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A sextet of fillies face-off in G2 Lake Placid

by Anthony Affrunti

A group of six 3-year-old fillies will run in the Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid at 1 1/8 miles on the turf Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

Patricia Moseley's Proctor's Ledge returns in search of adding another water-themed race to her win column after closing to capture the Grade 3 Lake George on Saratoga's Opening Day, July 21. The victory was the most significant yet for the daughter of Ghostzapper after she finished third, fourth and second in the Appalachian, Edgewood and Regret - all grade 3s - respectively. The late-running filly, who debuted with Lasix in her last start, looks promising, trainer Brendan Walsh said.

"She's doing super. She came out of her last race very well, and we're pleased with how she's done up here, so we couldn't be happier with her," he said. "She hasn't let us down at all, and it looks like she's improving, and her last race is her best which is always good, and I think we've yet to see the best of her. I think she's done well since she ran, so we're expecting her to run as good as, if not better than her last. Hopefully, the rain stays away."

Proctor's Ledge will run from post 4 and will get Javier Castellano in the irons.

John Oxley's La Colonel returns off of her fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Coronation at Royal Ascot in England on June 23. The filly by Colonel John owns three Grade 3 victories in the Jessamine Stakes, Appalachian and Edgewood, and had other options, but she should be good to go come post time for trainer Mark Casse.

"I think she's doing really well," Norman Casse, assistant to trainer Mark Casse, said. "I don't think the trip back took anything out of her. She's had a couple of [breezes] over the Oklahoma turf track, and they've all been pretty good works so we're excited to get her back going here. It's one of those circumstances where they're running two different races, same day at two different racetracks, so everybody is separated a little bit. But hopefully we'll get her back going again."

La Colonel drew post 3 and will be ridden by Florent Geroux.

Treadway Racing Stable's Coasted is perfect through two starts over the Saratoga turf, but those wins came last year as a maiden-breaker and a length victory in the P.G. Johnson. Her 2-year-old year ended with a narrow loss to New Money Honey in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Fillies Turf, but after her sophomore debut this year, a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride, the filly by Tizway is looking to rebound from three subpar efforts. The pace of the race and maybe a switch to dirt if the weather decides to interfere could help her chances.

"Her works have been great. She's looking good, eating good; seems healthy," Gyarmati said. "I actually wouldn't mind seeing her try the dirt. She works good on it. If it gets moved off, we'd run. I'd almost rather run on the dirt than a soft turf. She likes it her and performs well here. If the pace is fast, she can close. If it's not, she needs to be closer. It depends. She's shown both. She's stalked and been right on the pace and took off and won and she's also come from last and split horses or came up the rail. It depends on pace." 

Coasted drew the rail and will get Jose Ortiz in the irons.

Michael Dubb's Uni will debut for trainer Chad Brown and returns to make her second start in the U.S. after the filly by More Than Ready finished third in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational at Belmont Park. Six out of her seven starts have been in France, and the late closing filly has been working well since her arrival.

Uni will break from the outside post 6, and will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr.

Party Boat, one of two in the race trained by Graham Motion, is still in search of her first graded stakes victory after finishing as the runner-up in the Lake George. Her only previous graded race attempt was in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream Park when her late move was impeded causing her to yield before the wire for third. A repeat of her strong efforts against stakes competition puts her in the mix.

Party Boat will break from the 2 post, and will be joined by Joel Rosario.

Rounding out the field is the other Motion entry, Three C Stables and West Point Thoroughbreds-owned Berned, who will make her eighth career start after finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks.

The filly by Bernardini will run from post 5 and Rajiv Maragh will ride.