By Joe Bianca
In the opener on a sleepy June Friday at Laurel, juvenile debutante Shippy (Midshipman) created significant buzz with a dominant victory in near track-record time. Privately purchased and transferred to the Doug O'Neill barn since, she heads north to Saratoga as the favorite in Thursday's opening day feature, the GIII Schuylerville S.
Showing an array of sizzling breezes leading up to her five-furlong June 14 bow, the $77,000 OBS March buy was no secret, hammered down to 2-5, and ran to the money with a 10 3/4-length romp in :56.83 for Joseph Besecker and trainer Timothy Kreiser. Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and R A Hill Stables won a likely fevered bidding war for the filly after the race, and she's breezed once, a half-mile in :48.45 (5/25) July 5 at Belmont, for this New York debut. The 87 Beyer she earned is tops in this field by double digits, but the dark bay drew the tricky rail and figures to face a lot of pace pressure if sent to the front by Jose Ortiz.
Shippy is just half of a potent one-two punch for O'Neill, however, and 'TDN Rising Star' Comical (Into Mischief) stands a big chance as well under Javier Castellano. Unveiled May 26 at Santa Anita, the $100,000 Keeneland September pickup survived an early duel and showed an impressive turn of foot in the stretch, drawing clear to a six-length rout before galloping out even further ahead. Bought into by Gary Barber in the interim, she's worked five times, capped by a half-mile move in :48.77 (7/25) July 5 at Big Sandy.
“Both fillies are doing really well. With Shippy, we just took over her training, so we don't know that much about her, other than her debut was super impressive,” O'Neill told the NYRA notes team. “Comical has been pointed to this race for a while. She's been training really well coming into it. We have two nice fillies and two top riders. I'm optimistic for both.”
Wesley Ward brings a 'Rising Star' to the party as well in Aurelia Garland (Constitution). Debuting as a 3-4 favorite May 2 at Belmont, the $185,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga purchase cruised to a five-length success. She tuned up with an easy three-furlong breeze over the local main track in :38 3/5 (4/5) July 5.
Todd Pletcher saddles a pair as he looks for his seventh Schuylerville success in Three Diamonds Farm's Kiss the Girl (Into Mischief) and Suzanne and Michael Masters' Integral (Algorithms), two daylight winners on debut who would likely have to take a significant leap forward to repeat here. A potential live longshot is CTR Stables' Lady Fatima (Bodemeister), who finished fast to graduate on turf May 23 at Belmont and could benefit from an anticipated hot pace.
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