Picking up her first win of the season, but third in four lifetime starts at Saratoga, Maryland-bred Madam Giry shook off some early trouble coming out of the gate and then kept to the task to take the $100,000 Smart and Fancy Stakes. It was her fourth stakes try of the season, during which she made steady progress running fifth, fourth, third and then finally getting the win today in the 5 ½ furlong turf event at the upstate New York track.
A slow start to four-year-old season
Sired by the Irish runner Castledale, the four-year-old filly started her career at Gulfstream Park but broke her maiden last July at Belmont. That started a string of five consecutive wins for Madam Giry, with two of those coming at Saratoga, including the 2012 version of the Smart and Fancy. She also won the Buffalo Trace Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland last year, before finishing her three-year-old season with a runner up placing in an allowance event at Gulfstream. She started this season with a fifth in the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay.
Bounces back from dull previous effort
She returned to Saratoga early this month for the Sportech Caress Stakes where she ran evenly to hold on for third after drifting out a bit in the stretch. In the Smart and Fancy, however, she was all business, shaking off getting brushed coming out of the gate, settling into mid-pack for the run to the turn, and then getting just in front at the top of the stretch before pulling away to win by 1 ¼ lengths in a full drive to record her sixth win in 14 lifetime starts, to go with two seconds and a third, and earnings of more than $350,000.
The 2023 Preakness Stakes is coming up Saturday, May 20 at Pimlico! It is one of the most eagerly-awaited events of the racing year, and this is the place to […]
The Preakness Stakes is coming up on Saturday, May 15, 2021. The second jewel of the American Triple Crown drew a field of 10 top three-year-olds. Find out the top contenders in the race, and learn the best places to place your bets!
After all the drama of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, the racing scene shifts to Pimlico Race Course in anticipation of the running of the 2019 Preakness Stakes. A couple of the high-profile contenders from the Derby are expected in the field, as well as a number of new shooters that add to the handicapping puzzle and could provide good betting value.
The field has been established for the 2016 running of the Belmont Stakes and of the thirteen contenders, there are four horses who competed in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and are moving on to the third jewel of the Triple Crown.
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