Adirondack Winner Brightwork on Target for Spinaway

The dominating win by Brightwork  in the Adirondack Stakes (G3) wasn't unexpected by trainer John Ortiz. The second graded stakes race for 2-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course went the way Ortiz thought it would.

Brightwork, a daughter of Outwork  , romped to a five-length victory for owners Bill and Tammy Simon's WSS Racing. Next up will be the $300,000 Spinaway Stakes (G1) Sept. 3.

On Aug. 20, Brightwork, with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. on board, worked four furlongs in :52.1, her first work since winning the Adirondack.

"It was just a nice maintenance half," John Ortiz said outside his barn on the Saratoga backstretch Sunday. "She galloped out another half mile after that. She is feeling great."

When Brightwork came to Saratoga, she had won a maiden race at Keenland by three lengths April 26 and then the listed Debutante Stakes at Ellis Park by a half length July 2. She has not been favored in any of her three starts.

In the Adirondack, she was sent off as the 5-1 fourth choice in the field of eight. 

"Just what happened," John Ortiz said when asked what he expected going into the race. "We were very confident going in there. We knew what we had. This is a good horse."

The victory was the first graded stakes win for Simon, the former Walmart CEO. He has been involved in racing since 2017.

Last year, his Barber Road  was a player on the Triple Crown trail, finishing second in the Southwest Stakes (G2), third in the Rebel Stakes (G2) and second in the Arkansas Derby (G1). He was sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and seventh in the Belmont Stakes (G1).

"It's really nice to break through," Simon, who was at the barn Sunday, said. "This has really been an interesting adventure."

Ortiz, who is based in Kentucky, has seven horses stabled at Saratoga. 

Brightwork has already shown what she can do sprinting. When she gets to two turns, things could get even better.

"She could really shine when she gets two turns," said Simon, who puts the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) as the endgame for the season. "When I was talking to Johnny before (the Adirondack), I told him I was nervous. He said to me that when you play poker, you never know what the other guy has, but you know what you have. We've got a good hand."

"We think the sky is the limit," John Ortiz said. "Everything about her...she has a really good frame for a race horse. Her mind is incredible and is very smart and friendly. I told Bill the other day that we have fillies and they are sassy. She has sass, but is a lot kinder than some of the others. She loves life."