SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Owner Alex Lieblong said he is hopeful that his filly Wicked Whisper can make a good showing in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Longines Test at Saratoga Race Course, where she will attempt a second Grade 1 victory.
Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the daughter of second crop sire Liam’s Map won last year’s Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont Park after winning on debut at the Spa. Following a fifth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Wicked Whisper did not return to action until July, where she was a distant fourth in the Grade 3 Beaumont at Keeneland.
“She needed the race, but with this bunch, she better have her running shoes on,” said Lieblong, who owns Wicked Whisper with his wife JoAnn. “She came out of the Breeders’ Cup with a splint on one side and then she ended up with a splint on her other side. So Steve has nursed her along and gave her the time she needed. Hopefully she’ll show up. It’s a tough bunch she’s up against.”
Lieblong, a native of Hot Springs, Arkansas, is no stranger to Grade 1 success at the Spa having owned two-time Sword Dancer winner Telling [2009-10]; The Big Beast, who won the 2014 King’s Bishop [now the H. Allen Jerkens]; and 2015 Alabama victor Embellish the Lace.
Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. piloted Wicked Whisper to her debut victory and will be reunited with the chestnut filly from post 4 in the six-horse field.
NYRA Press Release
Photo: Wicked Whisper wins the 2019 Frizette at Belmont. Credit: Coglianese Photos/Joe Labozzetta
