Schuylerville, Coronation Cup highlight first two days of Saratoga meet

Fillies feature prominently during the first two days of the 2024 Saratoga meet on Thursday and Friday. Although downgraded from a Grade 3 to a Listed event, the $175,000 Schuylerville S. for juveniles highlights opening day and attracted a field of 11.

Although possessing previous stakes experience, the Astoria S. one-two Whatintheliteral and Aoraki, along with Kentucky Juvenile heroine West Memorial, figure to take a back seat in the market to various last-out maiden winners. Among these are morning-line favorite Complexion, who won on debut at Aqueduct, and the Churchill Downs graduates Viggiedal, Sherbini, Slang, Dreamgirl, and Long Neck Paula.

Friday's feature is the $150,000 Coronation Cup, a 5 1/2-furlong turf dash for three-year-old fillies. The field is headed by Godolphin homebred Star of Mystery, who figures to enjoy the massive reduction in class after knocking heads with some of the fastest turf sprinters in the world this season.

In Dubai over the winter, Star of Mystery defeated older males in the Blue Point Sprint (G2) and finished second in both the Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint (G3) and Al Quoz Sprint (G1), the latter to Hong Kong star Californian Spangle.

Star of Mystery again faced older males in her U.S. debut, the June 8 Jaipur (G1) at Saratoga, and ran a respectable third to division leader Cogburn. Star of Mystery finished third, a neck behind runner-up Arzak.

"She's a filly that with who she's been campaigning against, she ought to be a short-priced favorite to go around there," trainer Charlie Appleby said. "I will be disappointed if she doesn't get the job done, to be honest."

Twirling Queen rides in on a three-race win streak, including an upset score in the Mamzelle S. at Churchill Downs over Toupie and Cloudwalker. Both of those rivals have subsequently won, Toupie's win occurring in the Stormy Blues S. at Laurel.

Soaring Softly (G3) winner Pipsy shortens up after a dull performance in the one-mile Tepin S., while Kairyu and Dancing Duchess also bring commendable form to the table.

Star of Mystery, however, looms a potential standout.