Survie Takes Glens Falls in United States Debut

When the mile fraction in a mile-and-a-half race on firm turf is posted as 1:44.55, it does not bode well for the closers in the field. But frigid fractions in the $250,000 Glens Falls Stakes (G2T) for fillies and mares melted away in the heat of a red-hot closing kick from 2-1 favorite Survie (IRE). Making her first start in the United States, the group 1-placed mare rallied from sixth in the face of dawdling fractions and registered a 1 3/4-length victory in the Aug. 2 Glens Falls at Saratoga Race Course. The turf stakes was originally scheduled for July 30 but was pushed to Sunday due to torrential rain that soaked the Spa's turf courses two days earlier. The delay did not faze Survie, who was coming off a string of four straight losses in European and Asian stakes at shorter distances for owner Michael Tabor and trainer George Boughey. One of them was a Feb. 14 third in the $3 million Neom Turf Cup (G1) in Saudi Arabia. "I had a great trip," jockey Flavien Prat said after Sunday's win. "The pace was slow, but at that point there's nothing I can do about it. You turn for home and you know everybody is going to sprint home and she outsprinted them. … She really sprinted." The performance impressed Boughey enough that he is pondering running Survie against males Aug. 15 in the 1 1/2-mile Christophe Clement Turf Stakes (G1T) at the Spa. "Back up to the mile and a half is where we will probably stay with her and the Christophe Clement seems like a suitable spot to go," said Boughey, who also trains the undefeated, three-time group 1 winner Bow Echo (IRE). "It was important to get a lead-up run before running her in a grade 1 in the States. The Breeders' Cup is always in the back of our minds, especially being owned by Mr. and Mrs. Tabor who are big supporters of the Breeders' Cup. That's the ultimate goal for her." EGL-One Racing's Storm Miami (IRE) carved out the fractions, leading by a length in :25.54 and :52.61. Lawrence Goichman's Alluring Angel (GB) chased in second and those two turned into the stretch after 1 1/4 miles in 2:08.65 with only one threat from the rear. After saving ground early in sixth, Prat moved Survie ($6.88) outside at the top of the stretch and flew past the leaders in the final furlong to score by 1 3/4 lengths in 2:31.21 with a blistering :21 4/5 final quarter-mile. "Impressive performance, really," Boughey said about the 5-year-old Churchill (IRE) mare. Storm Miami, a daughter of Blue Point (IRE) trained by Amelia Green, was second by 2 lengths over Alluring Angel, a Fastnet Rock (AUS) mare trained by Bill Mott. "Pretty simple. There was no speed," said John Velazquez, who rode the runner-up. "She responded nicely but obviously the winner came by me at the sixteenth pole and won easily." Survie was bred by Franklin Finance SA out of the La Havre (IRE) mare Sotteville.