Deep Satin (#3) gamely scores the first division of the De La Rose. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)
Mary Eddy
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Bridlewood Farm’s Group 3-placed Sandtrap exits Grade 1 company in search of her first stakes win in Friday’s Listed $150,000 De La Rose, an inner turf mile restricted to older fillies and mares who have not won a graded stakes in 2025-26, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, the Lope de Vega 4-year-old exits a 3 1/2-length sixth at 4-1 odds in the Grade 1 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing on June 6 over course and distance. There, the Clement Lecoeuvre-piloted Mandanaba squeezed up a tight opening into the first turn along the inside of Sandtrap, who took up and then raced keenly through the early stages under a snug hold from Manny Franco in fourth. Sandtrap never settled and ran evenly when asked for her best in the final turn as Classic Q won by 1 1/4 lengths.
“He [Lecoeuvre] pulled back from the four post and then rushed her up behind the one [Classic Q] and took our spot along the fence,” Brown explained. “It created a very tight, dangerous situation in the first turn. We were between horses and pulling – it was a wild move what he did. It’s not where we wanted to be, in-between horses and pulling, so hopefully she gets a better trip this time.”
Sandtrap was initially trained by Ralph Beckett through two juvenile starts in Europe that yielded a win on debut sprinting seven furlongs in September 2024 at Salisbury and a good second to subsequent dual Group/Grade 1-winner Gezora in the Group 3 Prix des Reservoirs in that October at Deauville. She was then away from the races for 18 months before resurfacing in the Brown barn for a successful stateside debut on April 18, taking a one-mile first-level allowance by 4 1/2 lengths at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Sandtrap has worked back three times since the Just a Game, including a half-mile breeze in 49.40 seconds on July 4 over the Spa’s Oklahoma dirt training track.
Out of the Brown-trained Grade 2-winner Zindaya, Sandtrap is a full-sister to the Brown-trained multiple Grade 1-winner Carl Spackler, who stands stud at Lane’s End in Kentucky. Sandtrap sold for $570,622 from Book 1 at the 2023 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
Flavien Prat rides from post 4.
The formidable Deep Satin [post 9, Jose Ortiz] has made each of her last five starts in graded company – three of them Grade 1s – and won one of last year’s two divisions of this race by a neck over In Our Time, who finished third in Saturday’s Grade 2 Caress here.
Trained by Cherie DeVaux for owners John Gunther and breeder Eurowest Bloodstock, the 5-year-old American Pharoah bay just missed in the one-mile Grade 1 First Lady in October at Keeneland, finishing a half-length fourth to Simply in Front while headed out of third by Grade 1-winner Choisya. Last out, she finished a 2 1/2-length fourth in the Just a Game, where she was steadied near the three-eighths pole and made a late run from last-of-eight.
Also exiting Grade 1 company is Twin Oaks Bloodstock’s Hang the Moon [post 2, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], who finished a closing fourth in the nine-furlong Gamely on May 25 at Santa Anita Park.
The 6-year-old Uncle Mo bay makes her fourth appearance for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., who took over from trainer Phil D’Amato after the mare sold for $625,000 at the Keeneland Breeding Stock Sale in November. She won a pair of Grade 2s for her previous conditioner, capturing the John C. Mabee at Del Mar and Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita in back-to-back efforts in 2024.
This year, she won her barn debut in a 1 1/16-mile turf optional claimer in February at Gulfstream Park, and landed a neck second in the Listed Sand Springs over the same course and distance in March ahead of her Gamely effort, where she was nosed out of show honors by Take A Breath.
“I thought she made a move like she might run second or at least third, but she got nailed right at the wire,” Joseph, Jr. said. “It was costly to miss that Grade 1 placing, but hopefully we get that done this year.
“Her first start was very good in the allowance, and then she came back in the stake and just missed and had to wait a little long in there,” Joseph, Jr. added. “The effort in California was just kind of OK, so hopefully we can build on it.”
The consistent Proctor Street [post 7, Tyler Gaffalione] has hit the board in three consecutive graded tilts, including a half-length second to Sweet Treasure last out in the Grade 3 Mint Julep on May 30 at Churchill Downs for trainer Brendan Walsh.
A Kentucky homebred for Patricia Moseley, the 5-year-old Street Sense mare has logged Beyer Speed Figures of 90 or better in seven of her last eight starts, topped by 93s in the Mint Julep, the Grade 3 Modesty [third] two starts back, and a win in the Listed Cardinal over returning rival Awesome Czech in November at Churchill. In March, she was a neck third to Destino d’Oro in the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs.
Proctor Street boasts a 3-2-0-1 local record, including an impressive two-length optional claiming victory from last-of-7 last July. She is out of the three-time graded stakes-winning mare Proctor’s Ledge, who won the Grade 3 Lake George and Grade 2 Lake Placid here in 2017 for these connections.
The lone Grade 1-winner in the field is Like Oak Plantation’s And One More Time [post 3, John Velazquez], who boasts a win in Woodbine Racetrack’s one-mile Natalma in 2024 for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.
The 4-year-old Omaha Beach dark bay was a three-length fifth in the Just a Game after going three-wide in both turns, and entered that race from a three-quarter-length victory in the one-mile Listed Plenty of Grace on April 17 at Aqueduct. She is 3-for-4 at Friday’s distance.
Another contender with strong Saratoga form is Barry Schwartz’s New York homebred Awesome Czech [post 8, Ricardo Santana, Jr.], who is 4-for-5 over the Spa turf, including 1 1/16-mile state-bred stakes victories in the 2024 Suzie O’Cain and last year’s Yaddo for trainer Horacio De Paz. Last out, she was a three-length sixth in the Grade 3 Gallorette on May 16 at Laurel Park, where she made her return from a four-month respite.
Last year, the 5-year-old daughter of Mendelssohn posted a solid 7-3-2-2 record, led by her Yaddo win and an additional state-bred stakes score in the Ticonderoga in October at Belmont at the Big A. She also landed on-the-board in two open-company stakes, including her three-quarter-length second to Proctor Street in the aforementioned Cardinal.
“She’s doing good. She tied up on us [after the Gallorette], so coming back from the layoff has been a little tricky, but she’s very consistent,” De Paz said. “She’s coming back into form. Her races in open company have been good, and when we took her to Churchill, she really stepped up down there after having a long year.”
Completing the stacked field are New York-bred stakes-winner Being Betty [post 10, Luis Saez] for trainer Lisa Bartkowski; stakes-placed Salty Senorita [post 1, Edgard Zayas] for trainer Mike Maker; and allowance-level winners Table Flirt [post 5, Junior Alvarado] for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and the Billy Morey-trained Long Ago [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche].
Scalable, Bernietakescharge, With the Angels and Going Steady are entered for the main track only.
The De La Rose is slated as Race 9 on Friday’s 10-race program. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
Saratoga Live presents daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.
NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.
