Chi Town Lady Tops Ward Exacta in Bolton Landing
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Chi Town Lady wins the Bolton Landing Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Trainer Wesley Ward saddled Chi Town Lady and Poppy Flower to a 1-2 finish in the $120,000 Bolton Landing Stakes, winning the Saratoga Race Course event for the fourth time in seven runnings.
Castleton Lyons' Chi Town Lady entered the 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for juvenile fillies off a three-length debut score on Keeneland's main track. John Velazquez retained the mount on the Verrazano daughter and tracked in third as Poppy Flower, under Jose Ortiz, blitzed through an opening quarter-mile in :22.43 and a half in :46.54 on yielding turf. The 2-1 favorite Fulminate put pressure on the leader, racing close in second.
Poppy Flower led to the top of the lane with Fulminate fanning six wide out of the turn as Velazquez angled Chi Town Lady outside the pacesetter. A number of rivals, including Derrynane , Stand Up Comic , and Kneesnhips , also lined up for their bids.
Once straightened, Chi Town Lady reeled in her stablemate under right-handed encouragement and pounced to a 1 3/4-length score in a final time of 1:05.87. She paid $12.80 for a $2 win ticket.
"They both ran great races. I think (Chi Town Lady) is better on the grass; it's where she was always meant to be," Ward said. "Unfortunately, she had some minor shin issues that kept her from Ascot, which was originally the plan. It afforded me the time to let her come around and she did what she did today. She was great."
Velazquez, who picked up a third Bolton Landing score, said a slow start hampered his early positioning.
"We broke horrible out of the gate, so that was the first thing, and the soft turf, she was having a hard time getting a hold of it for the first quarter of a mile," Velazquez said. "I thought she was going to be closer than that and she came out of there slow. But I worked her here on the grass and she worked nicely. By the time I got to the three-eighths pole, she got comfortable and it felt like she was going well and I was confident she would get there."
Kneesnhips completed the trifecta, three lengths in arrears of Poppy Flower.
Last year, Ward sent out Amanzi Yimpilo to a third-place finish in the Bolton Landing ahead of a score in the Speakeasy Stakes at Santa Anita. Ward said he will follow a similar plan with either Chi Town Lady or Poppy Flower in this year's Oct. 1 Speakeasy, which awards the winner a berth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T).
"I was really proud of both horses," Ward said. "I always like to look at the 'Win and You're In' races. One of them will go to California and get one of those. I sent Amanzi Yimpilo out there last year and won, so I'd like to do it again this year."
Bred in Kentucky by Castleton Lyons, Kilboy Estate, and Gavin Tierney, Chi Town Lady is out of the stakes-placed Harlan's Holiday mare Toni's Hollyday. The dam has since produced a yearling Mendelssohn colt, who is entered in the Keeneland September Yearling Sale with Paramount Sales, and in March foaled a Liam's Map colt. She was bred to Game Winner for 2022.
Chi Town Lady has earned $102,000 from going 2-for-2 to start her career.