Annapolis Commands Attention With Saratoga Maiden Win

Annapolis , a War Front   colt out of grade 2 winner My Miss Sophia , made a sparkling debut Sept. 4 in a $100,000 maiden special weight on the turf at Saratoga Race Course.

The 2-year-old Todd Pletcher trainee closed with a strong rally after tracking eighth behind opening fractions of :24.33 and :49.68 set by I'll Figure It Out , and quickened to get the lead outside the furlong marker in the 1 1/16-mile inner turf test. After tipping out four wide around the turn, he kicked clear outside the sixteenth pole and drew away under steady urging from jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. to win by 4 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:43.47 on a firm course. Nyquest Nix  was second, while Ohtwoohthreefive  completed the trifecta a length back.

Sent off at odds of 6-5, the Bass Racing homebred returned $4.70 on a $2 win ticket. 

"He had a great turn of foot, kept going to the wire, and galloped out nicely," Pletcher said during the winner's circle interview on Saratoga Live. "It was pretty much everything you could hope for in a debut."

Bred in Kentucky, Annapolis is the second foal out of My Miss Sophia, who won the 2014 Gazelle Stakes (G2) and ran second that year to Untapable  in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). Her first foal, a full sister to Annapolis named Nevisian Sunrise , was third in June in the Wild Applause Stakes on the Belmont Park lawn for breeder Alpha Delta Stables and trainer Chad Brown. The mare dropped a full brother to the pair April 23 and was bred back to War Front for 2022.

My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song) was a $4 million purchase by agent Steve Young from the Lane's End consignment to the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where she was carrying Annapolis in utero. Bred by John Gunther, she is a half sister to 2015 Besilu Stables Florida Derby (G1) winner Materiality , from the family of grade 1 winners Afleet Express  and Embellish the Lace , and multiple graded stakes-winning, grade 1-placed Eye of the Tiger .