Choisya and Excellent Truth meet again in G1 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing
Is it just a rematch in the Grade 1, $500,000 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing? Probably not, considering the well-matched credentials of its 11-horse field, but Friday’s reopposing of Simon & Ed Crisford-trained UK invader Choisya and Chad Brown-conditioned Excellent Truth is not any less thrilling to anticipate in Saratoga Race Course’s one-mile, inner-turf contest for older fillies and mares.
After their dramatic first clash in April’s Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland, a race in which the half-length victorious Choisya shifted into the path of Excellent Truth in mid-stretch, thwarting her momentum, the duo will go ‘Round 2’ as they vie for divisional bragging rights and the lioness’ share of the hefty purse.
Choisya must prove it all over again, but this time at an upstate venue at which her chief rival has been training since late April. The gritty Rabbah Bloodstock homebred has flourished at age five, winning three stakes on the bounce, including Meydan’s Group 2 Cape Verdi in January and Group 2 Balanchine in February in Dubai.
No stranger to tough company, she bested Godolphin’s Grade 1-winning Cinderella’s Dream in the latter, a filly who would return to stomp a proverbial mudhole into a salty renewal of Newmarket’s Group 2 Dahlia in May. First or second in 13-of-20 runs, Choisya reunites with Luis Saez from post 9 while carrying a co-field high 124 pounds.
“She shipped in on Thursday morning, did so very well and we’re very happy with her,” Ed Crisford reported. “She cleared quarantine and is due to have an easy canter on Sunday morning. She’s a pro traveling at this point and has put all her weight back on.
“She’s had a fantastic season and improved with every race,” Crisford continued. “She’s beaten some high-quality fillies and the form has been franked with Cinderella’s Dream. Then going to Keeneland and winning out there was a very game effort. She’s a hardy filly—a tough filly—and she showed a very good attitude there and won nicely.
“We thought this race would always suit her. The others that are entered are high-quality fillies who finished second and third to her have an allowance, but Choisya has kept on improving all season long. I think she’s better now than I’ve seen her all year. She’s very strong, really doing well and loves those flat American-style tracks. She has a great turn-of-foot and kicks off the bend and that showed in Dubai and at Keeneland. She’s won on everything from good-to-soft to good-to-firm ground, so she can handle any ground. Hopefully, she wins or runs well and if she does, we will hopefully stay out for the Diana and other options in August, as well.”
The Just a Game has been Brown’s playground over much of the past decade, winning a record seven of the past eight editions, including last year at Saratoga with Chili Flag. His multiple Grade 1-placed Excellent Truth [post 8, Flavien Prat, 118 pounds], who runs in the sponsor’s colors, is one of three entered by the five-time and reigning Champion trainer.
The Cotai Glory mare flexed her class prior with a good second in July’s Group 1 Prix Rothschild and a smart win in the Listed Prix Goldikova - both over Deauville’s straight mile for previous conditioner Mauricio Delcher-Sanchez. A Group 3 winner at three, the bay 5-year-old makes just her second start for Brown, who also sends out Juddmonte’s Segesta [post 3, Jose Ortiz, 122 pounds] and Klaravich Stables’ Dynamic Pricing [post 1, Dylan Davis, 122 pounds].
Segesta, whose dam Antonoe was the first of Brown’s successful septet in 2017, enters off a fourth in the Grade 3 Modesty in May at Churchill Downs, her seasonal bow and first run since July. The homebred daughter of Ghostzapper landed the Grade 2 Wonder Again last summer before a second to Cinderella’s Dream in the Grade 1 Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational.
Dynamic Pricing enters off a victory in the Grade 3 Beaugay, a race in which she proved as flexible to circumstances as her strategic namesake, overcoming a 10-wide rally. Also a daughter of Night of Thunder, the late-running bay from a deep HH Aga Khan damside has won 3-of-8 starts and appears an improved model at age four.
Wathnan Racing’s Heredia [post 10, Manny Franco, 118 pounds] was a game third in the Beaugay, briefly appearing to put her nose in front under Manny Franco before succumbing to Dynamic Pricing and Edict to finish one length astern. The effort was her first race in 19 months and initial foray for trainer Graham Motion.
Previously, the 6-year-old daughter of Dark Angel won Sandown Park’s Group 3 Atalanta and finished a respectable third behind multiple Group 1-winning stars Inspiral and Mqse de Sevigne in Newmarket’s Group 1 Sun Chariot to cap her Richard Hannon tenure in the UK.
“Last time she maybe inherited the lead a little earlier than she wanted to, which is just the way it worked out, but Manny knew she would probably get tired and she did,” Motion explained. “She needed the race and was off for a year and a half or so. I thought the race should move her forward and that’s why I want to take a shot in a race like this. She was previously a Grade 1-type filly and that’s why we kept her in training. She came to me almost two years ago, but had a soft-tissue injury that kept her out of training for a good while. She’s going to be very competitive. She’s got to go back to her previous form, of course, but she’s giving me every indication that she might be.”
Grade 1 form is what Resolute Racing’s Hall of Famer Bill Mott-trained A Lilac Rolla [post 7, Junior Alvarado, 118 pounds], Thomas Bachman’s Wesley Ward-trained Kehoe Beach [post 5, Irad Ortiz Jr., 122 pounds, 2 bar shoes] and Black Type Thoroughbreds’ George Weaver-conditioned Sacred Wish [post 11, John Velazquez, 124 pounds] bring to the table, as well.
Third in the Group 1 Falmouth and second in the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas last year, A Lilac Rolla makes her stateside bow. Previously trained by Paddy Twomey to win the Group 3 Priory Belle last year, she is unraced since July and was subsequently a $1,328,818 purchase at Tattersalls’ December Mare Sale.
The speedy Kehoe Beach, has improved with her ascendance of class, taking Churchill’s Grade 2 Mrs. Revere in November impressively before finishing a one-length third behind Choisya in the Jenny Wiley.
“She’s a high-quality filly,” Ward said. “I’m looking forward to this race. She has done nothing wrong and ran great last race. [Running on the lead] is probable, but we’ve been breezing her behind horses, including for some of her grass works. Irad is a very patient rider and a good grass rider. He can play the break and see what he wants to do.”
Sacred Wish, fourth in the Jenny Wiley, landed Del Mar’s Grade 1 Matriarch in December, was a neck second in the Grade 2 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf in January and exits a 2 1/2-length seventh in Churchill Downs’ Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile in May. Overall, the millionaire daughter of Not This Time has won or finished within three lengths of victory in 15 of her past 16 starts.
“She’s deserving of a Grade 1 win because she’s always showing up,” Weaver said. “Especially for the fillies, winning a Grade 1 means so much for them.”
Team Valor International and Steven Rocco’s Special Wan [post 2, Joel Rosario, 120 pounds] makes her second start for trainer Brendan Walsh and exits a smart win in Gulfstream Park’s Grade 3 Honey Fox. From eight starts, the daughter of Belardo has a record of 3-2-2, placing in four additional stakes.
“She was the morning-line favorite for the Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill Downs, but she didn’t pass the vet,” explained Barry Irwin, principal of Team Valor. “She had sprung a shoe two weeks earlier and the vets realized she wasn’t moving quite right, so we dodged a bullet there. She has been training really well for this, but it’s 90 days between races, which is irritating, but post two is the best post for a two-turn mile, so we’re happy with that.”
The Just a Game field is completed by John Brnjas' Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile winner Simply in Front [post 4, Frankie Dettori, 122 pounds], trained by Walsh’s former boss Eddie Kenneally, and Copper Thoroughbreds’ Jena Antonucci-conditioned Do Gooder [post 6, Jose Morelos, 118 pounds], a dual Gulfstream Park allowance winner this spring.
The Just a Game, slated as Race 13, is one of four Grade 1s for females on the 14-race card, including the $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 9], offering a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff; the $500,000 DK Horse Acorn [Race 11]; and the $500,000 New York presented by Rivers Casino [Race 12].
A pair of Grade 2s will complete the program, with the $300,000 Bed o’ Roses [Race 6] and the $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup [Race 10], which is a ‘Golden Ticket’ event offering the winner an automatic berth into the Group 1 Lexus Melbourne Cup worth more than AUD $8 million. First post is 11:40 a.m. Eastern with gates open to the public at 10 a.m.
America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule.
NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, and the best way to bet every race of the four-day meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.