Brown Seeks Ninth Ballston Spa With Segesta, Grayosh

Chad Brown's dominance over the filly and mare turf division at Saratoga Race Course has been well documented over the last decade plus, and he aims to add another chapter Aug. 22 in the $300,000 Ballston Spa Stakes (G2T). The five-time Eclipse Award winner has three entries Saturday in search of his ninth Ballston Spa trophy, but said he is likely to scratch LSU Stables' Play With Fire. That leaves Juddmonte's Segesta and Flanagan Racing's Grayosh to carry the barn's flag into the 1 1/16-mile test on the inner turf course. Favored at 7-5 with Flavien Prat aboard, Segesta has not won in three starts over the Saratoga lawn but has competed well at the top level picking up grade 1 placings. Saturday's grade 2 run will end a five-race streak in which the 5-year-old Ghostzapper mare competed in grade 1 company, never finishing off the board nor losing by 2 lengths or more. The dual grade 1 winner most recently was the pacesetter over yielding ground July 18 in the Diana Stakes (G1T) at the Spa, giving up the lead late to stablemate Kathynmarissa and being defeated by a half-length. She now reunites with jockey Flavien Prat, who had been aboard in her four previous grade 1 attempts—including both victories—before Dylan Davis took over for the Diana while Prat rode at Monmouth Park. "She's doing well and she's in good form right now," Brown said. "She's done well at Saratoga in the past, so it seems like this is a good spot for her." Offering more value at 8-1 is Grayosh, a 5-year-old Yoshida (JPN) mare who Brown believes is entering the race in an ideal form window. She exits a smart win in the Matchmaker Stakes (G3T) at Monmouth Park to boost her record to 2-for-3 on the year. Grayosh has raced twice on the Saratoga turf in 2024, winning the Lake Placid Stakes (G2T) after being nosed out of an allowance optional claiming win the start before. "She's coming off the best race of the year for her, and she's shown an affinity for Saratoga in the past—her biggest win was at Saratoga," Brown said. "It's time for her to step up into a higher-class race." Miguel Clement took the Ballston Spa from Brown last year with Ozara (IRE), and that Cheyenne Stables-owned mare is back to defend her title. The 5-year-old daughter of Lope de Vega (IRE) lost her perfect Saratoga record in the Diana when sixth after prompting the pace on the yielding course. She aims to bounce back when cutting back to 1 1/16 miles, a distance for which she's 4-1-1 from six starts. The 3-1 second choice is Live Oak Plantation's And One More Time for dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse. Exiting a pacesetting victory in the 1-mile De La Rose Stakes July 17 at the Spa, Casse is confident that the race will set up for the grade 1 winner no matter which running style she needs to deploy. "The good thing about And One More Time is she can be on the lead if there's no pace, or she can sit off of it," Casse said. "Looking at it, I think there's a little pace there. I have a four-time Eclipse Award-winning rider (Javier Castellano), we'll let him figure it out." John Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock Services' Deep Satin, sixth behind And One More Time in the De La Rose and runner-up to Ozara in last year's Ballston Spa for trainer Cherie DeVaux, is also in the field, as is Rachel Flynn and Rae Guest's group 3-winning European invader Sunlit Uplands (IRE) for trainer Stuart Williams. William Morey entered Christopher Nolan's Matchmaker runner-up Long Ago (GB), but she is also cross-entered Saturday in the Violet Stakes at Monmouth Park.