Along with three Grade 1 events, Saratoga offered a pair of turf stakes events on Saturday.
Glens Falls (G2)
War Like Goddess showed no rust returning from a 99-day freshening in the $250,000 Glens Falls (G2), comfortably winning the 1 1/2-mile event for fillies and mares for the second consecutive year. Now 3-for-3 on Saratoga’s turf, the five-year-old has won six of her last seven outings, the lone setback being a close third in the Breeders’ Cup Fillies & Mare Turf (G1).
She confirmed herself as a major contender for this year’s Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 5.
Trained by Bill Mott, War Like Goddess has captured eight of 10 career starts, and earned more $1.2 million for George Krikorian, and the Grade 1-winning daughter of English Channel notched her sixth graded stakes tally. She was timed in 2:29.33 over the firm inner turf, and Joel Rosario was up.
Favored at 2-5, War Like Goddess rated a few lengths behind a moderate pace before making her move, striking the front shortly after entering the stretch and accelerating clear. She was taken in hand late, scoring by a 1 1/4-length margin.
“She’s a nice horse and easy to ride,” Rosario said. “The pace was slow, but the whole time I had confidence in her and when I turned her loose and wanted to go she went. She was running really nice for me and I just had to stay with her like that. She felt the confidence at that point and I just went with that. She’s just amazing.”
“Joel did a good job,” Mott added. “He has good hands and the filly responded to him and when he asked her to go on, she was there for him.”
Temple City Terror closed for second, a half-length better than Virginia Joy. Key Biscayne, Treasure Tails, and Petricor completed the order.
Bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, War Like Goddess was purchased for $30,000 at the 2019 OBS June two-year-old sale. She’s the first stakes winner from the North Light mare Misty North.
War Like Goddess may target a title defense in the $600,000 Flower Bowl (G1) on Sept. 3, but the Aug. 27 Sword Dancer (G1) against males if also an option, according to her Hall of Fame trainer.
Lure S.
Since being transferred to Tom Morley this spring, Dynadrive has turned things around in a pair of starts, and the five-year-old gelding notched his first stakes victory when rallying to get up by a head in the $135,000 Lure. Eric Cancel was up on the 23-1 outsider in the one-mile affair for owners Flying P Stables and James F. Schurman.
That makes two straight upset wins for Dynadrive, who was overlooked at 45-1 when racing for a $62,5000 tag in an allowance/optional claimer at Belmont on July 1. He had been claimed for $62,500 at Churchill Downs in his final start of 2021, and Dynadrive opened this season with a pair of last-place efforts at Oaklawn Park and Sam Houston before being transferred to Morley.
A dark bay son of Temple City, Dynadrive rallied from nearly 20 lengths behind a hot early pace (:22.78 and :46.06) and stopped the teletimer in 1:39.83. He’s now earned $415,543 from a 24-8-5-2 record.
It was a tough beat for 6-1 Shifting Sands, who surged to a clear lead in upper stretch but could not withstand the winner in the final strides. It was another head to the late-running Duke of Hazzard in third, and 8-5 favorite Public Sector, Safe Conduct, pacesetter Somelikeithotbrown, South Bend, and T D Dance followed under the wire.
Dynadrive was bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm. Out of the stakes-winning Rockport Harbor mare Harbingerofthings, he counts Tell Your Daddy, winner of last year’s Bernard Baruch (G2) at Saratoga, as a half-brother.
