Spaliday came running late to annex the GII Sands Point Stakes at Aqueduct Saturday. The 3-1 shot lost contact with the field, trailing a strung-out bunch as Macanga led by some six lengths down the backstretch. Spaliday made rapid progress on the far turn and rallied powerfully in deep stretch to just edge the pacesetter for her first graded stakes score.
“Around the three-eighths marker, I was looking to see if she could hit the board in this race because I didn't think she could get there,” said winning trainer Chad Brown. “I wasn't sure if the runner-up was getting tired or if we were really flying through the lane–it was probably a combination of both. The runner-up was probably feeling her legs a little bit late and our filly was finding her best stride. The combination between the two got her there.”
Even-money favorite Style Points was forced to check hard behind foes entering the far turn and was next to last at the top of the lane. She scooted to the rail and skimmed the fence to get up for third.
“It looked like it was a little tight, and she just got out of there at some point,” said Joel Rosario, aboard the beaten favorite. “She didn't like to be in the tight spot a little bit. It was a little bit of a difficult time with her there, but we learned something for next time. She did come with a run. I felt like with a good trip, she would've been right there.”
Spaliday is now two-for-two over the Aqueduct turf course, where she broke her maiden in her third lifetime start May 4. She rallied to take the Boiling Springs Stakes at Monmouth Park July 13 and was a creditable fourth in the Aug. 17 GII Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga last time out.
Of potential next starts for the winner, Brown said, “She's put in a lot of miles this season, not only in her races, but in her workouts. So, we'll talk to [owner] Mr. [Peter] Brant. She's already achieved slightly more than we had hoped for this year when we started on her, this being a Grade II now. It's probably a good time to rest her and see if we can move her up one more class level next year.”
Pedigree Notes:
Spaliday is the first graded winner out of champion Dayatthespa, who also produced Tenbury Wells (Medaglia d'Oro), third in the G3 Jebel Ali Mile. The 15-year-old mare, purchased by Stonestreet for $2.1 million at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November sale, has a yearling colt by American Pharoah who sold for $60,000 at last month's Keeneland September sale. She was bred to Golden Pal this year.
Spaliday is the 107th worldwide graded winner for her late sire, More Than Ready.
SPALIDAY rallies to get the win in the Grade 2 Sands Point Stakes under @jockeyfranco for trainer Chad Brown. pic.twitter.com/kQ6Qjh2zlP
— NYRA (🌳) (@TheNYRA) October 12, 2024
Saturday, Belmont The Big A
SANDS POINT S.-GII, $200,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-12, 3yo, f, 1 1/8mT, 1:47.47, fm.
1–SPALIDAY, 118, f, 3, by More Than Ready
1st Dam: Dayatthespa (Ch. Grass Mare, MGISW-USA,
GSP-Can, $2,288,892), by City Zip
2nd Dam: M'Lady Doc, by Doc's Leader
3rd Dam: Smart Queen, by King Pellinore
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($310,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Peter
Brant; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown;
J-Manuel Franco. $110,000. Lifetime Record:
7-3-0-2, $253,525. *1/2 to Tenbury Wells (Medaglia d'Oro),
GSP-UAE, $115,812. Werk Nick Rating: D.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Macanga, 118, f, 3, American Pharoah–Highway Mary,
by U S Ranger. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($150,000 2yo '23
EASMAY). O-Imaginary Stables and Mark Barnhart; B-Fred W.
Hertrich (KY); T-Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. $40,000.
3–Style Points, 118, f, 3, Oscar Performance–Mystical Star,
by Ghostzapper. O-Cheyenne Stable LLC; B-Candy Meadows
LLC (KY); T-Christophe Clement. $24,000.
Margins: NK, 2, 3/4. Odds: 3.15, 6.10, 1.15.
Also Ran: Mo Fox Givin, Courbe, Justdeny, Shade of Pale. Scratched: Audacious, Just Music.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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