Lady Eli makes unlikely return
SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Saturday’s entry in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes is the culmination of a long journey back to racing for Lady Eli. It all started last July. The Chad Brown-trained filly won her sixth race in six tries, taking the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths on July 4, but then found herself battling a case of laminitis — which can be life-threatening — later that month. Her battle with the career-threatening disease kept her away from racing activities until Feb. 29, when she worked out for the first time since the Belmont Oaks.
After a series of four workouts at Palm Meadows Training Center, in the span of less than a month, Brown gave the filly four months off before she began making preparations for her racing comeback in early July, breezing at Belmont Park.
Now she’s back, and as a 4-yearold, and enters the Ballston Spa as the morning line favorite at 1-1.
“It’s been an incredible jour-
ney,” Brown said. “Luckily Lady Eli has the wherewithal to make a comeback like this. A real team effort. We were cautiously optimistic that she’d make it to this point, but now that it’s a reality, it’s a dream come true.”
However, improving her perfect record to 7-0 won’t be an easy task Saturday.
The Ballston Spa features an impressive field of eight, including five stakes winners not named Lady Eli. The 4-year-old’s top competition to is expected to be Sentiero Italia (9-2) and Miss Temple City (2-1), who come in as the second and third choices according to the morning line.
“We’re putting her in there because we think she has an excellent chance to win,” Brown said. “We feel like she’s back to her to old self, or we wouldn’t be running her.”
While not much can come from what-could-have-beens, but it is worth considering what Lady Eli could be as a 4-year-old if she was able to finish her 3-year-old campaign healthy. With six wins in six starts, it’s possible she could have duplicated what Songbird is currently doing on the dirt this summer, but on the turf.
“I’m not going to speculate. I don’t think that’s fair to the horses, to Songbird or anybody,” Brown said. “I know she’s a great horse in her own right, Lady Eli, and my focus is on her and my own horses.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. was on Lady Eli when she won the Belmont Oaks Invitational, and considering the long and tumultuous journey the last year-plus has been, his mount in the 12th race will be an exciting one.
“You never think about it until the end,” Ortiz said of Lady Eli’s comeback. “The trainers did a great job, and they have good owners too. They took care of her very well. Finally, she’s making a race. Hopefully she will be alright, sound, healthy and come back well.”
The fact that Ortiz has been aboard Lady Eli for her workouts this summer is only getting him more excited for Saturday’s mount.
“She’s going really well,” Ortiz said of the workouts. “You cross your fingers and you hope she comes back well.
“She’s my favorite. It’s nice to see her back, so hopefully she stays sound. The longer she stays healthy and she’s in the barn, I’m happy for her.”