The week leading up to the $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) billed it as a heavyweight rematch between Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Always a Runner and Acorn Stakes (G1) winner Counting Stars.
The race lived up to the hype.
A large Saratoga Race Course crowd that packed the apron full were treated to an outstanding battle as the two fillies turned for home together, Always a Runner sneaking inside a pacesetting Counting Stars. However, it was West Point Thoroughbreds' Counting Stars who proved the more tenacious, digging in to repel her rival and win their rubber match by a widening 4 1/4 lengths.
The excitement of a classic battle thrilled even the most seasoned of veterans, including dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Watching the early part of the race on a television in the winner's circle, he couldn't resist turning around and running over to the rail to watch with his own eyes as his Counting Stars took the lead in the race for Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly.
"It was great for racing to see the two of them go at it," Casse said. "We said all along this week that this was 'Round 3: The Rubber Match.' That's what happened. Luckily, we ended up on the right side of it."
Despite having traded blows with Chad Brown-trained Always a Runner in the past, finishing third behind her in the Kentucky Oaks before defeating her in the Acorn, Casse entered the race exuding confidence.
"Chad is one of the best trainers of all-time. I knew coming in he was going to be ready for us," Casse said. "I knew Chad would have Always a Runner better today, but I felt we were better today as well.
"Somebody asked me what the difference between a decent horse and a good horse is; the good ones continue to get better. She's getting better and better. She doesn't need any help. If there's no speed, she'll go to the lead. If there is speed, she'll sit off of them. That makes her special."
It was the former scenario that presented itself Saturday afternoon after the scratches of La Rascasse and Directive left the field seven-filly field without a definitive pacesetter on paper. While talking with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Casse thought back to the instructions he gave Jose Ortiz with another star filly in the barn, Nitrogen, prior to her 12 3/4-length win in the June 5 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1).
"When we ran Nitrogen, I said to Jose, 'Let's go. If we're the best, they're going to have to run us down,'" Casse said. "That's what I felt with this filly."
Casse noted that the daughter of Honor A. P. does not like to be wrangled back, and that breaking well from the rail was key. Ortiz Jr. got himself in forward position and beat brother Jose aboard Always a Runner to the clubhouse turn. The Kentucky Oaks winner then eased back and allowed Zany to track in second.
Counting Stars, who was the even money favorite, got in a rhythmic pace of :23.86, :47.60, and 1:11.55. As they approached the quarter pole, Jose Ortiz had Always a Runner on the move, but Irad Ortiz Jr. was patient.
The two fillies turned for home in a showdown, Ortiz Jr. waiting for his brother to come up to him to ask his filly for her best. Always a Runner took command briefly as the two bumped together, causing Casse to question for just a brief moment if he could get beat.
"When that filly went by her, for a second I was like, 'No, you're better than this, girl,'" Casse said. "Irad told me he was sitting there waiting, and when Jose came to him, he said, 'Come on, girl.' She kind of hesitated for a moment and he said, 'I know you're better than this,' and he went with her. Then she took off."
Ortiz Jr., who earned his fifth of six wins on the 12-race card in the CCA Oaks, got the response he needed and was able to put away Always a Runner.
"I want to bide a little more time, and then I feel somebody, so I start going, (that was the) first time I asked her to go forward, which she did," Ortiz Jr. said. "I looked, and when I looked, it was the other filly to beat and Jose, so I said, 'Let's go.' He was already there (coming up the rail), nothing I can do. When we kicked, he kicked. I said, 'No way, I can clear him.' So, it was going to be a battle for me. Then we turned for home, I start working on her and she opened up 2 lengths, I said, 'Alright, let her be her,' and she got the job done."
Counting Stars flashed across the wire in 1:48.98, paying $4.06 to win.
Reacting to the defeat, Brown said he wished that Three Chimneys Farm and Douglas Scharbauer's Always a Runner did not end up on the rail throughout the majority of the race, saying he felt the inside had not been benefitting horses throughout the card. Still, he gave props to the winner.
"It's not the way I thought the race would unfold. She had her chance at the top of the lane, and she just couldn't finish with the other filly, that's the bottom line," Brown said of the Gun Runner filly. "The winner ran terrific and Irad rode a masterful race. He was way off the rail and sort of baited us in there or forced us in there and we went there. It wasn't the best spot to be. I'm not sure the result would have been different, but I would have rather not been there."
Casse would complete the trifecta with Gary Barber, Bridlewood Farm, and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Measure, who was making her stakes debut. Casse had said leading into the race that the Essential Quality filly was one they always believed in, but just lacked too much early speed. Believing she'd love the 1 1/4 miles of the Aug. 22 Alabama Stakes (G1), the CCA Oaks was designed to be a class test, which she passed by earning the grade 1 placing.
"She just gets better and better," Casse said. "I'm proud of her as well."
Both Casse fillies will move on to the $600,000 Alabama, a race he won last year with eventual 3-year-old filly champion Nitrogen. Casse presented Counting Stars the highest praise in the winner's circle by drawing comparisons between the two.
"She's grown up and she just does everything," Casse said. "She reminds me a lot of Nitrogen. She does things normal horses don't do."
Counting Stars earned a second grade 1 victory this season for her sire, Honor A. P., who stood the 2026 season at Lane's End Farm for a $7,500 fee. Bred in Kentucky by HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud, she is the first foal out of the winning Paynter mare Paynterbynumbers.
West Point purchased Counting Stars for $150,000 out of the Wildheart Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2025 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. She now hold a record of 6-1-1 from 10 starts for purse earnings of $1,660,606.
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