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St. John's River brings Leggio back to Saratoga
Leggio's memories of his first visit to Saratoga are bittersweet. While Happy Ticket ran away from her competition in the Ballerina, Hurricane Katrina, with all her devastating force, bore down on the Gulf Coast. "That shot us down really quick," Leggio said of his brief euphoria upon winning the Ballerina. "Katrina was a bad storm. Two of our kids, including my son-in-law, were down in New Orleans and two were with me. "It took us 24 hours to get back to New Orleans. They kept delaying our flight at the airport. When I got home, I didn't have much damage -- shingles were blown off and a fence was down -- but my son, Nick, who lives next door to me, had a big, old tree fall right on his roof." Leggio continued to win steadily after Happy Ticket retired, but rarely outside of Louisiana until the arrival of St. John's River. In 2007, Kentucky-based breeder Dede McGehee was searching for a trainer for a three-year-old Louisiana-bred named Brigtsen, "and I asked around and the same name kept coming up," she said, referring to Leggio. The horse wound up only making one start, but a partnership was born. Several years earlier, McGehee had purchased the mare Adventurous Di (Private Account) in foal to Include. She was carrying eventual millionaire Panty Raid, whom McGehee sold. She later bred the mare back to Include, hoping to strike twice with the sire of Panty Raid, and when the foal turned out to be a filly -- St. John's River -- McGehee decided to keep her. "I've always sold the good ones," said McGehee, who now says she feel lucky she didn't sell St. John's River, named for a body of water near where she grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. The filly broke her maiden in her second start at the Fair Grounds in January, and two races later, she finished second by a half-length to Daisy Devine (Kafwain) in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2). Next, Leggio took St. John's River to the Kentucky Oaks, where they finished second to Plum Pretty (Medaglia d'Oro) at 16-1. The word was now out this horse could run. "I rarely leave Louisiana to go race, but with these kinds of horses, I will move," Leggio said. "It's not a problem. I don't like this traveling. I thought Happy Ticket would be the last one, but I'll go with this one wherever I have to go." Leggio has the late-running St. John's River on a schedule, trying to space her races between 40 to 60 days apart. The pace led her to a July 9 victory in the Delaware Oaks (G2) and now to the Alabama. "I like a lot of time, especially with these young fillies," Leggio said. "She's got three seconds, and with a little luck we could have won all three of those races. Hopefully 1 1/4 miles will be to her liking. She always makes a big run, and, hopefully, she'll do the same thing next week."
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