Mythical Remains Perfect in G3 Adirdonack at Saratoga

Mythical showed that she’s the real deal at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 3, winning the $175,000 Adirondack Stakes (G3) by 3 1/4 lengths for her third victory in as many starts, all by open lengths. As she did in her first two starts, the Arindel homebred led from gate to wire, facing no serious challenges, her rivals never getting within a length of her. Through speedy fractions of :21.99 and :44.86, Mythical ran fully within herself throughout the 6 1/2 furlongs, and while Emisael Jaramillo, who’s been in the saddle for all of her starts, did go to the crop nearing the eighth pole, the filly essentially coasted home in a handride, hitting the wire in 1:17.20 and paying $3.80 as the odds-on favorite. "She's looking at everything (in the mornings) and saying 'hey, what's up with you,” said trainer Jorge Delagdo. “Every horse. She wants to go eat grass and say, 'hi' to people. She does the same in the race, but Emisael is a really good jockey. He makes sure she knows where the wire is and keeps on going. She's curious, I would say, and that's the way she shows it." Meringue finished second, followed by Spa Prospector, 4 1/4 lengths further back. Tiz in Sight and Angel Gift completed the order of finish. Iron Orchard was scratched. Delgado has spaced out the 2-year-old’s starts, with almost two months coming between her maiden win and the listed Tremont Stakes against males in early June. “She ran huge after getting a good amount of time before her last race,” said Arindel president Brian Cohen. “We wanted to get her from an open stakes to a graded stakes, and it just made sense that if we’re going to put a couple of races close together, it would be this and maybe the Spinaway (G1, at Saratoga on Aug. 30). But I’m not saying that for sure, because she went pretty fast early, and we’ll see how she comes back and we’ll do what’s best for her.” The diminutive bay is by St. Patrick’s Day, a full brother to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. He stood for 10 years at Journeyman Stud in Florida before being purchased by his breeder, Summer Wind Farm. Arindel also bred the filly’s dam, Lailoni (Brethren). Mythical is her first foal. Neither owner nor trainer thinks that stretching out will be a problem for the filly. “Jorge has told me that as little as she is, she’s got a big stride and she does things so easy,” said Cohen. “Maybe she can go a little easier, stretching out a bit after, which would be nice.” "I think she will adjust to whatever you want her to do,” said Delgado. “Today was 6 1/2, so we knew she needed to go from the very beginning. Maybe for the seven furlongs we can restrict her and try to stretch out a little more and find a way to relax her in the beginning. It's going to be a tough task, but I think she's smart enough to learn everything you want to teach her."