STILLWATER COVE RUNS DEEP, WINS BOLTON LANDING
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Trainer Wesley Ward did more than have his entries finish 1-2 in Wednesday’s $100,000 Bolton Landing Stakes, he did it with two horses that both returned from England after competing in the Royal Ascot.
It was Chelsea Cloisters who held the lead for much of the race with John Velazquez aboard, but it was Stillwater Cove with Irad Ortiz, Jr. who had the muscle and the speed to take over the lead on the stretch to win Wednesday’s feature.
“We had a nice lead for her [Chelsea Cloisters], but the other filly was just better,” trainer Wesley Ward said. “I’ve always had high hopes for this filly [Stillwater Cove]. She’s a big, long, rangy filly.
“She looks like she’s going to go two turns. Hopefully, we can get her to relax and route, and see her in the Breeders’ Cup [Juvenile Fillies Turf] in the fall.”
Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. was willing to keep the filly in a stalking position before pulling outside and then surged through the stretch.
“I never rode her before but the trainer told me to get a target for her,” Irad Ortiz, Jr. said. “She broke like a shot out of there.
“I just let her relax and when I asked, she was there for me. She was so comfortable on this grass. I could feel it, she didn’t
give me any bad steps, she handled it really well.”
With morning line favorite Shang Shang Shang scratched, the exacta finish with two horses that had competed in England completed the quarantine process in the United States and then fly into the Capital Region is impressive.
“They do take a couple weeks [after returning from Royal Ascot] to get back, get their weight back on, and mentally, get their mind back together,” Ward said. “We’ll start working them out slow and gradually ease them to longer distances. She flew on the plane here about three days ago, so she was in Keeneland until three days ago, and she’s just done everything right.”
He didn’t commit to another appearance on the Saratoga turf this summer.
“Hopefully, the owners will have some luck with her in the Breeders’ Cup this fall,” Ward said. “We’re probably going to be pointed at something at Keeneland, that’s our home track, in the fall meet. But possibly, a prep at Belmont as well. We’ll see how it kind of works out.”
Fightress, Drynachan and Avocado Toast followed across the line.
Stillwater Cove paid $22.40 with Chelsea Cloisters paying out $3.80 and Elsa $2.40 to show.
The 8-4 exacta paid $32.50 and the trifecta paid $48.37.