Miss Ella / NYRA Photo

Miss Ella wins Caress with flair in slop

by Jill O'Brien

Jack Swain's homebred Miss Ella earned her first victory of 2016 with style in Sunday's $100,000 Caress for fillies and mares at Saratoga Race Course.

Although the race was taken off the turf due to weather conditions, Miss Ella jumped to the front early on, skipping over the ground and relishing the sloppy and sealed track.

Under jockey Joel Rosario, Miss Ella coasted home with confidence and hit the wire in 1:04:05 for 5 ½ furlongs, 2 ½ lengths in front of Fusaichi Red.

"She was up there close and after that, I was cruising the whole way," said Rosario. "Turning for home, she moved easy. It was an easy race for her. She's won before on the main track. My concern was that, when she ran on the dirt before, it wasn't this way [in the rain]. But she loved the conditions today. We're very happy with it."

Trainer Graham Motion has a special connection to Miss Ella, having trained her mother, the Woodman mare Sweet Tune.

"Joel just let her cruise on up there," he said. "She shuffled back a little bit but I couldn't believe how easily she made the lead and really won pretty comfortably. [The track] had been looking worse and worse but that was fun. Because we were running at five-and-a-half, I really hadn't done much with her since she ran last time. I thought she'd be pretty sharp today."

Sent off as the favorite in the field of five, Miss Ella returned $5.90 for a $2 win bet and earned $60,000 for her first win since taking the Christiecat last September at Belmont Park. 

Overall she is 4-1-1 from 11 starts with a bankroll of $360,700.

Completing the order of finish after Fusaichi Red were Miss Matzoball, Rumble Doll, and Harp N Halo. The six late scratches included Richies Sweetheart, Rocky Policy, Disco Barbie, Unbridled Courage and Joya Real.