Raging Sea Finds Easier Task in Small Shuvee Field

The field may be small in the $200,000 Shuvee Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course July 21, but the five fillies and mares entered have an opportunity to pick up a credential-boosting win.

In recent years, the Shuvee has been a showcase of top talents like Letruska , Clairiere , and Nest , proving itself an important local prep on the path to the Personal Ensign Stakes (G1), to be held Aug. 23 this year.

Raging Sea  has always shown plenty of talent, but has yet to breakthrough at the very top level while still running respectably. The 4-year-old daughter of Curlin   receives major class relief in this spot compared to her start in the June 8 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) where she finished fourth behind two champions and a dual grade 1 winner.

Prior to that start, Raging Sea picked up a pair of grade 3 wins for trainer Chad Brown and has earned $675,978 for owner and breeder Alpha Delta Stables.

Omar Aldabbagh and Jeff Ganje's Shotgun Hottie  had a rough start to her 5-year-old season in Arkansas but has rounded back into top form as spring turned to summer.

Following an impressive 5 3/4-length triumph in Pimlico Race Course's Allaire du Pont Distaff Stakes May 17, the daughter of Gun Runner   backed up her class with a narrow neck defeat to the division's rising star, Scylla , in the June 29 Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.

A Shuvee win would be a second at the graded level for the Cherie DeVaux trainee and a seventh lifetime win in 21 starts. Purchased by Ganje for $45,000 at the 2021 Ocala Breeders' Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, Shotgun Hottie has more than returned her investment to the tune of $1,025,657.

Resolute Racing's Misty Veil  is as consistent as they come, hitting the board in seven of her last nine. The 6-year-old Tonalist   mare was cross-entered in Monmouth Park's Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3) July 20, a race that would have matched her against 2023 champion older dirt female Idiomatic , but Misty Veil's connections chose to bypass that meeting. The Shuvee presents an opportunity for the multiple listed stakes winner to pick up her first graded victory in career start 39 while pushing her into millionaire status.

Also eligible to break millionaire status with a victory is NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and Parkland Thoroughbreds' Venti Valentine . The daughter of Firing Line  has experienced most of her success in New York-bred company but has held her own in open company with three graded stakes placings.

R.T Racing Stable's Just Katherine  enters with the least credentials to her name, hence her carrying a field-low 118 pounds. However, the daughter of Justify   could be on the upswing following her first graded placing when second in the Bed o' Roses Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack June 15. She is also cross-entered in the Molly Pitcher.

The Shuvee is race 5 with post time at 3:17 p.m. ET.