Orbolution Heads P.G. Johnson Field of Seven

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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Orbolution breaks her maiden in a turf maiden race July 23 at Saratoga

StarLadies Racing's Orbolution is set to make her stakes debut in Saratoga Race Course's Aug. 31 feature, the $100,000 P. G. Johnson for 2-year-old fillies.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Orbolution is the only entry in the seven-horse field to have previously contested the P. G. Johnson distance of 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf, which she did when she scored her maiden by 2 1/2 lengths July 23.

After starting her career with back-to-back third-place efforts on dirt, Orbolution will look to go two-for-two on turf at the Spa, drawing post 3 with Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez aboard.

The daughter of Orb  was a $370,000 purchase during the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale and is from her sire's first crop.

Robert Masterson's Wild N Ready will be looking for her first win after rallying to place third in her debut Aug. 11 at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf. Off a quick turnaround for trainer Mark Casse, the More Than Ready  filly drew the outside post with Julien Leparoux.

"We expect her to move forward off her last race, she was compromised last time, ironically by her own horse, (stablemate Bridaled Temper)," said Norm Casse, assistant and son of the trainer. "If you watch the head-on, she pushed her out to the middle going into the turn. But she's come back and is training really well. She's breezed awesome and she should be ready.

"We want to get a two-turn race, we feel she'd be much better going two turns," he added.

Life Time Citizen is the field's most experienced runner and the only one with stakes experience, coming off a fourth-place effort in the Bolton Landing Stakes Aug. 16. The Phil Serpe trainee, who started her career on dirt before earning her maiden win on turf, will break from post 4 with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard.

Mentality won her debut June 16 at Belmont Park and looks to go 2-for-2 for trainer Wesley Ward. A New York-bred daughter of Freud , she will break from the rail with Ricardo Santana Jr. in the irons.

Rounding out the field is Florida-bred Oldfashioned Style for trainer Gary Contessa from post 2; Romantic Babe, a debut winner for trainer David Donk out of post 5; and Sassy Sienna, who also won her first start for trainer Brad Cox, out of post 6.


Entries: P. G. Johnson S.

Saratoga Race Course, Thursday, August 31, 2017, Race 9

  • STK
  • 1 1/16m
  • Inner turf
  • $100,000
  • 2 yo Fillies
  • 5:40 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Mentality (NY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 120 Wesley A. Ward 5/2
2 2Oldfashioned Style (FL) Luis Saez 118 Gary C. Contessa 15/1
3 3Orbolution (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate John R. Velazquez 120 Todd A. Pletcher 2/1
4 4Life Time Citizen (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Irad Ortiz, Jr. 120 Philip M. Serpe 5/1
5 5Romantic Babe (KY) Manuel Franco 120 David G. Donk 9/2
6 6Sassy Sienna (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Javier Castellano 120 Brad H. Cox 8/1
7 7Wild N Ready (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 116 Mark E. Casse 6/1