Indian Pride Outruns Blamed in Shine Again Duel
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Indian Pride scores her first stakes win in the Shine Again Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Brereton C. Jones' homebred Indian Pride earned her first stakes win and ensured trainer Chad Brown a sweep of the July 17 stakes at Saratoga Race Course, when she fended off Blamed in deep stretch to register a half-length victory in the $85,000 Shine Again for older fillies and mares.
Indian Pride's third victory in four career starts gave Brown his third consecutive win on the card, which started when he saddled Viadera and Noor Sahara to a 1-2 finish in the $85,000 De La Rose Stakes. Following Lady Lawyer's allowance win in race 8, Saratoga's reigning two-time leading trainer completed the hat trick in the Shine Again.
Indian Pride broke alertly under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, leading the nine-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in :23.13 and the half in :46.06 on a main track rated fast.
Entering the turn, Joy Epifora briefly took the lead inside, though Castellano encouraged his charge and quickly regained the advantage staying near the rail. But Blamed, the multiple graded stakes winner trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, surged on her outside in the final furlong, seizing the lead for several strides. Indian Pride fought back in the final sixteenth and finally seized control to complete the seven-furlong sprint in a final time of 1:21.63.
"It was a really good ride the way he stayed off the fence a bit and avoided getting hooked by the other speed and just let her do her thing out in the center of the track," Brown said. "That was our plan in the paddock and Javier executed it. And what about the filly—the heart she showed? Most horses would give up and I think we really should give all credit to her."
Off as the 2-1 favorite, Indian Pride returned $6 on a $2 win bet. The 4-year-old Proud Citizen filly improved her bankroll to $157,550, returning to the site where she broke her maiden by eight lengths last August. Her only loss was a third-place finish in the Lexus Raven Run (G2) to cap her sophomore campaign in October at Keeneland.
"She showed what she's made of today. I was really proud of her effort," Brown said. "She's always been a horse that had immense talent. When she broke her maiden here last summer it was breathtaking really, arguably the most impressive win we had last year. She's had some bumps and bruises along the way in terms of the interrupted schedule, but now she has two straight races under her belt and I hope to have her for the whole season."
Javier Castellano praises Indian Pride after the Shine Again Stakes at Saratoga
"She's an unbelievable filly. I have to give all the credit to Mr. Brown," Castellano said. "He put a lot of time and patience into her and it has really paid off. You can see the development with the horse. Last time it was six and a half furlongs at Belmont, now she's stretching out to seven furlongs.
"I really like the way she fought for me today," he continued. "She dictated the pace and then there was pressure to the inside and when Blamed went after her in the stretch and buried her a little bit into the rail, she never gave up. She kept fighting all the way to the end to win the race. She showed me a lot of class and a lot of heart, too."
Cleber J. Massey's Blamed, winner of the 2018 Comely (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack and the 2019 Royal Delta (G3) at Gulfstream Park, was coming off a fourth-place finish in the June 13 Ogden Phipps (G1) at Belmont Park. She bested Risky Mandate by three lengths for second.
Indian Pride is the third stakes winner out of the unraced Indian Charlie mare Ms. Cornstalk. Her siblings include 2010 Canadian Horse of the Year Biofuel (by Stormin Fever), and Tu Endie Wei (by Johar), who captured champion 2-year-old filly honors in Canada in 2011. Both were multiple graded stakes winners.