Leslie's Rose snaps losing streak in Shuvee

A drop in class and a dry racing surface were conditions that helped propel Leslie's Rose to victory in the $200,000 Shuvee (G2) at Saratoga on Friday.

Eased in the June 6 Ogden Phipps (G1) over a sloppy track she detested, Leslie's Rose regained better form in the 1 1/8-mile Shuvee.

"She doesn't care for sloppy conditions, and unfortunately, we caught those last time -- it literally started raining on the way to the paddock," trainer Todd Pletcher said.

A ground-saving third while Dazzling Move carved out the Shuvee pace, Leslie's Rose angled wide turning for home and grinded her way past the long-time leader under Irad Ortiz Jr.

The winning margin was 3 3/4 lengths for Leslie's Rose, who finished up in 1:50.77. She paid $10.40 as the second choice in the field of seven fillies and mares.

Dazzling Move, the Ogden Phipps runner-up, finished second again, 9 3/4 lengths ahead of the Grade 1-winning, odds-on favorite Raging Sea, the 2024 Shuvee winner. Gun Song, Prides Crossing, Malibu Beauty, and Sidamara completed the order of finish.

The Shuvee was the first win for Leslie's Rose since a three-length tally in the Ashland (G1) at Keeneland in April 2024. Her subsequent form had been inconsistent, her best finishes being a distant second to Thorpedo Anna in the Acorn (G1) last June and a neck third in the Vagrancy (G3) in early May.

Pletcher, who trains Leslie's Rose for Whisper Hill Farm, said the four-year-old Kentucky-bred would likely point toward the track-and-distance Personal Ensign (G1) on Aug. 23.

A daughter of Into Mischief and the Galileo mare Wildwood Rose, Leslie's Rose is from the family of Grade 1 winners Materiality, Annapolis, and Afleet Express. She's now won four of 10 starts, earning more than $743,000.