Jody’s Pride wins the Ruffian (G2) May 10 at Aqueduct (NYRA/Coglianese)
Keith McCalmont/NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Parkland Thoroughbreds and Sportsmen Stable’s Jody’s Pride will look to return to winning form in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss, a six-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Jorge Abreu, Jody’s Pride [post 9, Flavien Prat, 124 pounds] will look to improve upon a distant third last out in the seven-furlong Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses on June 6 here during the Belmont Svtakes Racing Festival. There, she traveled in fifth position before making a belated move for third, landing 14 lengths back of the runaway winner Ways and Means, who was 7 3/4-lengths better than runner-up returning rival Scylla.
Abreu said the uncharacteristic effort can be attributed to a quick turnaround from her sharp three-quarter length score in the one-turn mile Grade 2 Ruffian on May 10 at Belmont at the Big A.
“Her last effort, I think we never should have ran there. It was too quick back – three weeks,” Abreu said. “She had a very strong breeze before that race where she went in 58. The track was fast. She ran three weeks before with one of her biggest races that she has run, so I don’t want to be too critical, but I knew she was going to bounce a little bit. We just took a shot.”
The 4-year-old American Pharoah dark bay was an impressive debut winner here in August 2023, drawing off to win by 10 1/2-lengths in an off-the-turf 5 1/2-furlong maiden tilt. She captured the off-the-turf Listed Matron sprinting six furlongs that October at Belmont at the Big A ahead of a neck second to eventual Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Just F Y I in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park.
Jody’s Pride added the Listed Busher Invitational to her ledger last year in a three-start campaign. She was a neck third in her seasonal debut in the Grade 2 Inside Information in January at Gulfstream Park ahead of a troubled off-the-board try in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Azeri over a wet, fast and sealed track in March at Oaklawn Park.
Abreu said Jody’s Pride will focus on one-turn races going forward.
“I don’t think she is going to mind the six furlongs. I think she is going to be a one-turn horse, anyways,” Abreu said. “I tried to cut her back because I think she is better going three quarters to seven-eighths.”
Flavien Prat, who guided Jody’s Pride throughout her juvenile campaign, was aboard the dark bay for a half-mile work in 49.98 seconds on Sunday over the Oklahoma dirt training track.
“She breezed really, really well,” Abreu said.
Bred by Mr. Steve Weston, of Parkland Thoroughbreds, Jody’s Pride is out of the undefeated Parkland-campaigned Scat Daddy mare Jody’s Song – a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-placed New York-bred Make Mischief.
Juddmonte’s dual graded stakes-winning Kentucky homebred Scylla [post 4, Joel Rosario, 124 pounds] should have plenty of pace to chase as she looks to make the third start of her campaign a winning one for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
The 5-year-old Tapit mare, out of 2014 Champion Older Mare Close Hatches, kicked off her 2025 season with a closing fourth in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff in May at Churchill Downs where she rallied wide over the sloppy and sealed footing to land 6 3/4-lengths back of the victorious Kopion.
Last out, in the Bed o’ Roses, she squeezed up the rail for the stretch run and chased home the victorious Ways and Means. She has worked back three times, including a half-mile in 49.81 July 13 over the Oklahoma dirt training track.
Scylla, a full-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning multimillionaire Tacitus and Grade 3-winner Batten Down, won 3-of-8 starts last year, including graded wins at Churchill Downs in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Shawnee and nine-furlong Grade 2 Fleur De Lis. She will look for her first win at less than one mile since her April 2023 debut sprinting six furlongs at Keeneland.
Averill Racing, Two Eight Racing and Anthony Mattera’s R Disaster [post 2, Jose Ortiz, 122 pounds] vies to make the grade for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.
The 4-year-old Awesome Slew bay boasts a perfect in-the-money record of 9-5-4-0 for purse earnings of $320,180 led by a last-out 6 1/2-length romp in the six-furlong Rehoboth on May 31 at Delaware Park.
R Disaster has come up a neck shy in a pair of 6 1/2-furlong Grade 3 attempts this season, missing to Nic’s Style in the Hurricane Bertie in March at Gulfstream Park and in the Vagrancy at Belmont at the Big A on May 4 won by stablemate Haulin Ice, who exited that event to win the Musical Romance Handicap at Gulfstream.
The Florida-bred R Disaster is out of the Gottcha Gold mare Making Havoc, a half-sister to dual graded stakes-placed R Adios Jersey.
Cash is King and LC Racing’s multiple stakes-winning Pennsylvania-bred Carmelina [post 5, Luis Saez, 122 pounds] is a perfect 2-for-2 this campaign for trainer Butch Reid, Jr.
The 4-year-old daughter of the Reid, Jr.-trained Maximus Mischief began the season with a pair of starts at Parx, taking an open optional-claiming sprint in May ahead of a last-out frontrunning score in the state-bred Unique Bella on June 15.
Carmelina, a seven-time winner from 17 starts, secured stakes scores in 2023 in the Keswick at Colonial Downs, the Shamrock Rose at Penn National and the Gin Talking at Laurel Park. She added the Penny Chenery to her ledger in August at Colonial.
Carmelina, out of the stakes-winning St Averil mare Complete St., will make her fifth attempt in graded company, which includes fifth-place efforts here in the 2023 Grade 3 Schuylerville and last year’s Grade 3 Prioress.
Chief Horse Futures’ Striker Has Dial [post 7, Kendrick Carmouche, 120 pounds] will look to secure her first stakes score for trainer Horacio De Paz.
The 4-year-old Dialed In dark bay made the first two starts of her current campaign in six-furlong optional-claiming sprints at the Big A, earning a career-best 97 Beyer with a stalking 3 3/4-length score on January 25. She followed on March 22 with a frontrunning 1 3/4-length win that registered a 95 Beyer.
Striker Has Dial, a one-length second last summer here in the restricted Wilton, returned to stakes company last out in the six-furlong Listed Skipat on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course. There, she bobbled at the break but recovered well to mark the half-mile in 46.49 over the fast main track. She held a narrow advantage at the stretch call but could not stave off Grade 2-winner Zeitlos, who bested her by 1 1/2-lengths in a final time of 1:11.20.
A talented field also includes dual graded stakes-placed Benedetta [post 8, Dylan Davis, 122 pounds] for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen; stakes-placed Zadorsky [post 3, Manny Franco, 120 pounds] for trainer Whit Beckman; and a pair for conditioner Phil Bauer in graded stakes-placed Halina’s Forte [post 1, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 120 pounds] and stakes-placed Little Prankster [post 6, Junior Alvarado, 120 pounds], who are both entered for the main-track only in Saturday’s Grade 3 Caress here.
The Honorable Miss is slated as Race 9 on Sunday’s 10-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
