Viadera edges stablemate Noor Sahara in the De La Rose for a Chad Brown Exacta; Indian Pride gives Brown a Hat Trick with a Double Serving of Stakes in the Shine Again
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – An extra eighth of a mile appeared to make all the difference for Juddmonte Farms’ Viadera, who chased a slow pace under jockey Joel Rosario and made up ground at the right time, edging stablemate Noor Sahara by a neck in the $85,000 De La Rose at one mile over Saratoga Race Course’s inner turf on Friday.
Trained by Chad Brown, Viadera arrived off a distant fourth to Grade 1-winning stablemate Newspaperofrecord in the Grade 3 Intercontinental at seven furlongs on June 6, marking her first start in North America and contested over a yielding turf at Belmont Park.
“She kind of lost herself back in the field in her last race,” Brown said. “We expected her to get better position this time. I thought Joel did a great job. She just lost her way [last time out] and lost contact with the field. She didn’t really show much interest until late when she made a little run. Coming out of that race, she trained a lot sharper.”
The 4-year-old bay daughter of Bated Breath broke sharply from the gate under Rosario and tracked in fourth to the outside of Noor Sahara while Xenobia set the pace through a leisurely opening quarter-mile in 24.95 seconds, with 8-5 favorite Catch a Bid a length behind in second. With the half-mile in 49.60 seconds, Xenobia extended her advantage to 1 ½ lengths while Viadera continued to maintain her position on the course labelled good.
Around the far turn, Viadera received her cue from Rosario as she began inching her way into contention. Noor Sahara put her head in front just past the sixteenth pole, but Viadera made up ground at the right time to hit the wire in 1:38.17. Noor Sahara finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Passing Out.
Completing the order of finish were Clara Peeters, Catch a Bid, Xenobia and Hogan’s Holiday. Blowout and main track only entrant Bridlewood Cat were scratched.
“The longer distance today helped. She was very good today,” said Rosario, who guided fellow Juddmonte Farms color-bearer Filimbi to victory in the 2014 De La Rose. “I followed Irad [Ortiz, Jr. aboard Noor Sahara] and there were two horses in front of him. It was a great trip and she was able to finish with a galloping finish.”
Now a four-time winner of 11 starts, Viadera kept a perfect record over a flat mile intact and is unscathed in three starts at the distance.
“I was really pleased with her trip. Joel [Rosario] got to know her that first time out,” Rosario said. “It’s been frustrating. She’s been ready to run for months now and with cancelations and such, we had to just sprint her the first time. She got a race under her belt, but she trained much sharper the second time out, and she showed that leaving the gate.”
Viadera rewarded her backers in returning $14.40 for a $2 win bet and cashed a $46,750 check while improving her lifetime earnings to $156,441.
Brown offered praise for runner-up Noor Sahara, who also was making her second start in North America.
“She got a perfect trip really. She was right there,” Brown said. “There was a little jockeying when the horse on the outside took the lead and Tyler [Gaffalione, aboard No. 1, Catch a Bid] took back. There was a little musical chairs there for a bit, but I thought all three of my horses had good trip. Viadera was just best.”
2020 De La Rose Replay
On fifth-place finisher and post time favorite Catch a Bid, Brown noted that the moisture in the turf may have contributed to her run.
“It was a little disappointing down the lane that she didn’t punch,” Brown said. “We’ll have to reevaluate. But also, this turf, there’s some moisture in it today and it’s probably not for every horse. Some horses moved up and some horses moved down.”
A Great Britain homebred, Viadera is out of the Beat Hollow broodmare Sacred Shield.
Indian Pride gives Trainer Brown a Hat Trick with a Double Serving of Stakes in the Shine Again
Brereton C. Jones’ Indian Pride ensured trainer Chad Brown swept Friday’s stakes double, fending off Blamed in deep stretch to register a half-length victory in the $85,000 Shine Again for older fillies and mares on Friday at Saratoga Race Course.
Indian Pride’s third victory in four career starts gave Brown his third consecutive win on the card, which started when he conditioned Viadera and Noor Sahara to a 1-2 finish in the $85,000 De La Rose.
Following Lady Lawyer’s allowance win in Race 8, Saratoga’s reigning two-time leading trainer completed the natural hat trick in the Shine Again. Indian Pride broke alertly under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, leading the nine-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 23.13 seconds and the half in 46.06 on the main track rated fast.
Entering the turn, Joy Epifora briefly took command in front of Indian Pride, though Castellano encouraged his charge and quickly regained the advantage staying near the rail. But Blamed, the multiple graded stakes-winner trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, surged from her outside in the final furlong. The duo linked up and ran eye-to-eye in the final sixteenth before Indian Pride pulled away to complete the seven-furlong sprint in a 1:21.63 final time, capturing her first career stake.
