Taking Charge Early, Haughty Superior in Lake Placid

A change in running style resulted in a changed outcome for Haughty  in the $200,000 Lake Placid Stakes (G2T) Aug. 20 at Saratoga Race Course.

With Jose Ortiz subbing for Joel Rosario, who took off his mounts due to illness, Haughty shot straight the lead in the Lake Placid, contrasting to how she ran when she stalked the pace and weakened to ninth under Flavien Prat in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) July 9 at Belmont Park.

That day, the Chad Brown trainee finished 6 1/2 lengths behind runner-up With The Moonlight , who went to post as the favorite in the Lake Placid.

This time, it was Haughty who finished in front of With The Moonlight, winning by three-quarters of a length over the public choice, with Haughty's stablemate Dolce Zel  checking in 1 1/4 lengths back in third. Another Brown trainee, Consumer Spending , ran fourth.

Haughty capitalized on a slow break by inside-drawn runners Sail By  and With The Moonlight, both of whom had been expected to be on or near the lead. This allowed Naughty to cruise to an uncontested lead in the 1 1/16-mile turf race with splits of :24.52, :48.80, and 1:12.65. Challenged at the head of the lane, she repelled her challengers.

"I felt like I broke better. I just let her go, you know," Ortiz said of his mount in a post-race interview with Maggie Wolfendale. "We had three other horses in the race, and I felt like I was the best one breaking out of there. So it was my job to got out there and take an easy lead. I think that was the key to win the race."

Timed in 1:41.16 for the distance, she returned $13.40 to win.

Chad Brown, who won this event for the fourth consecutive time following scores with Rushing Fall  (2018), Regal Glory (2019), who finished in a dead heat with Varenka , and Technical Analysis  (2021). The Lake Placid was not contested in 2020.

The victory was the third in six starts for Haughty, a 3-year-old daughter of Empire Maker  who races for owners Bradley Thoroughbreds, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Cambron Equine, and Team Hanley. Third in last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), Haughty took the one-mile Penn Oaks in her 3-year-old debut, her start preceding the 1 1/4-mile Belmont Oaks.

"She was a bit unlucky in the Breeders' Cup on short rest and a wide trip in there. I thought maybe she could've won the race as a 2-year-old," Brown said. "We had been waiting for the right race to get her back in form. She had a couple of excuses this year. She ran on very soft turf at (Penn National), and I ran her too far in the Belmont Oaks. We have her at a distance that she's comfortable with today, and she delivered."

Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds, Naughty is among six winners from eight foals to race out of the Kingmambo mare Soaring Emotions. Years before Haughty, she produced stakes winner and $427,640 earner Souper Colossal, who was also twice graded placed.

The dam's two youngest foals are both by Hard Spun, a yearling colt, and a filly born this year.

The winner was a $330,000 purchase by Bradley Thoroughbreds from the Julie Davies consignment to the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2021 Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training

Video: Lake Placid S. (G2T)