Lawrence Goichman's homebred Scythian inherited the lead when pacesetting Marvelous Madison (Caravaggio)–also owned and bred by Goichman–bolted on the far turn approaching the stretch and strode home unchallenged to the wire in the GIII Miss Grillo Stakes at Aqueduct Sunday. The victory gave freshman sire Tiz the Law his second graded winner pf the weekend and Scythian a fees-paid berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Marvelous Madison, breaking from the far outside in the field of 12, rushed up and over to take the early lead, while Scythian was squeezed back between foes and settled into fourth heading into the first turn. Marvelous Madison was clear while setting fractions of :23:26 and :48.71. Grace and Grit (Munnings) was moving up to challenge the pacesetter, with Lavender Disaster (Into Mischief) winding up just to her outside. Both rivals were taken out to the center of the course as Marvelous Madison blew the turn, leaving Scythian a clear path to the lead entering the straight. Scythian skipped clear in upper stretch and was easily in front to the wire.
“She ran great,” said winning rider Junior Alvarado. “I was where I wanted to be. I got to save ground right away coming into the first turn and the second turn, I was still saving enough ground. If I had to go inside or outside, I knew I already had saved plenty for me to have enough horse at the end.”
Alvarado admitted he was watching Manny Franco aboard Marvelous Madison and said it looked like the pacesetter might be set to cause problems.
“I was just looking at Manny,” Alvarado said. “Manny's filly was looking like she wanted to bolt from past the three-eighths pole. So, I was just trying to figure it out–I've got horse, where do I go? Is he going to pull her back inside or is she going to bolt? Knowing I had plenty of horse to make my move whenever I wanted to, it gave me a chance to wait a little longer. When that happened, that's when I zoomed in the inside and she took off after that.”
Scythian, runner-up in her six-furlong unveiling over the main track Aug. 4, just got her head in front on the line while facing New York-bred colts going 1 1/16 miles over the lawn at Saratoga Aug. 30.
“She beat the boys last time and she was 11-1 today–you don't have to put me favorite, but I thought she was very live going against the fillies,” Alvarado said.
Pedigree Notes:
Scythian is the fourth stakes winner for freshman sire Tiz the Law (Constitution) and his second graded winner following Non Compliant's win in Saturday's GII Oak Leaf Stakes, a Win and You're In event for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Three of the stallion's stakes winners have come on the turf. In addition to Scythian, the Belmont Stakes winner is also the sire of Skidmore Stakes winner Out on Bail and Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile Stakes winner Tiztastic. Out on Bail was a late-closing second in the Indian Summer Stakes at Keeneland Sunday.
Goichman homebred Dean Henry, a half-sister to multiple graded winner Read the Footnotes (Smoke Glacken), won the 2009 Saratoga Dew Stakes. She has a yearling colt by Tacitus and was bred to Jack Christopher this year.
Sunday, Belmont At The Big A
MISS GRILLO S.-GII, $200,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-6, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:42.68, fm.
1–SCYTHIAN, 120, f, 2, by Tiz the Law
1st Dam: Dean Henry (SW, $121,287),
by Empire Maker
2nd Dam: Baydon Belle, by Al Nasr (Fr)
3rd Dam: Vague Prospect, by Vaguely Noble
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Lawrence Goichman (NY); T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $110,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $177,500. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Virgin Colada, 120, f, 2, More Than Ready–Episcopal, by Carpe Diem. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($275,000 RNA Ylg '23 FTSAUG; $110,000 Ylg '23 FTKOCT). O-Resolute Racing; B-Fred Hertrich III & John D. Fielding (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $40,000.
3–Correto, 120, f, 2, English Channel–Spooky Kitten, by Kitten's Joy. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-H. Graham Motion. $24,000.
Margins: 2HF, HD, 1. Odds: 11.10, 2.35, 8.10.
Also Ran: She's Got Will, Rare Art, Shifty, Annie Goodbody, Salt, Daisy Flyer, Grace and Grit, Marvelous Madison, Lavender Disaster.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
A #NYbred by the Empire State's own Tiz the Law just stamped her ticket to the @BreedersCup! Scythian, a homebred for Lawrence Goichman, springs the upset in the G2 Miss Grillo beneath @JuniorandKellyA for Mott. pic.twitter.com/YCHbQ7ELpJ
— NYTB (@nytbreeders) October 6, 2024
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