Rapport grabbed the lead coming out of the gate and never
looked back as she streaked to a 3 ½-length victory over My Jen in the 8th
running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Victory Ride on Saturday afternoon at Saratoga
Race Course.
After zipping through an opening quarter-mile in 22.05 and a
half in 44.54, the 3-year-old Songandaprayer filly shook off a challenge from
Beyondallboundarys as the field of eight straightened for home and was never
threatened thereafter as she cruised to the wire in 1:09.66 for the six
furlongs over a fast track.
“The point was to make her relax because she has a lot of
speed,” said winning jockey Martin Garcia. “The main point was relaxing and
then get it from there. She looked like the only speed in the race. She just
kept going.”
It was the third victory in four starts this year for
Rapport, who carries the colors of Thoroughbred Legends Racing Stable, and
first in a graded stakes. Sent to the barn of Hall of Famer Bob Baffert this
year after spending her juvenile campaign with Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas,
she broke her maiden at Hollywood Park by 5 ¼ lengths and took a first-level
allowance by 4 ¾ lengths before finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Azalea at
Calder.
“When I saw the :22 first quarter I knew that was easy for
her because she is just really fast,” said Baffert. “But it was really nice to
get a graded stakes win on Travers Day. Just winning on a big day like
this you feel like you won a Grade 1. And I gave her out to a lot of the fans
earlier so that was good.”
My Jen was up for second, 1 ¾ lengths ahead of
Beyondallboundarys.
“She ran really well,” said Eddie Kenneally, trainer of the
runner-up. “She got a little tired in the lane. She hadn’t run since January –
bringing her back in a Grade 3 race was pretty ambitious, but I’m very proud of
her performance.”
Katy Now, the slight favorite in the field of eight, was
fourth, followed by Simply Spiteful, and Worstcasescenario, while Sister Dawn
and Touching Beauty, who dead-headed for last.
“Speed is holding up today,” said Todd Pletcher, trainer of
the beaten favorite. “She got outfooted around the turn, but she showed some
interest down the lane.”
Rapport, the second choice in the field, returned $6.90 for
a $2 win bet as she extended her record to 3-0-0 from six lifetime starts and
lifted her earnings to $138,644 with the winner’s purse of $60,000.