SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Owners Christine and Phil Hatfield went through many setbacks before their filly Liberty M D could even make it on to a track for a race. But their patience and persistence has been rewarded after Liberty M D started her career with two wins in her first two starts.
The 4-year-old daughter of two-time Grade 1-winner Constitution will now give her connections another reward, earning a start in a graded stakes race at Saratoga as she drew post 3 in a seven-horse field of older fillies and mares in Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee going 1 1/8 miles on the main track.
After enduring three colic surgeries and building up stamina, Liberty M D commenced her career with a 4 1/4-length win going seven furlongs in May at Churchill Downs for trainer Ian Wilkes. Stretched out to a mile on June 3 over the same track, Liberty M D bested next-out winner Grayonsmacho by a half-length, setting up a spot in the Saratoga starting gate this weekend, where she will have the services of jockey Benjamin Hernandez, Jr. in a field that includes Chad Brown-trained contenders Dunbar Road, Gold Spirit and Royal Flag.
“She came to me late and there’s a big story behind this filly. She’s an amazing filly with amazing owners who have put in the time and effort with her,” Wilkes said. “It’s not often you have a filly who had three colic surgeries and make it back to the track like that.
“For Christine and Phil, the time and care they put into it and the fact they never gave up on her, is special,” Wilkes added. “A lot of people would have given up on her. The care that WinStar gave her and all the crew there; I’m just the last cog in the wheel here. What they did with her to get her to the races is the bigger story than me winning the first two races. She’s a special filly that way.”
Wilkes said he is grateful to reward that persistence by taking a shot in the Shuvee, which will see Liberty M D stretch out around two turns.
“I don’t think Christine will eat or sleep the night before,” Wilkes said with a laugh. “But Liberty M D is ready for the next level, so I need to do it. I think it [the distance] will help her. She’s won at seven-eighths and then a mile. Now, I’m going two turns and going against stakes company. But I think the two turns will help her. She’s a big, long-striding filly who gets into a nice cruising speed.”
Sharon Hudon’s Mischiefful, third in the off-the-turf Coronation Cup going 5 1/2 furlongs on a sloppy and sealed Saratoga main track on July 18, could next target the $120,000 Galway on August 15 at Saratoga. Mischiefful’s last two starts have been moved off the turf, preventing the Into Mischief filly from making her grass debut.
After winning the first of those races, capturing an allowance tilt by 5 3/4 lengths on June 10, Wilkes said Mischiefful could make her turf debut in the Galway.
“It was a good effort. I was very pleased with her,” said Wilkes of the Coronation Cup effort. “She probably just needed that race. I was just too easy on her between races and was just too kind on her, but we’ll come back in the next one in a month’s time and run her back there and probably meet the same fillies. It’ll be fun and we’ll have a good match.”
NYRA Press Office
Photo: Liberty M D winning an allowance at Churchill Downs on June 3, 2021 (Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)
