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Bredenbury carries winning form into $100K Coronation Cup

by Ryan Martin

Bredenbury will try to build on a last out winning stakes effort when taking on eight other 3-year-old fillies in Friday's eighth running of the $100,000 Coronation Cup going 5 ½ furlongs over the Mellon turf at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Andrew Stone, the chestnut daughter of Night of Thunder did not find the winner's circle in the United States until taking the Lady Shipman on June 21 over Belmont's inner turf course, where she tracked a swift pace in second, took command at the three-sixteenths pole and won by 1 ¼ lengths.

Previously conditioned by David Simcock in Great Britain, Bredenbury made her first three starts for trainer Graham Motion going two turns, with her North American debut taking place in the Chelsey Flower at Aqueduct, where she was sixth to eventual graded stakes-winner Speaktomeofsummer.

"We felt like shortening her up was going to do the trick and she seemed to handle it very well last time," said Motion, who saddled Stars Above Me to victory in the 2014 Coronation Cup. "The first time we sprinted her, she was very keen that day, never settled and was only beaten two lengths. She was much more settled the second time. I think she was a little too sharp. She had raced in February and had been off a while with the whole COVID shutdown, so was pretty sharp that day."

Motion said that for the time being, Bredenbury will stick to sprinting.

"I discussed with Andrew and his manager, and we felt that she'd be much more effective sprinting, so this is what we'll do with her for the duration," Motion said.

Jockey Luis Saez, aboard for Bredenbury's last-out stakes win, will retain the mount from post 6.

Lady Shipman runner-up She's My Type and third-place finisher Miss J McKay will return to take another crack at Bredenbury.

Owned by Ghislaine Head, She's My Type will attempt a second stakes victory after capturing the Ginger Brew at Gulfstream Park in January in only her second start for trainer Christophe Clement, who seeks a fourth stakes win this meet.

The French-bred daughter of Dunkerque followed up her stakes victory with a close fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant over the South Florida oval before a close third to subsequent graded stakes-placed Highland Glory in the Sanibel Island on March 28.

She's My Type cut back in distance for her last out effort in the six-furlong Lady Shipman and will see a slightly smaller cutback for Friday's race.

Jockey Joel Rosario has been aboard for two of Clement's three stakes winners this meet and will ride She's My Type from post 9.

Maxis Stable, Madaket Stable and Wonder Stables' Miss J McKay boasts a highly consistent record of 6-2-2-2 as she attempts a second stakes triumph when breaking from post 4.

Trained by Mid Atlantic based conditioner Cathal Lynch, the bay daughter of Hangover Kid won the Anne Arundel County at Laurel Park by five lengths in her third career start, where she defeated next-out winners Queen of Shades and Bella Aurora.

Miss J McKay arrives at the Coronation Cup off a third-place finish in the Lady Shipman, which was her first start since a distant second in the Maryland Juvenile Fillies Championship on December 7 at Laurel Park.

Jockey Jose Ortiz will be aboard Miss J McKay.

Completing the field are Always Inthe Munny [post 1, Kendrick Carmouche], Karak [post 2, Tyler Gaffalione], Fly So Pretty [post 3, John Velazquez], Shippy [post 5, Manny Franco], Lexi On the Move [post 7, David Cohen] and Artie's Princess [post 8, Irad Ortiz, Jr.].

The Coronation Cup is slated as Race 9 on Friday's 10-race card, which offers a first post of 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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