Susie Raisher Photo

Spaliday up in time in G2 Sands Point

by Mary Eddy

Peter Brant’s Spaliday rallied from last early and ran down pacesetter Macanga late in the stretch to win Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point, a nine-furlong inner turf test for sophomore fillies, at Belmont at the Big A.

Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, Spaliday earned her first graded victory on the heels of a fourth in the Grade 2 Lake Placid on August 17 at Saratoga Race Course, and adds to previous stakes success in the Boiling Springs on July 13 at Monmouth Park.

"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,” Brown said. “She really closed good.”

Spaliday exited post 2-of-7 a step slow under Manny Franco and settled at the rear of the field as Macanga sprinted to the front and drew well clear in the first turn, marking an opening quarter-mile in 22.55 seconds over the firm footing.

Courbe tracked in second into the backstretch with Mo Fox Givin battling inside of Style Points for third position before Mo Fox Givin angled out and inched clear to find herself in second position after the half-mile in 46.77.

Franco was patient aboard Spaliday, and coaxed his filly for more approaching the turn as post-time favorite Style Points took up sharply under Hall of Famer Joel Rosario when Courbe and the oncoming Justdeny on the outside closed the gap she was attempting to advance through after three-quarters in 1:11.34.

With Style Points losing considerable ground, Spaliday swept past her troubled rival and made her bid widest of all exiting the turn while a stubborn Macanga dismissed the challenge from Mo Fox Givin and dug in gamely into the stretch. Franco gave a strong hand ride to the sixteenth pole and Spaliday gained with every stride, finding enough in the shadow of the wire with a few left-handed taps of the crop to collar Macanga and win by a neck in a final time of 1:47.47.

Style Points, who was able to find her way to the rail in the stretch, re-rallied for show honors two lengths back of Macanga and three-quarter lengths ahead of the game Mo Fox Givin. Courbe, Justdeny and the Brown-trained Shade of Pale completed the order of finish. Main track-only entrants Audacious and Just Music were scratched.

Franco said he was not concerned with the tardy start from Spaliday.

"She always breaks slow, but I knew that I had a lot of pace ahead of me. So, I didn't panic or nothing. I was pleased where I was,” Franco said. “My filly was traveling well. When the time came, by the three-eighths pole, I asked my filly a little bit to get closer, and she jumped up the pace. After that, I thought the four horse [Macanga] was going to come back a little bit more, but she was tough to go by, but I felt like my filly was going to pass her, because my filly was running."

Brown said he was proud of Spaliday’s effort in the stretch.

"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,” Brown said. “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."

Brown added it is likely Spaliday, who has made seven starts at five different tracks this year, will take the rest of the year off in preparation for a 4-year-old campaign.

"She's put in a lot of miles this season, not only in her races but in her workouts. So, we'll talk to Mr. Brant,” Brown said. “She's already achieved slightly more than we had hoped for this year when we started on her this being a Grade 2 now. It's probably a good time to rest her and see if we can move her up one more class level next year.”

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Spaliday was a $310,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning New York-bred and 2014 Champion Grass Mare Dayatthespa, whom Brown trained to three Grade 1 victories, including the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Spaliday bgivinanked $110,000 in victory while improving her lifetime record to 7-3-0-2. She returned $8.30 for a $2 win ticket.

As for Style Points, Rosario said the trouble in the turn foiled a winning effort from the Christophe Clement trainee.

"It looked like it was a little tight, and she just got out of there at some point,” Rosario explained. “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."

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a nine-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $175,000 Knickerbocker in Race 3. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Belmont at the Big A fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.

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