As the promising 2-year-old filly Naughty Gal barreled into the stretch at Saratoga Race Course in the $200,000 Adirondack Stakes (G3) Aug. 7, she got a little, well, naughty.
The 8-5 favorite in the 6 1/2-furlong race drifted wide. Then wider. And even wider still.
Watch: Lukas on Naughty Gal’s Adirondack Score
Up in his box in the clubhouse, D. Wayne Lukas, the Hall of Fame trainer, wondered out loud:
"What the hell is she doing way out there?" Lukas said.
And more concern from owner Holy Cow Stables' Himanshu Shukla, who owns the filly along with his wife, Lisa.
"I was really concerned when she blew the turn," Shukla said.
No worries. Despite making a move that looked like jockey Luis Saez was taking Naughty Gal to downtown Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for a late lunch, the filly never lost the lead and won the Spa's second graded stakes race for juvenile fillies by 2 1/2 lengths. The winning effort marked the stakes debut for the daughter of Into Mischief , who was bred in Florida by Loren Nichols.
"She was a little green," Saez said. "At the three-eighths, her ear was back-and-forth. (She was) looking at something and she got a little lost, but she kept running and going."
When Naughty Gal wandered, it appeared as though the Mark Casse-trained Janis Joplin would take advantage and get to the wire first as she attempted to rally in the stretch. Casse thought so.
"I thought we had a good shot," he said as he exited the clubhouse. "Then, I couldn't tell if we were in front or who was in front."
Prevailing was Naughty Gal, whose stride never wavered as she gobbled up the ground in the middle of the track. The filly out of stakes winner Conway Two Step by Spanish Steps won for the second time in three starts. She broke her maiden by 9 1/4 lengths at Churchill Downs on the Fourth of July to become the fifth winner for her mare.
"She is talented," Lukas said. "She was able to overcome it."
As to why the filly moved out six wide entering the stretch, Lukas said that Saez told him he did not want to be down on the rail. With that in mind, when Saez came into the stretch, he pointed her off the rail, but then he and Naughty Gal just kept drifting.
"He was wider than he wanted to be," Lukas said. "I think it probably made it look worse than it was."
Saez and Naughty Gal, sent off the 7-5 favorite in the field of six, broke sharply from the gate and set a comfortable pace of :22.46 and :46.15 in the 6 1/2-furlong test. They would finish the race in 1:18.97 on the fast track.
For Lukas, this is his record seventh win in the Adirondack, a feat he, at first, shrugged off. When pressed, the 86-year-old admitted it meant something.
"It means that seven times I outlasted the other guy," he said. "I am proud of it, absolutely. Anytime you can win one of these ... well, these young guys will eclipse all of the records."
Janis Joplin, who went off at 7-1, held second for Flavien Prat, and finished a head in front of Sabra Tuff and Irad Ortiz Jr. She was followed by Apple Picker and Damaso. Promise of Hope was eased and pulled up under a protective hold by jockey Jose Ortiz. She was vanned off.
"I'm happy for Wayne," Casse said. "If we're not going to win, I want Wayne."
This was the first graded stakes win for Holy Cow Stable, which is based in Phoenix. It was also the stable's first win at Saratoga. Shukla, a cardiologist in Phoenix, has been associated with Lukas for 10 years. Holy Cow purchased Naughty Gal for $350,000 at this year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, where she was consigned by Pick View, agent.
Lukas said Naughty Gal will likely go to either Keeneland for the $500,000 Darley Alcibiades (G1) at 1 1/16 miles Oct. 7 or the $300,000 Pocahontas (G3) at Churchill Downs Sept. 17.
Full-Circle Moment for Fiore
Lukas did more than attend to the business of winning races Sunday at The Spa. As he is known to do, the veteran conditioner also took a moment to cultivate the next generation of fans when he obliged 11-year-old Nicholas Fiore with a photo near the winner's circle after his Adirondack Stakes score.
It was 30 years ago when another young man, now 44-year-old Jonathan Fiore, got his photo taken in the same spot with Lukas.
"I was explaining to my son who D. Wayne Lukas is, because not every day do you see D. Wayne Lukas up here in a stakes race," Fiore said. "And I explained Mr. Pletcher worked for him, and all these great guys, and you know we couldn't believe (he won).
"That picture we took must be a Polaroid somewhere. I was with my Grandpa. My mom has it."
That makes Nicholas Fiore a fourth-generation racing fan. He said he loves the excitement of the sport.
"We pass it on, we're big fans," his father said. —Claire Crosby
