Mary Eddy/NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Debby Oxley’s impressive debut-winning Kentucky homebred My Sweetheart will make her stakes bow in Friday’s Listed $150,000 Schuylerville, a six-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies, on Day Two of the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, My Sweetheart steps up to stakes company off a strong debut graduation on May 22 over the Churchill Downs turf. The daughter of Flameaway led each step of the five furlongs under returning rider Frankie Dettori, facing pressure from Mother of Pearl at the three-eighths call and gamely driving clear at the head of the lane to hold onto a 1 1/2-length score over next-out winner Clowning Around in a final time of 56.58 seconds.
Casse said he was happy with what he saw from My Sweetheart, who enters from a pair of sharp half-mile works over the Churchill main track. She covered the distance in 46.40 on June 4, and in 47.80 on June 12.
“She was very impressive,” Casse said. “She came back and worked well on the dirt, so we’ll give her a try in here. She trained really well on the dirt and we just put her on the grass first out because that’s what was available.”
My Sweetheart breaks her maiden in R3 at @churchilldowns at 5/1 under @FrankieDettori for trainer @markecasse!
— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) May 22, 2025
TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/IuwI8Y5L63
My Sweetheart is out of the unraced Curlin mare My Darling, whose second dam is multiple dirt graded stakes-placed Darling My Darling, the prolific broodmare whose direct descendants include Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic-winning Champion 3-Year-Old Male Sierra Leone and multiple Group 1-winning globetrotter Forever Young.
“I figured with her pedigree, especially Flameaway – they can do anything – that she would handle grass and she handled it quite well,” Casse said of his former pupil Flameaway. “I don’t really see with her pedigree that she would have a problem with dirt and she’s trained well enough over it that we feel like she deserves a chance.”
Dettori has the call from post 4.
Arindel’s Florida homebred Evolution [post 1, Luis Saez] was a pacesetting winner in her second start on May 15 at Gulfstream Park for trainer Carlos David, dueling for early command in the five-furlong sprint before driving clear in the stretch to post the 2 3/4-length victory in a final time of 59.08 seconds.
The Brethren chestnut was a stalking second in her 4 1/2-furlong debut in April at Keeneland won by Satisfied Mind, who exited to finish 10th in the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies on May 10 at Gulfstream. Evolution is out of the stakes-placed Maimonides mare Sweet Khaleesi, who also produced stakes-placed Mist.
Trainer George Weaver has entered a pair in search of their first win as Miss Magical [post 5, Dylan Davis] and Simone [post 6, Manny Franco] each enter from on-the-board efforts in restricted maidens.
R.A. Hill Stable and SGV Thoroughbreds’ New York-bred Miss Magical was a closing second in her June 8 debut versus state-breds over the Spa main track, improving from sixth-of-7 and 5 1/2 lengths back at the three-eighths call to come up four lengths shy of Angel Gift.
The $100,000 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase, bred by TLC Thoroughbreds, is by Good Magic and out of the winning Uncle Mo mare Loving Moment, a half-sister to dual turf graded stakes-winner Ruby Nell.
Madison Mattmiller’s Simone was third in her May 31 debut sprinting five furlongs at Churchill with a similar rallying trip, closing from 7 3/4 lengths back to finish 1 3/4 lengths behind the victorious Quick Sand.
A $15,000 purchase at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, the Vekoma dark bay is out of the winning Dialed In mare Dial to Win.
Completing the field are the maiden Kingsolver [post 2, Flavien Prat] for trainer Rodolphe Brisset and first-time starter Bay Yaupon [post 3, Junior Alvarado] for trainer Gary Contessa, who won this event [then a Grade 3] with first-time starter Becky’s Joker in 2023.
The Schuylerville is slated as Race 2 on Friday’s 11-race program, which also features the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational in Race 9; the Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban presented by Subourbon in Race 10; the Grade 3, $200,000 Manila in Race 8; and the Listed $150,000 Harvey Pack in Race 11. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
Statistics for the 37-day Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet will include the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
