Susie Raisher Photo

McKulick tops field for G2 Flower Bowl

by Mary Eddy

Klaravich Stables’ multiple graded stakes-winner McKulick will look to secure her seventh graded stakes conquest in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl, a 1 3/8-mile inner turf marathon for older fillies and mares, at Saratoga Race Course.

The Flower Bowl provides a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Del Mar.

Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, McKulick vies to double up on graded wins after a last-out 2 1/4-length repeat win in the Grade 2 Glens Falls going 1 1/2 miles on August 1 here. The 5-year-old Frankel mare stalked and pounced under a well-timed ride by Irad Ortiz, Jr. to sweep by rivals in the turn and draw clear to victory in the lane well ahead of returning foe Parnac. She was awarded a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

Brown said McKulick relished the three-turn configuration of the Glens Falls, which she will see again in the Flower Bowl.

“It’s her preferred style of running, we’ve learned,” Brown said. “She’s done pretty well and lost her way with a couple starts, but all-in-all, she seems to be in good form again.”

The Glens Falls was the bay’s first win since a half-length score in the Grade 3 Orchid in March at Gulfstream Park. She then finished off-the-board in the Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay at Belmont at the Big A and the Grade 1 New York presented by Rivers Casino here, but returned with aplomb to annex the Glens Falls in her first start at the Spa since a runner-up finish to Parnac in this event last year.

The consistent McKulick boasts a career record of 18-7-5-2 that includes a Grade 1 triumph as a sophomore in the Belmont Oaks Invitational, as well as a 5-for-6 in-the-money record at Saratoga. She has banked in excess of $1.8 million, making her well worth her purchase price of just over $245,000 out of Book 1 of the 2020 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Ortiz, Jr. retains the mount from post 7.

On August 23, McKulick worked five furlongs in 1:02.65 over Saratoga’s Oklahoma turf training track in company with Klaravich Stables’ Idea Generation, who is also entered in the Flower Bowl for Brown.

The Dubawi 4-year-old seeks her first victory against winners and arrives from a closing fifth in a local allowance on July 25 here. She debuted with a nose second in a maiden special weight in July 2022 at the Spa that was declared a non-wagering event, and went on to graduate at third asking by 1 3/4 lengths going 1 1/16 miles at Aqueduct Racetrack. Since then, she has finished second twice in four outings, including in the Grade 3 Waya behind McKulick in October at the Big A over yielding footing.

“The first start didn’t go to plan and she didn’t get to the front,” Brown said of the filly’s last out effort. “Hopefully she’ll be more forward in this race.”

Florent Geroux will have the call from post 8.

George Krikorian’s multiple Grade 1-winner War Like Goddess [post 1, Junior Alvarado] contests her third Flower Bowl after a win in 2021 [then a Grade 1] and a runner-up finish in 2022.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the 7-year-old English Channel mare was last seen posting a one-length victory in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial on July 7 at Delaware Park, pouncing from four lengths off the pace under returning rider Junior Alvarado to drive past Chop Chop and earn her 10th career graded score.

“Last time, she won very nice there and Bill gave her good time between races. She should be sitting on a good run,” Alvarado said, “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a perfect distance and she seems to be training well.”

Alvarado has been aboard War Like Goddess for her last four outings, including the Robert Dick and a title defense in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in October at Belmont at the Big A where the mare defeated male rivals for the second consecutive year. Jose Lezcano was aboard for her win in 2022.

“It’s got to be her way, or her way,” Alvarado said, with a laugh. “You just have to stay out of her way and don’t try to make her do something you’ll regret. A couple jumps out of there, don’t rush her to try to move on her. That first sixteenth of a mile, she’ll do what she wants to do, and then come back to you and relax. She switches leads at the half-mile pole and knows when it’s time to start picking it up.”

In addition to her three Grade 1 wins, War Like Goddess also finished a narrow third in the 2021 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, and posted the same result in the 2022 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf against males. She finished seventh in the latter event again in November, and was away from the races until a third in the Grade 1 New York in June here.

Conditioner Christophe Clement seeks a repeat win in this event with Parnac [post 3, Dylan Davis], and has a second chance with LSU Stables’ La Mehana [post 2, Luis Saez].

West Point Thoroughbreds and Dream With Me Stable’s Parnac was a last-out second to McKulick in the Glens Falls after stalking the pace and swinging three-wide under returning rider Dylan Davis to come within three-quarter-lengths of the lead at the stretch call, but settled for second as McKulick drew away from the field.

The 5-year-old Zarak mare captured last year’s Flower Bowl in an upset victory over McKulick as the highlight of her five-start campaign, which also included a close third in the Robert Dick won by Sopran Basilea. This year, she has made just two starts, beginning with a fifth in the Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay in May at Belmont at the Big A.

La Mehana seeks her first American victory in her fourth attempt after notching three stakes wins in 2022-23 in her native France when in the care of conditioner Jean-Claude Rouget. In her three starts for Clement, she finished a close third to McKulick in the Orchid and was bested by a head in the Sheepshead Bay to finish third in a three-way photo finish ahead of a last-out fifth in the Robert Dick.

LSU Stables and Clement look to keep their momentum rolling after they teamed up to win the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer with Far Bridge on August 24 here.

Godolphin’s Irish homebred Eternal Hope [post 4, Manny Franco] seeks her third stateside graded victory for conditioner Charlie Appleby off a prominent fourth-place finish in the Glens Falls.

The 4-year-old Teofilo chestnut attended the pace set by Royalty Interest in the Glens Falls, but faltered when asked for more in the lane and was defeated 3 3/4 lengths. The effort was her first this year after winning the Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Jockey Club Oaks and Grade 2 Sands Point last fall at Belmont at the Big A, both over returning rival Neecie Marie.

Completing the field are the Grade 1-placed Butch Reid, Jr.-trained Neecie Marie [post 6, Jose Lezcano], dual Grade 3-winner Millie Girl [post 5, Javier Castellano] for trainer Catherine Day Phillips, and the European stakes-winner Verbier [post 9, Edward Greatrex] for trainer Ralph Beckett.

Movie Moxy and Amanda’s Folly have been entered for the main track-only.

The Flower Bowl is slated as Race 12 on Saturday’s 13-race card, which co-features the Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway in Race 11 and the Grade 3, $200,000 Prioress in Race 10. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern. Admission gates open at 10:30 a.m.

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