebred daughter of St Patrick’s Day trained by Jorge Delgado, completed the distance over a fast track in 1:17.20, nearly a second faster than the undefeated Ewing ran 6 1/2 furlongs winning the Saratoga Special here the previous afternoon.
“Training this horse is an unexpected pleasure for me,” Delgado said. “I knew she was special from the first time we breezed her. She was just so fast. We’ve been keeping her at the same pace, but stretching her gallops in the morning as the distance of her races has increased. And she’s a very smart filly. I think she can adjust to whatever she needs to do. Maybe for the seven furlongs we can try to find a way for her to relax more in the beginning of her races. But it’s going to be a tough task.”
Delgado and Cohen both agreed Mythical’s performance in her local debut looked even more impressive when comparing her early splits and final time with what the boys ran in the Saratoga Special over this track the previous afternoon.
“I think the track is a little heavier today than yesterday, yet she still set a faster pace and ran almost a full second faster than the boys,” Delgado said. “And she was down near the inside most of the way. I don’t think I’ve seen another horse win on the rail here yesterday or today.”
Delgado said the seven-furlong Spinaway (Grade 1, August 30) would be “99 percent” the next step for Mythical, although Cohen tempered that thought just a bit. At least for the time being.
“In the back of our heads, of course we’re thinking Spinaway,” Cohen said. “But she ran so hard today, and we’re going to go up in the caliber of horses we’re going to face. We’ll see how she comes out of it first and enjoy this one for now.”
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