Photo: NYRA, Adam Coglianese
Last year’s
2-year-old turf races at Saratoga Race Course were incredibly productive, with
graded stakes winners Excited, J. B.’s Thunder, More Than Real, Silver
Medallion, and Winter Memories all having made winning debuts on the grass at
the Spa. Crazy Party, who dashed clear to victory yesterday at Saratoga, will now attempt
to follow in their footsteps.
Crazy Party joins the New York Watch, which profiles promising maiden
winners at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont
Park, and Saratoga Race
Course and featured J. B.’s Thunder, More Than Real, and Winter Memories
following their wins at the Spa last year.
Always prominent, Crazy Party raced behind cover in third through
fractions of 48.90 and 1:13.61, angled outside at the top of the stretch, and
burst past the front runners to register a two-length victory over Regalo Mia.
Crazy Party, who completed 1 1/16 miles on the turf in 1:43.09, ran the
final sixteenth of a mile in a quick 5.58 seconds and returned $7.90 as the 5-2
second choice.
Owned and bred by Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, Crazy Party is by
Belmont Stakes winner and renowned sire A.P. Indy and out of Wakigoer, making
her a half-sister to turf stakes winners Quiet Royal, Acago, and Sandwaki.
Wakigoer herself is a half-sister to Go Deputy, who won the Grade 1 Sword
Dancer on the turf at Saratoga,
and Dare and Go, who upset Cigar in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on the dirt and
placed in three Grade 1 turf events.
After Crazy Party turned in a 49.32 four-furlong breeze around dogs on
the turf at Saratoga
on June 20, trainer Todd Pletcher knew the filly, like her siblings, would
likely do her best running on the grass.
“We were hoping being by A.P. Indy that she’d do well on
the dirt, but her works were OK on the dirt,” said Pletcher. “We
gave her a spin on the turf and she seemed to move up.”
Pletcher added that the $75,000 P.G. Johnson at 1 1/16 miles on the
turf on August 31 would be a logical next start for Crazy Party.
Photo courtesy of NYRA, Adam Coglianese