Iron Orchard rolls in style to take the Fleet Indian, NYRA Photo
Christian Abdo
KatieRich Stables’ Grade 1-winner Iron Orchard flexed her class with a dominant return to winning form in Friday’s $200,000 Fleet Indian, a nine-furlong test for sophomore New York-bred fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen and piloted by Jose Ortiz, the Authentic dark bay successfully stretched out in distance following off-the-board efforts here in the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Victory Ride in July and the seven-furlong Johnstone versus elders last out on August 5.
Iron Orchard was purchased for $2.5 million at the 2025 Fasig-Tipton Mid-October Digital Sale after a 3-for-3 start to her career for trainer Danny Gargan, including a victory in the Grade 1 Frizette. She then finished off-the-board in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and was transferred to Asmussen for her sophomore campaign.
“Jose rode her with a ton of confidence. I was extremely pleased to see her get back to that,” Asmussen said. “I think she needed the previous races to get back to where we were at. We needed to win this race today and I think she’s got a lot of races left in her.”
The favored Iron Orchard exited post 3 and was hustled to the front while pressured by the Gargan-trained dual stakes-winner Venetta through the opening quarter-mile in 23.35 seconds over the fast dirt.
Venetta and Power of Women tracked Iron Orchard, with a gap to Lady Rose, Unlock the Value and New York Special as the field traveled down the backside through the half-mile in 47.10.
“She bounced great out of the gate and I knew the one [Power of Women] had speed, but I was able to clear her and she [Iron Orchard] relaxed very well,” Ortiz said. “We got past the three-eighths pole and I took a peek and everybody was trailing behind.”
Rounding the second turn, Power of Women faded from her stalking position and left Venetta as the lone challenger to Iron Orchard with three-quarters down in 1:11.42. At the top of the stretch, Iron Orchard drew well clear of Venetta and the rallying Lady Rose, pouring it on in the lane to win by 12 lengths in a final time of 1:51.70.
The Jose Lezcano-piloted Lady Rose swept past Venetta by 3 1/4 lengths for second, with that same margin back to Unlock the Value in fourth. Victory Hall, Power of Women and New York Special completed the order of finish. Hot Currency, cross-entered in a local optional claimer on Sunday, was scratched.
“She was traveling so well. I made sure she ran from the three-sixteenths to the sixteenth, and I never looked back after I took a peek. I had the horse to win, and I geared her down. She was very good today. It’s my first time on her, so I’ll take it,” said Ortiz, who captured a pair of turf sprint stakes last week here for Asmussen with Stradale in the Grade 3 Mahony and Zeitlos in the Listed Smart and Fancy.
Lezcano was pleased with the effort from the Linda Rice-trained Lady Rose in her stakes debut.
“She gave me a good race,” Lezcano said. “She’s a very nice filly and she tries hard and gave me everything she had. The winner was too good and kept running, but I’m happy with how my filly ran.”
Bred by Pine Ridge Stable, Iron Orchard is out of the multiple stakes-placed Brethren mare Onebrethatatime, who is a half-sister to Grade 3-winner Wonderlandbynight. She banked $110,000 in victory while improving her record to 7-4-0-0 and returning $5.20 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Saturday at Saratoga with a 12-race card, including the Grade 2 Ballston Spa presented by STIHL in Race 10 and the Grade 1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales in Race 11. First post is 12:45 p.m. Eastern.
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