Fully Subscribed's Late Kick Delivers Shuvee Win
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher
Fully Subscribed rallies to win the Shuvee Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Scottish Lassie 's affinity for Saratoga Race Course seemed fully engaged with a furlong to go in the $250,000 Shuvee Stakes, her fiercest competitor 3 lengths behind her. But that competitor, Fully Subscribed , was just getting started and in seven strides claimed the victory.
Fully Subscribed, a 4-year-old daughter of Tiz the Law🔥 , won her third career graded stakes for Klaravich Stables, and gave trainer Chad Brown his third win on the July 24 card. Never out of the money in eight starts, Fully Subscribed has now won half of her starts with earnings elevated to $763,800.
Bettors could not separate Fully Subscribed and Scottish Lassie, who traded the mantle of favoritism with every refresh of the tote board. At the break, Scottish Lassie was the slight favorite at 7-5 versus Fully Subscribed at 8-5.
Longshot Snowyte , a 4-year-old filly by Good Magic and homebred for Don Alberto Stable, took the lead early as the field entered the first turn of the 1 1/8-mile race and set the early fractions of :23.72, :47.98, and 1:11.75, with Scottish Lassie stalking her throughout. At the top of the stretch, Scottish Lassie passed a tiring Snowyte and appeared in a strong position to capture her third win at the Spa.
Also, as the field entered the stretch, jockey Flavien Prat moved Fully Subscribed into the middle of the track to give her all the room she needed to make her run. She unleashed and quickly erased Scottish Lassie's 3-length advantage to win by half a length. Snowyte stayed on for third, and the final time was 1:49.46 on the fast main track.
"Turning for home, it looked like (Scottish Lassie) opened up on me and, at that point, I thought I was going to run second," Prat said. "In the last eighth of a mile, sixteenth of a mile, she found another gear."
"I wasn't sure she'd get there, because, I mean, that's a really high-quality horse to run down there," said Brown, referring to Scottish Lassie. "But once she got off the rail, I figured it would be close at the finish because I know this filly, once she gets in the clear, she does her best running."
Fully Subscribed came into the Shuvee off two seconds to equally tough competitors. She was runner-up to Shred the Gnar in the May 1 La Troienne Stakes (G1) and dead-heated for second with Bless the Broken in the June 5 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) behind Nitrogen .
"Her first two starts of the year were terrific. She just ran into two really, really good fillies who ran terrific that day," Brown said. "Today, she ran into another top filly and was able to get the better of her."
Video: Shuvee S. (G2)
Chummers Holds On in Rick Violette
Prat followed his win in the Shuvee with another in the next race, the $200,000 Rick Violette Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds run at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Another battle to the wire unfolded in this race, but Prat was in the lead on Blue Bison Stable's Chummers . They held off a late challenge from Caroline St. Beat to win by a neck in a final time of 1:40.61.
"He had a monster work last week. I guess he showed up today with it. What a great ride by Flavien," winning trainer Ray Handal said. "I thought (Caroline St. Beat) was going to go by, to be honest. I was like, 'You know what? We're definitely going to run second,' and at the sixteenth pole, I'm like, 'C'mon! Get in there!' He dug in, Flavien never gave up on him, he rode him all the way through, and it worked out."