Spinaway pits Stonestreet entry versus So Many Ways

Sunday's Grade 1, $300,000

Spinaway

Stakes shapes up as a clash between Stonestreet Stables' flashy debut maiden

winners Teen Pauline and Dreaming of Julia and the established class of

Saratoga's juvenile filly division, Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes heroine So Many

Ways.

Teen Pauline, trained by Steve Asmussen, and Dreaming of Julia, trained by

Todd Pletcher, are coupled in the wagering. Both homebreds catapulted onto New

York Watch by virtue of their conquests at the Spa.

Teen Pauline set a five-furlong track record in her July 25 unveiling, good

enough for a gaudy 104 BRIS Speed rating. After vying through blazing fractions,

the Tapit filly drew 4 3/4 lengths clear while finishing in :56.53, just

eclipsing the Saratoga mark of :56.54 established by J C's Pride last summer.

The Asmussen pupil will step up an extra quarter-mile to seven furlongs for the

Spinaway, where she will break from the rail with a returning Julien Leparoux.

Note that Teen Pauline is cross-entered to Sunday's Sorority Stakes at

Monmouth.

Pletcher and Stonestreet have already teamed up this meet with Kauai Katie, a

12-length debut winner who came back to garner the Grade 2 Adirondack, and the

same pattern could hold with Dreaming of Julia in the Spinaway.

Dreaming of Julia, a daughter of A.P. Indy and multiple Grade 1-winning

sprinter Dream Rush, romped by 10 1/2 lengths in her August 6 premiere. The

Pletcher filly was a length on top early in the 6 1/2-furlong event and widened

her margin thereafter for John Velazquez, who will be back aboard as she breaks

from post 6.

Pletcher, in search of his fifth Spinaway, has another speedy contender in

Wertheimer et Frere's homebred Corail. Making her first start in a 5 1/2-furlong

dash here on August 1, the Indian Charlie filly grabbed command from the gate

and went on to prevail by 3 1/2 lengths. Chris DeCarlo picks up the mount.

The unbeaten So Many Ways will try to give trainer Tony Dutrow his second

straight Spinaway, following Grace Hall's victory in 2011. A front-running,

eight-length debut winner at Parx, the Maggi Moss colorbearer rallied from off

the pace to win the July 20 Schuylerville going away. So Many Ways, by freshman

sire Sightseeing, reunites with Javier Castellano.

Baby J and Sweet Shirley Mae are also exiting the Schuylerville. The Rick

Dutrow-trained Baby J retreated to third after setting a contested pace, while

Sweet Shirley Mae faded to a poor fifth for Wesley Ward. Both performed better

first time out. Sweet Shirley Mae had beaten subsequent Grade 2 Sanford hero

Bern Identity, and Baby J had bested Spinaway rival Seasoned Warrior in their

mutual premiere.

The well-bred Seasoned Warrior is from the first crop of Majestic Warrior,

winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful in 2007, and out of Canadian champion Saoirse.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the Live Oak Plantation homebred came up

just a half-length short against Baby J at Belmont, and returned to roll by 3

3/4 lengths at Saratoga on August 12. Seasoned Warrior is drawn on the outside

of the seven-filly field.

One race earlier on Sunday, Lucky Chappy headlines a cast of three-year-olds

in the Grade 3, $150,000

Saranac

Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile test on the inner turf.

Lucky Chappy has run consistently well, without managing to win, ever since

his importation from Italy last year. His highlights include a slow-starting,

but fast-finishing, fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf; a runner-up

effort in the Kitten's Joy; and a near-miss in the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby

on the Tapeta at Golden Gate Fields. The Graham Motion runner didn't enjoy the

Tapeta at Meydan in Dubai, however, ending up in midfield in the Group 2 U.A.E.

Derby March 31.

In his comeback, Lucky Chappy closed stoutly for second to Silver Max in the

Grade 2 Virginia Derby on turf July 21, and appears overdue for a first U.S.

win. The son of High Chaparral projects a ground-saving trip along the rail with

Alan Garcia.

Excaper, the runner-up in last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, is another

genuine type who reliably runs his race. The Woodbine invader got a later start

to his sophomore campaign but could be peaking now. Runner-up in both the

Charlie Barley and Toronto Cup, the Ian Black charge captured an allowance in

his third start off the shelf, and could move forward again. Emma-Jayne Wilson

comes in to maintain their partnership.

The D. Wayne Lukas-trained Skyring, who beat recent Grade 1 Travers

dead-heater Golden Ticket in a Kentucky Derby Day allowance, has run two strong

races on turf. The English Channel colt came out on top in a blanket finish to

the James W. Murphy on Preakness Day, and in his only subsequent grass attempt,

he was beaten a neck when third in the Grade 3 American Derby.

Quick Wit, a better-than-appears fifth in the American Derby, scored a

hard-fought win in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame, which was

transferred to Saratoga's sloppy, sealed main track.

King Kreesa, a wire-to-wire winner of two stakes at Belmont this season,

looms as the likely pacesetter. Other contenders include Shkspeare Shaliyah,

fourth to King Kreesa and Quick Wit in his last pair; Spring to the Sky, who has

been no match for Summer Front; and Unbridled Command and Set the Sail, who take

a class hike in their first stakes sortie. Politicallycorrect, the Grade 3 Ohio

Derby runner-up, is the sole main-track-only entrant.

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