By the Moon wires the field in Ballerina
By David M. Johnson
“This was a wide-open race with some very good fillies. Tactics and an excellent ride won the race.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Track announcer Larry Collmus almost couldn’t believe the opening fraction of the Grade 1 Ballerina when he read it to the crowd — a quartermile in a tepid 24.05.
Perhaps the most surprising thing was By the Moon was the horse setting those fractions.
The 5-year-old mare has often been near the pace in her career but rarely the one in front.
By the Moon responded to the tactical change and finished strong to win the Grade 1 Ballerina by a head with jockey Rajiv Maragh aboard. It was her second career Grad 1 win since the Frizette Stakes in her 2-year-old campaign at Belmont.
“This was a wide-open race with some very good fillies,” trainer Michelle Nevin said. “Tactics and an excellent ride won the race.”
Nevin knew how good the field was, particularly first-choice Paulassilverlining, a horse she previously trained, who beat By the Moon in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss at Saratoga July 26.
The challenging field prompted the tactical adjustment.
“The race kind of looked like there wasn’t a true clear-cut speed horse,” Maragh said. “My filly has been better off stalking a horse in the past but we thought that if we were going to get an easy lead we shouldn’t give that up. No one really wanted to get the lead so we tried to take advantage of that.”
That’s just what he asked his horse to do, and she responded perfectly.
By the Moon went on to set comfortable fractions of 47.81 and 1:10.90 before finally feeling pressure from Highway Star just before the quarter pole. She entered the stretch with a half-length lead and finally spied her rival in the final furlong, but kept a head in front to win.
“I took a peek to my outside and saw that Highway Star was outside of me so I definitely knew we were going slow because she doesn’t have that much speed,” Maragh said. “They were coming at me and (By the Moon) kept finding more so it was going to be hard for them to pass her.”
Highway Star, a New York-bred by Chester and Mary Broman, cut the corner to provide the biggest challenge but ran out of track and finished second. Third-choice Carina Mia was third, Birdatthewire was fourth, chalk Paulassilverlining took fifth, Curlin’s Approval sixth and Distinia seventh.
“I was hoping she’d get there,” Highway Star’s trainer Rodrigo Ubillo said. “She hadn’t run in awhile and probably needed the race. I didn’t find anything for her during the time she didn’t run, but she ran great as did the horse that beat us.”
Chad Brown was disappointed in Paulassilverlining race.
“Paulassilverlining didn’t fire today, which is not like her,” Brown said. “Prior to this she’s won every race for us and showed up so I’m not sure.”
Brown took over training duties from Nevin three races ago. It was also the second race for Carina Mia for Brown since being moved from Bill Mott’s barn.
“Carina Mia got compromised by an extremely slow place,” Brown said. “I thought she ran terrific, but it just didn’t set up for her.”
The winning time for seven furlongs on a fast main track was 1:22.97.
By the Moon, who was runner-up to Haveyougoneaway in the 2016 Ballerina by a half-length, earned an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with the win. The 5-yearold Indian Charlie mare out of By the Light, by Malibu Moon, improved her career record to 7-6-2 from 19 starts.