A recognized commodity on the turf, Saturday Flirt proved to be a Sunday darling when debuting on filth to win her first stakes race within the $175,000 Hovering Softly Stakes June 8 at Saratoga Race Course.
The 5 1/2-furlong Hovering Softly was initially meant to be run on turf on the identical distance however the unrelenting rain Friday and into early Saturday necessitated the floor swap. Saturday Flirt, b, 3/f
Mendelssohn — Dragic, by Damaged Vow
Proprietor: Hay, Mrs. Fitriani
Breeder: Wesley Ward (KY)
Coach: Wesley A. Ward
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Info supplied by Equibase at time of entry.
Pedigree Notes
Mendelssohn stands at Ashford Stud for $15,000 (2025).
The three-year-old daughter of Mendelssohn is owned by Fitriani Hay and bred by her coach, Wesley Ward.
Ridden by Junior Alvarado, Saturday Flirt defeated a area that was scratched down to 6. She sat in fourth place down the backstretch because the early leaders, Yougottahavehope and Cloe , set a gap quarter-mile in :22.36. With five-sixteenths of a mile remaining, Cloe, the 2-1 favourite, seized the lead. Saturday Flirt zeroed in on the chief and overtook that rival with a sixteenth remaining for a 3 3/4-length victory whereas stopping the clock in 1:04. Cloe completed second with Spirited Boss checking in third, three lengths behind the runner-up.
Hey Bertie , the second alternative, went to her knees at first and wasn’t an element whereas ending fifth, crushed 10 lengths by the winner.Join BloodHorse Day by day
The winner returned $10.60 for a $2 win wager. The Hovering Softly was the fourth begin for Saturday Flirt following two turf wins; in a maiden particular weight at Keeneland in April 2024 and an allowance race there this April. In between, she completed off the board within the Norfolk Stakes (G2) final yr at Royal Ascot.
Ward purchased Saturday Flirt’s dam, Dragic , for $100,000 as a yearling on the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. A daughter of Damaged Vow, Dragic was skilled by Ward and was a number of stakes-placed for Steven Michael Bell. Saturday Flirt is her third foal and first stakes winner. Dragic has a yearling and a foal on the bottom by Three Chimneys Farm’s Gun Runner .
“I partnered with Goncalo Torrealba of Three Chimneys on a few Gun Runners, in order that’s going to make him joyful,” Ward mentioned.
Kentucky Downs is perhaps the subsequent vacation spot for Saturday Flirt. Ward is wanting on the $2 million Music Metropolis Stakes (G2T) Sept. 6.
“You by no means know till you do it (working on the filth),” Ward mentioned. “I made a decision she breezed so effectively at Keeneland on the filth, that being her dwelling observe, lots of my turf horses breeze good on the filth. So, this was a bit little bit of an unknown, however I believe the observe’s bought some moisture in it and that is the rationale why she bought over it so effectively.”
Due to the floor change, the Hovering Softly was downgraded to listed standing pending evaluate by the American Graded Stakes Committee.
Mendelssohn, a half brother to Into Mischief , stands at Ashford Stud close to Versailles, Ky., for a payment of $15,000 this yr.
Video: Hovering Softly S. (BT)
