Dylan Davis’ smile says it all after his Acorn victory aboard La Cara. (Joe Labozzetta)
By Keith McCalmont
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tracy Farmer’s Kentucky homebred La Cara made every pole a winning one under jockey Dylan Davis, as previously undefeated Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks-winner Good Cheer failed to fire in Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 DK Horse Acorn, a nine-furlong route for sophomore fillies on Day Three of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the Street Sense bay avenged a ninth-place finish after faltering as the pacesetter in the Kentucky Oaks by posting a dominant performance over a sloppy and sealed main track to score by three lengths.
Farmer, who twice won the Grade 1 Whitney here with Commentator [2005, 2008] as well as the 1997 Grade 1 Go for Wand with Hidden Lake, said he was thrilled to win a topflight race at the Spa with a homebred.
“We were running against a great filly in Good Cheer,” Farmer said. “This is the first time she ever lost, so this is tough competition here in the Acorn and at Saratoga. You just never know what is going to happen. It is just wonderful to win.
“I bred her, I’ve seen her and been with her every day of her life. You dream about this,” Farmer continued. “I’ve won the Whitney twice here, so I’ve won several [big races], Hidden Lake, I’ve won several Grade 1 races here… but this is the best, and today is the best.”
Davis and La Cara teamed up to win the Grade 1 Ashland in April at Keeneland in frontrunning fashion and the tactics were no different here as they rolled through splits of 23.40 seconds, 47.08 and 1:10.74 with the Michael McCarthy-trained and Umberto Rispoli-piloted Grade 2 Eight Belles-winner Look Forward tracking her speed.
La Cara led the field into the final turn as Saez implored Good Cheer to no avail from fifth position as Look Forward and the lengthy stretch run loomed the only impediments to the freewheeling leader.
Although La Cara grew weary late in the lane, she had enough in the tank to score in a final time of 1:49.20. Look Forward fought off a closing Scottish Lassie to earn place honors by a neck with Bless the Broken, Good Cheer and Quickick rounding out the order of finish. Shred the Gnar was scratched.
“She loves it here,” Casse said. “She won her maiden at Saratoga last year. In the paddock, Dylan said she could handle this kind of mud and was going to be just fine. I was just watching the splits, and I thought when he got away with a half in 47 [seconds] that was pretty good. And then at about the half-mile pole I could see that the others were hustling, and she was still relaxed. I never get too excited until they go under the wire. The [Kentucky] Oaks was disappointing, but we never lost faith in her.”
Davis said he was intent to get to the lead.
“’Plan A’ was come out running. That’s what she likes to do best,” Davis said. “Came out, executed, she got to the front, and she did what she liked to do up front. She took control, got into a good rhythm, and she was taking me into the second turn nicely, and that was it. I know there were tough competitors behind us, but she showed her ‘Game A’ effort out there and she ran hard through the wire.”
Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Good Cheer entered with a perfect 7-for-7 record for dual Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, including a trio of Grade 2 scores ahead of her Kentucky Oaks coup.
“She wasn’t traveling. You could tell at the half-mile pole [Saez] was getting after her a little bit,” Cox said. “The winner was obviously well in front. It just wasn’t her day. Graveyard of champions, weather and tracks are a great equalizer. She’s performed on an off track. I’m not going to use that as an excuse. For whatever reason, she just wasn’t up for giving her ‘A’ effort today.”
Saez said he had no immediate excuses.
“Pretty good, trip. She broke pretty nice. She was just tired, very tired,” Saez said.
Rispoli said he was thrilled with the effort from Look Forward.
“I thought she ran an amazing race,” Rispoli said. “Irad [Ortiz, Jr., aboard Scottish Lassie] passed me on the outside just about a head, but she re-rallied for me and got a nice second, which is worth gold for her as a broodmare. She stays and was getting closer to the winner at the end.”
La Cara won 2-of-6 starts as a 2-year-old, including a win in the Grade 3 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs in September ahead of a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in November at Del Mar. She romped by 6 1/4-lengths in her seasonal debut in the Listed Suncoast in February at Tampa Bay Downs ahead of a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Davona Dale one month later at Gulfstream Park.
La Cara is out of the Bernardini mare Cara Caterina, a full-sister to dual Grade 1-winning millionaire To Honor and Serve and Grade 1-winner Angela Renee. She banked $275,000 in victory to take her bankroll to in excess of $1.15 million, while improving her record to 11-5-2-0. She returned $17.40 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Saturday at Saratoga for a blockbuster Belmont Stakes Day program that includes five Grade 1 events among eight stakes in total on the 14-race card, culminating with the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets [Race 13] and featuring two Breeders’ Cup “Win And You’re In” qualifiers for 3-year-olds and up: the Grade 1, $1 million Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap [Race 8] going one mile out of the Wilson Chute [Dirt Mile] and the 5 1/2-furlong turf Grade 1, $500,000 Jaipur [Race 9] on the Mellon turf [Turf Sprint].
G1 DK Horse Acorn Quotes
Mark Casse, winning trainer of La Cara (No. 3, $17.40): “She likes it on the lead. She loves it here. She won her maiden at Saratoga last year. In the paddock, Dylan [Davis] said she could handle this kind of mud and was going to be just fine. I was just watching the splits and I thought when he got away with a half in 47 [seconds] that was pretty good. And then at about the half-mile pole I could see that the others were hustling and she was still relaxed. I never get too excited until they go under the wire. The [Kentucky] Oaks was disappointing, but we never lost faith in her.”
Tracy Farmer, winning owner and breeder of La Cara (No. 3): “We were running against a great filly in Good Cheer [No. 2]. This is the first time she ever lost, so this is tough competition here in the Acorn and at Saratoga. You just never know what is going to happen. It is just wonderful to win.”
About La Cara being a homebred: “I bred her, I’ve seen her and been with her every day of her life. You dream about this. I’ve won the Whitney twice here, so I’ve won several [big races], Hidden Lake, I’ve won several Grade 1 races here… but this is the best, and today is the best.”
Dylan Davis, winning jockey aboard La Cara (No. 3): “’Plan A’ was come out running. That’s what she likes to do best. Came out, executed, she got to the front, and she did what she liked to do up front. She took control, got into a good rhythm, and she was taking me into the second turn nicely, and that was it. I know there were tough competitors behind us, but she showed her ‘Game A’ effort out there and she ran hard through the wire.”
About the wet track: “That Churchill [Downs] track for the Kentucky Oaks was a different kind of wet track, it was very soupy, suction-kind-of-type. Today, I knew with being at Saratoga prior years that when it rains, it is still a little bit tight so, I thought that was in her favor and exactly what I saw when I came out onto the track. It was tight and that is what she did [showed speed], once she got to the backside, she took control.”
Umberto Rispoli, jockey of runner-up Look Forward (No. 6): “She ran a huge race. Obviously we were concerned about the distance because she always showed that she could be a fast filly, but we knew she liked the sealed track like she got at Churchill. I thought she ran an amazing race. Irad [Ortiz, Jr., abord No. 1, Scottish Lassie] passed me on the outside just about a head, but she re-rallied for me and got a nice second, which is worth gold for her as a broodmare. She stays and was getting closer to the winner at the end.”
Brad Cox, trainer of fifth-place beaten favorite Good Cheer (No. 2): “She wasn’t traveling. You could tell at the half-mile pole [jockey Luis Saez] was getting after her a little bit. The winner was obviously well in front. It just wasn’t her day. Graveyard of champions, weather and tracks are a great equalizer. She’s performed on an off track. I’m not going to use that as an excuse. For whatever reason she just wasn’t up for giving her ‘A’ effort today.”
Luis Saez, jockey of fifth-place Good Cheer (No. 2): “Pretty good, trip. She broke pretty nice. She was just tired, very tired. “She won the Kentucky Oaks on a sloppy track, so I did not think it was a problem.”
