Cy Fair too good in G3 Coronation Cup

The heavy post-time favorite Cy Fair proved much the best with a stalk-and-pounce victory under Hall of Famer John Velazquez in Saturday’s Grade 3, $225,000 Coronation Cup, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

 

Trained by George Weaver for owners Medallion Racing, Swinbank Stables, Joey Platts and Mark Stanton, Cy Fair has now won four of her last five starts, including against males in October in the Listed Algonquin at Woodbine Racetrack and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar. This year, she landed a three-quarter-length third in the Grade 3 Limestone on April 10 at Keeneland to commence her campaign before a one-length victory in the Grade 3 Mamzelle on April 30 at Churchill Downs in her start prior to the Coronation Cup. 

 

“I think all things equal; she is the best 3-year-old filly turf sprinter out there,” Weaver said. “I know it’s not a big category in the [United] States, but she is a pretty special horse. We’re very proud of her.

 

“I decided I wanted to be a horse trainer a long time ago, and this type of horse is the reason why,” he added. “We love all our horses, and we love winning maiden $10,000, claiming races, it doesn’t matter, but these good horses, they put a pep in your step. She has been really good to us - we won the [Juvenile Turf Sprint] with her. She’s a special filly for all of us.”

 

With Velazquez back in the irons for the first time since a neck second in last year’s Listed Bolton Landing here, Cy Fair broke well from the inside post in the five-horse field and settled into a rail-riding second behind the pace set by the sharp-starting Sapphire Beach, who marked the first quarter-mile in 22.54 seconds over the yielding footing. 

 

“There was not much speed on paper, and I know she could take the lead, but she would prefer to stalk a little bit, so I thought Johnny did a great job getting her to settle behind them,” Weaver said. 

 

Cadenza tracked in third through the opening stages, but was prompted to make an early move by Manny Franco entering the turn, taking over second position as Velazquez sat chilly on Cy Fair and waited for the right moment to strike. Cadenza came under a strong ride exiting the turn, and the Jose Ortiz-piloted Sapphire Beach was in hand with Cy Fair still covered up behind her. 

 

The top trio straightened for home and Sapphire Beach attempted to sprint clear through the half-mile in 45.01, but Cy Fair jumped at the chance with a gap now open and angled outside the pacesetter, showing an explosive turn-of-foot once in the clear and sweeping past strongly through the final eighth to win going away by 2 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:01.83. 

 

Sapphire Beach was second 4 3/4 lengths ahead of Cadenza with Hark Theangelssing and Snow Face Princess completing the order of finish. Quiet Street and main track-only entrants Niche and Hot Currency were scratched.  

 

Velazquez said he was confident that Sapphire Beach would open up a gap for Cy Fair to accelerate through in the last quarter-mile. 

 

“That was the way I planned it. I was going to follow the horse who was in front, who was the speed of the race and who was the one to beat, too,” Velazquez said. “I was hoping that they had enough speed to open up a little bit in the stretch, so I would be able to come out and win the race, and that’s what she did. Good horses do that."

 

The Coronation Cup was a ‘Plan B’ of sorts for Cy Fair, who was initially targeting a trip to Royal Ascot this June but was rerouted here. The winning performance could now help steer her towards another showdown with male rivals at the Breeders’ Cup, this time against elders in the Grade 1 Turf Sprint at this same distance over Keeneland’s turf in October. 

 

“We didn’t go to Ascot. We had a little blip in our radar. I really wasn’t happy with the way she was training, so we just didn’t go,” Weaver explained. “It’s a long way to go. We didn’t ship her, and this was the next race on the calendar to try to get her back on track. I think she showed us today she’s still at the top of her game. We’re looking forward to what we can do with her.

 

“I think as good as she is, even though she’s a 3-year-old filly, we might try to get to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint against older,” Weaver added. “So, we’ll just map out a campaign that gets us there and see what she can do.”

 

Ortiz said the Rusty Arnold-trained Sapphire Beach, who landed a half-length ahead of Cy Fair when second in the Limestone, gave her best effort in the rematch with her familiar foe. 

 

“She ran a very good race; it’s just that the winner is a very nice filly as well,” Ortiz said. “Obviously, it looked like a match race on paper, and it was on the track. It’s good, it’s fun – he [Velazquez] got the best of me today, she’s a nice filly.”

 

Cy Fair was a $185,000 purchase at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and is out of the winning Arch mare Remarqued, making her a half-sister to the Weaver-trained Crimson Advocate, who won the 2023 Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot. Bred in Kentucky by Marc Keller, Cy Fair banked $123,750 in victory while returning $3.06 on a $2 win bet as the 1-2 mutuel favorite. 

 

Live racing resumes Sunday at Saratoga with a 10-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $225,000 Quick Call presented by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in Race 9. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern. 

 

Saratoga Live presents daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

 

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