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Power Squeeze proves best in G1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales

by NYRA Press Office

• Power Squeeze proves best in G1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales
• Grayosh makes the grade in G2 Lake Placid; Briland impresses on debut
• Jonathan’s Way eyes stakes company after impressive Spa debut
• Maker enjoys success with New York-bred Out On Bail, seeks more with My Mane Squeeze, Under Who’s Radar

Lea Farms’ Power Squeeze prevailed in a stretch-drive thriller to secure her third graded win and first at the top-flight in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales, a 1 1/4-mile test for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Jorge Delgado and piloted to victory by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, the Union Rags filly powered home a head winner over Grade 1-winner Candied. Power Squeeze settled in seventh-of-8 in the early running and made an eight-wide move on the turn to swoop past her rivals to get the nod over Candied at the wire.

Delgado said that his filly was full of energy after her top-level score.

“When she came back from the test barn, she was prancing and her tail was moving, her ears were very alert, and she was very proud and happy,” Delgado said. “She ate everything last night, and we’re here with her today, this morning, and she looks just as good as she can look.”

Power Squeeze is no stranger to success after breaking her maiden at third asking in October at Delaware Park in an off-the-turf event. She rattled off three stakes wins to start her sophomore campaign in Florida, dominating the one-mile Cash Run at Gulfstream Park before another convincing win in the Listed Sun Coast at Tampa Bay Downs. She culminated her winter run with her first graded breakthrough in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 30 in which she proved a one-length winner over subsequent Grade 1-winner Ways and Means.

In her next two starts she stepped into Grade 1 company versus the victorious divisional leader Thorpedo Anna when sixth in the Kentucky Oaks on May 3 at Churchill Downs and third in the DK Horse Acorn on June 7 at the Spa. Power Squeeze avoided another clash with Thorpedo Anna when her connections opted to skip the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks here to go back to the site of her maiden breaking score for the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks where she prevailed by a nose over Sidamara.

Power Squeeze has rewarded her connections going from a $90,000 OBS April 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase to a Grade 1 winner having made nearly $900,000 in earnings.

The victory by Power Squeeze also provided Delgado with his first Grade 1 win.

“We are still on cloud nine and I think it is going to be like that for a little while because it is not like we have so many chances to win Grade 1s.” Delgado said, “Starting with claiming horses, you can only dream about situations like this. You never feel them, you can’t even smell them because it is not in your reality. It has been eight years of hard work - 365 days a year and sacrificing a lot of stuff like Christmas and birthdays and weddings to always be with the horses.”

Power Squeeze now boasts a record of 10-6-1-1 with $897,450 in earnings. Another chance to add to her glowing resume and push her to millionaire status awaits in the Grade 1 Cotillion on September 21 at Parx Racing.

“Right now, the plan is to get her back to Monmouth and train to the Cotillion. That has been the plan since the start of the year. We will see after that but most likely the Cotillion will be the last race of the year for her,” Delgado said.

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Grayosh makes the grade in G2 Lake Placid presented by Caesars Sportsbook; Briland impresses on debut

Flanagan Racing’s Grayosh surged through a narrow opening between fading pacesetter Ori and mutuel favorite She Feels Pretty with a furlong to run en route to a narrow neck score in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid presented by Caesars Sportsbook, at Saratoga Race Course.

The victory, engineered out of the inside post by Flavien Prat, provided four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown his fourth straight win in the 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for sophomore fillies and a record-extending sixth overall score following past success with Aspray [2023], Haughty [2022], Technical Analysis [2021], Regal Glory [2019] and Rushing Fall [2018].

“She got a terrific ride. He took advantage of a good post, but she really showed up. She hooked a good horse in the stretch, but she out finished her and yesterday the best horse won,” said Brown, who also sent out third-place Dynamic Pricing and fourth-place Spaliday. “I feel she really earned it. Especially from the sixteenth pole home, she found more.”

Grayosh, who Brown said exited the race in good order, entered the event from a nose defeat to Lake Placid scratch Proctor Street on July 18 here and was making just her second stakes start following a fourth-place finish in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Wonder Again in May at Belmont at the Big A.

Brown noted Grayosh, by Yoshida and out of the stakes-placed Paddy O’Prado mare Rosie O’Prado, could point to the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on October 12 at Keeneland.

Grayosh, a $25,000 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale purchase, has banked $195,700 through a 6-2-1-1 record.

Brown, the current leading trainer at the Spa summer meet, kicked off Sunday’s card in style when Briland posted a determined victory over a muddy main track in a six-furlong maiden special weight for juvenile fillies.

Owned by Gainesway Stable, Bradley Thoroughbreds, Cambron Equine and Alan Northcutt, the McKinzie bay pressed from second position as Rational Theory set splits of 22.64 seconds and 45.97 before taking command at the stretch call en route to a neck score over a troubled-trip Claire’s Charm in a final time of 1:11.04 under Tyler Gaffalione.

“Tyler has been out to work her a couple times and he really liked the horse, so it was a good fit,” Brown said.

Briland became Brown's fourth debuting 2-year-old winner at the meet following Chancer McPatrick, Virgin Colada, and Incentive Pay.

Brown said he has been pleased with the McKinzie progeny thus far, including the impressive Chancer McPatrick, who earned an 81 Beyer Speed Figure for his rallying one-length score on debut here last month.

“He's a promising young sire that's getting good dirt runners and they all act like they want to run longer,” Brown said. “This horse [Briland] has a good future. She's not very big, but she will stretch out. She has a good way about her and I'm excited about her future.

“One thing about them, they're very relaxed horses to train and handle the dirt really good,” Brown added. “They all have a very efficient way of moving which you want with horses that are going to stretch out."

Brown said Briland could point to the one-mile Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette on October 5 at Belmont at the Big A, which offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in November at Del Mar.

Initially purchased for $200,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Briland brought $675,000 at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds-in Training where she breezed in 10 seconds flat.

“Pete Bradley found the horse at the 2-year-old sales and they partnered with Gainesway and I'm really appreciative of the opportunity,” Brown said. “This is a horse that really trained well at the 2-year-old sale and she hasn't missed a beat since she was shipped to us.”

Briland is out of the Speightstown mare Bay Harbor, who is a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Grace Adler and Grade 3-winner Pyrenees. Briland’s third dam, The Hess Express, produced 2009 Grade 1 Whitney winner Bullsbay.

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Jonathan’s Way eyes stakes company after impressive Spa debut

Trainer Phil Bauer has enjoyed a meet to remember this summer at Saratoga Race Course, and continued his run of good form Saturday when the promising Jonathan’s Way debuted a 4 1/4-length winner of Race 1, a six-furlong maiden special weight for juveniles.

Ridden to victory by Hall of Famer Joel Rosario, the son of red-hot freshman sire Vekoma trailed in seventh-of-9 through the first quarter-mile before making a move to circle the field five-wide in the turn to take the lead at the stretch call. He widened his margin down the lane to cross the wire first in a final time of 1:10.40.

Bauer said he was thrilled with the effort from the Ohio-bred dark bay.

“He came back good. We were expecting he’d run well, but when they run that well, it’s kind of eye-opening,” said Bauer. “It makes you start dreaming immediately, so we’ll see what the next couple of weeks bring, but I imagine we’ll try a stake somewhere.”

With Bauer heading back to Churchill Downs at the conclusion of the Spa meet on September 2, likely next targets for Jonathan’s Way include the one-mile Grade 3 Iroquois on September 13 at Churchill or the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on October 5 at Keeneland.

“I think he should be able to handle two turns physically, and the way he ran through the wire yesterday, distance shouldn’t be an issue,” Bauer concluded.

A $290,000 weanling purchase at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Jonathan’s Way is out of the stakes-winning Indian Charlie mare Female Drama. He is a half-brother to the multiple stakes-placed Startdfromdabottom, who coincidentally also won a claiming tilt yesterday at Belterra Park. He is from a line of Reine de Course broodmares with his sixth dam, Golden Trail, being a foundation mare for Darby Dan Farm. Jonathan’s Way hails from the same family as elite racers Memories of Silver, Dynaformer, and Sunshine Forever.

Bauer, who holds an impressive 10-5-1-0 record at the meet heading into Sunday’s card, will hope to carry his success into this week at the Spa as Xigera takes on the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign on Friday, and Angkor is slated to enter Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Forego.

Xigera, a 4-year-old Nyquist dark bay, was last seen finishing a troubled fifth in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis on June 29 at Churchill won by Scylla. Xigera finished second to that same rival two starts back in the Grade 3 Shawnee over the same surface on June 1, her best finish in three outings this year.

Bauer said he is hopeful Xigera can be competitive against the country’s top older females if she returns to the same form that saw her win the Grade 2 Mother Goose at Belmont at the Big A and Grade 3 Falls City at Churchill last fall.

“She’s doing well. It’s a big ask of her, but this was our original plan and we stuck to it,” said Bauer. “I would love to see her return to form here. She’s been such a special horse. It’s one of those things where I don’t know how the race is going to set up since they all have a similar running style, but from the one-hole it will be interesting to work a trip.”

Xigera will exit the inside post in rein to Tyler Gaffalione in a five-horse field that includes reigning Champion Older Dirt Female Idiomatic [post 4, Florent Geroux], dual Grade 1-winner Randomized [post 5, Joel Rosario], three-time graded stakes-winner Raging Sea [post 3, Flavien Prat] and Grade 2-winner Soul of an Angel [post 2, Irad Ortiz, Jr.].

As for Angkor, Bauer added he is looking forward to trying the son of Anchor Down in a graded stake for the first time. The 6-year-old gray enters the Forego from a game runner-up effort in the Listed Kelly’s Landing on June 29 at Churchill and boasts a lifetime record of 23-4-6-6.

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Maker enjoys success with New York-bred Out On Bail, seeks more with My Mane Squeeze, Under Who’s Radar

Entering Sunday, trainer Mike Maker stands second in the trainer standings with 17 wins heading into Sunday’s card at Saratoga Race Course. Four-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown leads with 23 victories, but Maker currently holds an advantage over Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher [15] and fellow enshrine Bill Mott [13].

Maker has enjoyed some success with New York-breds, including a stakes win Friday with Case Chambers, Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher’s Out On Bail in the open $150,000 Skidmore, a 5 1/2 Mellon turf sprint for juveniles over good going. After an intense stretch duel with Jet Sweep Joe, the Tiz the Law gray, bred by Matthew Nestor, won by a head in a final time of 1:05.

“He came back well,” said Maker. “Next could be Colonial, Aqueduct, or Kentucky Downs. It looked like a two-horse race on paper and that is the way it developed. He got the job done.”

The local option is the Grade 3, $175,000 Futurity on October 4 at Belmont at the Big A, which offers a “Win and You’re In” berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in November at Del Mar.

Maker boasts another noteworthy state-bred in the Grade 1-placed My Mane Squeeze. The sophomore Audible filly finished third in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Test presented by Ticketmaster last-out on August 3 here for owners [and breeder] William “Buck” Butler and WinStar Farm.

The winner of the seven-furlong Grade 2 Eight Belles in May at Churchill Downs now turns her attention to that distance once again in Friday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Charles Town Oaks at Charles Town Races.

She drew the outermost post 10 with regular pilot Luis Saez slated to ride.

“She’s pretty tactical. I don’t think the post will be an issue,” Maker said. “She’s run well at two turns. I would say that $750,000 is a pretty salty race, I would think so.”

On a rainy Sunday morning, Maker sent out fellow New York-bred Under Who’s Radar to breeze five furlongs over the Spa main track in 1:02.33. The debut winning Violence 2-year-old colt breezed towards a possible start in next Sunday’s state-bred $200,000 Funny Cide presented by Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, a six-furlong sprint here that Maker captured last year with The Wine Steward.

“That’s possible,” said Maker. “The work was in company with Ms Sedona.”

Outside of New York-breds, Maker has upcoming stakes action with Cathkin Peak, tabbed as the 2-1 morning line favorite in Wednesday’s local $135,000 John’s Call, a 1 5/8-mile turf marathon here.

The Grade 1-placed 6-year-old Alhebayeb gelding was claimed for $80,000 last-out from a seventh going 1 1/16 miles in June at Churchill.

“He looks very good. He’s a horse we’ve been very high on since we got him,” said Maker. “We took him for $80,000 with this race in mind.”

Jose Ortiz will be aboard from post 6.

Also contesting an upcoming turf marathon is Really Good, a last-out closing fourth in the two-mile Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup on June 6 at the Spa. The 4-year-old Hard Spun dark bay is entered in the 1 1/2-mile Cape Henlopen on Wednesday at Delaware Park.

“He looks well. It is a pretty tough race,” Maker said of the 6-1 shot facing Belmont Gold Cup-winner The Grey Wizard again. “He should appreciate the distance so hopefully it doesn’t rain.”