L J’s Emma gets up for the upset win in the Galway (Janet Napolitano)
By Keith McCalmont – NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— John Gaynor’s L J’s Emma ran her win streak to three with an impressive 17-1 upset in her stakes debut in Saturday’s $150,000 Galway, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Eddie Kenneally and piloted by Luis Saez, the Into Mischief bay has hit the board in all three starts since being switched to turf, entering from a fourth-out maiden score in June at Churchill Downs and an impressive allowance win versus elders last out on July 16 at Ellis Park.
“She’s matured a lot and relaxes good now, which allows her to finish so much better. She’s a different kind of horse on the grass, but she’s maturing and growing,” Kenneally said. “It is great for John Gaynor and [his] Boxman Stables to get a stakes win at Saratoga.
“[We were] looking for some black type with a very well-bred filly,” added Kenneally. “We thought she’s on the improve and wanted to take a shot and I think it is a good place to showcase a quality filly like this. We weren’t expecting to win but thought she’d be competitive.”
The speedy stakes-winner Stone Silent surged to the lead to set splits of 22.26 seconds and 44.78 over the good going with multiple stakes-placed My Sweet Affair in second and stakes-winner Beauty of the Sea in third.
L J’s Emma tracked comfortably from fifth position to the inside of Reflexivity as Stone Silent took the field through the turn with an array of challengers lining up, including Isabel Alexandra, Beauty of the Sea and My Sweet Affair with Love Reigns, the even-money favorite, a non-factor near the back of the pack.
Saez gave L J’s Emma her cue midway through the turn and the filly responded with a strong turn-of-foot to circle wide around her rivals and take aim at the determined leader. Stone Silent stayed on stubbornly, but there was no denying L J’s Emma, who got up in the final jumps to secure the neck win in a final time of 1:02.27.
Stone Silent earned place honors by 3 1/4 lengths over Isabel Alexandra with Love Appeals, Redifined, Reflexivity, Love Reigns, Beauty of the Sea, My Sweet Affair and Dream Concert rounding out the order of finish. Anna’s Arabesque and Weekend Rags along with main-track-only entrants Unified Alliance, Obrigada, and Cuz Ur Pretty were scratched.
The victory provided Saez his second stakes win of the meet after taking the Grade 3 Kelso with Casa Creed, who will he pilot later in the card in the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap.
“We got there in time. I know she has a big turn of foot, and at the three-eighths, I felt like I had so much horse – we were very comfortable,” Saez said. “At the same time, when we got to the last horse to pass, she [Stone Silent] kind of rebroke, so we had to really get a little work there and finally she got it in the last stride.”
Stone Silent, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, captured the Debutante on debut last June in a five-furlong main track sprint at Santa Anita when in the care of John Sadler. She made her last two starts for Asmussen in five-furlong turf allowance sprints at Horseshoe Indianapolis, besting older company last out in gate-to-wire fashion.
“It looks like she just got a little tired,” Asmussen said.
L J’s Emma, a $155,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale purchase, is out of the stakes-placed Pulpit mare Really and Truly, who is a half-sister to graded stakes-placed Always in My Heart.
Bred in Kentucky by Pin Oak Stud, J J’s Emma banked $82,500 in victory while improving her record to 6-3-0-1. She returned $36.20 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Saratoga with a 10-race card that concludes with the $150,000 Mahony. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
