Dalika Takes Another Step Up in Glens Falls
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Photo: Chad B. Harmon
Dalika wins the Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes at Delaware Park
The top three finishers in the Robert G. Dick Memorial (G3T), led by Bal Mar Equine's Dalika , will try to transfer their form from the Delaware turf to the New York lawn in the $250,000 Glens Falls Stakes (G2T) Aug. 7 at Saratoga Race Course.
Saturday's 1 1/2-mile event for older fillies and mares on the inner turf will be a step up for Dalika. The German-bred mare, who earned a grade 2 placing in 2019, won her first graded race last out July 10 at Delaware Park when racing 1 3/8 miles. She dueled near the lead before finishing a length in front of Catherine Wills' Luck Money , trained by Arnaud Delacour, while Temple City Terror rallied for third.
"She was pressed all the way by a longshot, every step of the way. I figured that would soften her up but she put that horse away and kind of rebroke again in the stretch and outran some nice fillies," said Dalika's trainer, Al Stall Jr. "That's what gave us a little confidence coming up here."
Before finishing third in the Robert G. Dick, Pocket Aces Racing's Temple City Terror got the better of Dalika by three-quarters of a length when racing 1 1/2 miles in the May 22 Keertana Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs.
"She's a nice filly. She's really done well since we stretched her out," said trainer Brendan Walsh. "Last time she had a tough trip at Delaware. She got in a little traffic and I think with a smoother trip, we would have been close. The filly that beat us is a very good filly, too. We beat her at Churchill and it was her turn at Delaware. There's not much between them."
The top three finishers in the Robert G. Dick all received race-day Lasix. All three will not receive Lasix Saturday, as the diuretic is not permitted.
In Dalika's only other race at the Glens Falls distance, she was fifth in the April 23 Bewitch Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland, and Saturday she'll again face that day's 3 3/4-length winner War Like Goddess , who is the 8-5 morning-line favorite off that eye-catching win.
George Krikorian's War Like Goddess, trained by Bill Mott, has not raced since the Bewitch, but is a back-to-back graded winner having also won the March 27 Orchid Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream Park.
Also entered off a pair of wins is R Unicorn Stable's Call Me Love , who won the 1 1/2-mile River Memories Stakes by a nose July 11 at Belmont Park. The Christophe Clement trainee was also a head victor in a May 23 allowance optional claimer at Belmont.
Trainer Chad Brown has never won the Glens Falls. He'll try to win the race for the first time with a pair of runners in Peter Brant's My Sister Nat , who is searching for her first win since winning on the same course and distance last August in the Waya Stakes (G3T), and Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Caruso's Orglandes .
My Sister Nat, 3-1 on the morning line, was second in the Glens Falls last year when it was run at 1 3/8 miles. She rallied over yielding turf to be third in her most recent start, the June 4 New York Stakes (G2T) at Belmont.
"She likes the course. I think that's important," Brown said. "I much prefer to have a horse that's experienced over this turf course. She should be good."
Orglandes will try to rebound from a sixth-place finish in her only start this year, the May 1 Sheepshead Bay Stakes (G2T) at Belmont. She won her stakes debut last fall when she shipped to Del Mar to take the Red Carpet Handicap (G3T).
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 07, 2021, Race 7Entries: Glens Falls S. (G2T)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Call Me Love (GB)
Junior Alvarado
120
Christophe Clement
8/1
2
2Temple City Terror (KY)
Tyler Gaffalione
120
Brendan P. Walsh
6/1
3
3War Like Goddess (KY)
Julien R. Leparoux
124
William I. Mott
8/5
4
4Orglandes (FR)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
120
Chad C. Brown
10/1
5
5My Sister Nat (FR)
Jose L. Ortiz
120
Chad C. Brown
3/1
6
6Dalika (GER)
Miguel Mena
122
Albert M. Stall, Jr.
9/2
7
7Luck Money (KY)
Javier Castellano
120
Arnaud Delacour
8/1
