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Lady Orient reroutes to $150K P.G. Johnson

by Christian Abdo

Richard Emmett’s Lady Orient will stretch out in distance as she looks for a first stakes win in Wednesday’s Listed $150,000 P.G. Johnson, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for juvenile fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trainer Tom Amoss was prepared to run the Liam’s Map dark bay in the

5 1/2-furlong Bolton Landing on August 18, before scratching and rerouting to the two-turn P.G. Johnson when rain moved the race off the turf.

Nevertheless, Amoss captured the Bolton Landing with main track-only entrant Kimchi Cat, and now he looks to double the stakes success with Lady Orient [post 4, Dylan Davis] versus eight rivals, including impressive debut-winner Virgin Colada for four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown.

“I’m not going to pull any punches - I’m scared to death of Chad Brown’s filly that won on debut here with how fast she quickened in the last quarter of a mile,” said Amoss. “We will see how we fare against what I think is a very special horse.”

Lady Orient was a professional debut winner in her own right, sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on July 13 over firm Ellis Park turf. She broke a beat slow and traveled wide from near the back of the 10-horse field, but overcame traffic trouble closing along the rail to prevail by a head. The winning effort garnered a 72 Beyer Speed Figure.

Amoss said Lady Orient should appreciate the 1 1/16-mile distance versus a salty group of up-and-coming turf females.

“I think the added distance will help her,” Amoss said. “The thing I like is that I see a horse that would rather go two turns. She didn’t break all that fast in her sprint, she laid back and had a bunch of trouble, but was able to get up right at the wire.”

Out of the winning Ghostzapper mare Second Coming, Lady Orient was a $170,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her second dam, Sweet Awakening, produced Are You Kidding Me, twice Canadian Champion Older Horse.

Meet-leading trainer Chad Brown will provide a fierce competitor in Resolute Racing’s aforementioned Virgin Colada [post 2, Flavien Prat], who in her July 21 debut here closed “resolutely in the center of the race course,” as exclaimed by track announcer Frank Mirahmadi.

There, the More Than Ready bay traveled 7 3/4-lengths off-the-pace under returning rider Flavien Prat before an eye-catching surge from 8th-of-10 in the stretch to win by a half-length.

“She’s looking good. This horse was a very impressive debut winner,” said Brown. “She has come out of the race well and I think she’ll move forward off of that.”

Out of the unraced Carpe Diem mare Episcopal, Virgin Colada was a $110,000 purchase at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale. Her second dam, Song of Bernadette, produced 2018 Grade 1 Travers and Grade 1 Belmont Derby-winner Catholic Boy.

Trainer John Ortiz provides a contender with similar local prowess in Four G Racing’s Kentucky homebred Reining Flowers [post 9, Luis Saez]. The Midnight Storm dark bay earned silver-honors in her first two starts at Horseshoe Indianapolis, but shook any worries of second-itis with a one-length score going 1 1/16 miles on July 28 here.

There, Reining Flowers added the services of Hall of Famer John Velazquez and rallied from 9th-of-10 to post a 14-1 upset victory over Good Long Cry and next-out winner As Catch Can. The performance earned a career-best 69 Beyer.

“A couple of strides into the race, she looked like she grabbed herself and Johnny had no choice but to take her back and save ground. I told him before, ‘don’t be surprised by her turn of foot down the stretch,’” said Ortiz. “She showed that big turn of foot. It was not surprising, but still fun to watch.”

Reining Flowers, out of the winning Congrats mare Mi Fiori, is a half-sister to the graded stakes-placed Crown Imperial, who is trained by Ortiz for the same ownership. Last year, Crown Imperial closed for show-honors in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Jessamine as a 2-year-old in October at Keeneland

“They are both small fillies with a big stride. [Reining Flowers] didn’t really surprise me that she could handle the two-turn distance,” Ortiz explained. “She’s showing she has a big turn-of-foot, like her sister did last year.”

Gary Anderson and Janet Anderson’s New York-bred She’s Our Tiz [post 1, Kendrick Carmouche] steps up in class after annexing a six-furlong state-bred maiden on July 5 at Belmont at the Big A. Trained by Michelle Giangiulio, the Munnings bay stalked-and-pounced under returning rider Kendrick Carmouche to win by 1 3/4 lengths.

“I figured that she has always shown she wants to go a little bit longer and she was pretty impressive the day she won,” said Giangiulio of the stakes attempt. “We will stretch her out and test tougher company to see what we’ve got.

“It’s a big step up, but I really like her so far. We’ll see, I think we are going to be tough,” Giangiulio added.

Bred in the Empire State by Triumphant Trio, She’s Our Tiz, out of the winning Tizway mare Tizsomethingroyal, was a $170,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

Julian De Mora, Jr.’s Lemonpeppasteppa [post 6, Javier Castellano] enters from a runner-up finish in the five-furlong Colleen on July 28 at Monmouth Park for conditioner Jorge Delgado. The Caravaggio gray steadied near the three-eighths pole and was well-beaten by the victorious Dreamaway, but gamely rallied for a neck second over Me Governor.

With improvement and a better trip, Lemonpeppasteppa could surprise- a feat Delgado already proved capable of when Power Squeeze mildly upset the Grade 1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales on August 17 here.

Out of the winning Smart Strike mare Saranda, Lemonpeppasteppa was a $65,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

Rounding out the field are maiden-winners Merry and Bright [post 8, Florent Geroux] for trainer Michael Stidham and Second Chance [post 5, Junior Alvarado] for Hall of Famer Bill Mott; in addition to maidens Good Conduct [post 3, Jose Ortiz] for trainer Cherie DeVaux and Totally Justified [post 7, Manny Franco] for trainer Rusty Arnold.

Fortuna Mia is entered for the main track-only.

The P.G. Johnson is slated as Race 8 on Wednesday’s nine-race program. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

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