Starship Jubilee Keeps Perfect Season Intact
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Photo: Skip Dickstein/Tim Lanahan
Starship Jubilee (outside) wins the Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
An imperfect start could not foil a perfect season for Blue Heaven Farm's reigning Canadian Horse of the Year, Starship Jubilee, in the $194,000 Ballston Spa Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course.
The 7-year-old daughter of Indy Wind carried a three-race win streak into the 1 1/16-mile turf test, where she faced 2018 champion turf mare Sistercharlie among four rivals. But she appeared compromised early when she broke awkwardly under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano and raced a bit rank past the grandstand for the first time while third to the outside of Call Me Love.
"The horse broke sideways, and my (right) foot hit the door," Castellano said. "It was painful. With the pain, I tried to rate the horse and I think I grabbed a little too much. It looked like the horse was keen, but she wasn't."
North Broadway controlled the pace early, leading by 5 1/2 lengths through an opening quarter-mile in :24.29 and extending her advantage to 10 lengths through a half in :48.18 on a firm inner turf course.
Castellano was able to settle Starship Jubilee in a perfect tracking position in third. She raced just a length ahead of seven-time grade 1 winner Sistercharlie, who was sent off as the 2-5 favorite in her first start since a third in the 2019 Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park.
"I had to fight her a little bit," Castellano said. "She's such a great horse. To beat Sistercharlie—she's one of the best fillies in the country. I think we were in the right time and the right place to beat her today. I give all the credit to my horse.
"I decided to be a little more patient and relax the horse. The way the race developed was phenomenal. I like the way she did it. We had to take on a No. 1 horse in the country like Sistercharlie. I think it was the right time today and the right place to beat her, not to take anything from my horse. I'm very satisfied with the way she did it today."
Starship Jubilee was in an all-out drive approaching the far turn and took command from North Broadway at the top of the stretch, with Call Me Love to her inside in second. Call Me Love battled on through the final furlong, but Starship Jubilee came out victorious by a neck in a final time of 1:41.76.
Sistercharlie finished another 1 1/4 lengths back in third, and Bramble Queen and North Broadway rounded out the order of finish. Main-track-only entrant Another Broad was scratched. Starship Jubilee was sent off at odds of 3-1 and returned $8.20 for a $2 win bet.
Trainer Kevin Attard watched the Ballston Spa from his home base at Woodbine and was unable to attend the race due to COVID-19 restrictions.
"I kept saying to the TV, 'Give me a little more, Mama,' and she did," Attard said. "She pinned her ears back and kept that horse at bay. She's just a special horse. She's 7, and a lot of horses as they get older lose a step or two, but, arguably, this horse has gotten better as she's gotten older. She has the will and desire to win, and I'll probably never come across another horse as good as her."
Starship Jubilee, claimed for $16,000 in January 2017, was saddled by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey.
"Shug and his crew did an incredible job helping me out," Attard said. "Considering the situation with COVID this year, it was hard not to be able to send somebody with your own horse. But I was in great hands, and that made the whole experience easier to handle. I'm looking forward to getting her home and evaluating what to do next."
Starship Jubilee finished third in last year's Ballston Spa, beaten a half-length by Significant Form, and followed up with victories in the Canadian Stakes (G2T) and E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine. Her 2020 victories include the March 7 Hillsborough Stakes (G2T) at Tampa Bay Downs, the Feb. 8 Suwannee River Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream Park, and the Jan. 18 Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf, also at Gulfstream.
Attard said the Aug. 23 Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga or the Aug. 15 Dance Smartly Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine could be next for Starship Jubilee. The mare is not nominated to the Breeders' Cup, but her connections are interested in nominating her as a horse of racing age to run in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.
Bred in Florida by William Sorren, Starship Jubilee is out of the unraced Forest Wildcat broodmare Perfectly Wild, whose dam was four-time graded stakes winner Perfect Arc. She enhanced her record to 18-5-3 from 36 starts while scoring an eighth graded stakes victory and increased her earnings to $1,608,667.