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Reagan's Edge seeking first stakes score in Prioress (G2)

by Keith McCalmont

Reagan's Edge will look to turn the tables on Frank's Rockette in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Prioress, a six-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

Saturday's card at Saratoga features four graded events, led by the Grade  1, $500,000 Woodward at 10 furlongs for 3-year-olds and upward; the Grade 2, $150,000 Jim Dandy at nine furlongs for sophomores; and the Grade 2, $200,000 Glens Falls, an 11-furlong inner-turf marathon for older fillies and mares.

Previously campaigned by David Ingordo, husband of trainer Cherie DeVaux, Reagan's Edge was purchased privately by Lael Stables following a last-out second in the Grade 3 Victory's Ride held July 4 at Belmont Park.

"She was our own horse so it made sense to sell and we're fortunate enough to get to keep her in the barn for now," said DeVaux. "It's great to be able to work with such prominent, well respected people in the industry."

Reagan's Edge, a Competitive Edge chestnut named for Ingordo's 9-year-old daughter,  was purchased for $77,000 at the April 2019 OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training.

She won by nine lengths in her September 2019 debut at Indiana Grand, a key six-furlong sprint that saw the second and third-place finishers win next out.

DeVaux said the way Reagan's Edge performed on debut was impressive.

"She showed that she had a lot of talent. My husband's only instructions were to try and put her in a place she could win for Reagan," said DeVaux. "As she started to train and show she had some talent, he asked if we should run her at Churchill, but I decided to run her in Indiana.

"She sure surprised me," continued DeVaux. "There's not much too her, she's small. I watched her before she ran and breaking out of the gate, she'd put her head right down and level off quite impressively. But when there's not much to them, you don't know what to expect. She's just fast and she has a lot of speed."

Reagan's Edge returned in March off a six-month layoff to finish third in an optional-claiming sprint at Gulfstream Park and followed with a game head score, rallying from off-the-pace in a 5 ½-furlong off-the-turf allowance on May 16 at Churchill Downs.

Last out, in the Grade 3 Victory Ride going 6 ½-furlongs at Belmont Park, Reagan's Edge, in second position, pressed the early speed of Frank's Rockette through splits of 23.11 and 45.52 on the fast main track in a compact field of five. Reagan's Edge stayed on strong to the wire and was gaining late when a head short of Frank's Rockette, who stopped the clock in 1:14.47, just a hundredth of a second off the track record recorded by Bear Fan in June 2004.

"She's shown she has many dimensions to her. She's won from off the pace, she's won on the pace," said DeVaux. "In her race at Churchill, she was far out of it and came flying at the end. Last time, she went right up and pressed the pace with Frank's Rockette. She's versatile."

Reagan's Edge earned a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure for the Victory Ride effort and will retain the services of Jose Lezcano, aboard for the last two efforts, from post 9.

DeVaux, who has a record of two seconds and two thirds from four starts at Saratoga this summer, said she'll leave race day strategy in the capable hands of Lezcano.

"You have to see how the race unfolds. It could look one way on paper, but that's maybe not how it unfolds come game time," said DeVaux. "Jose made a really smart decision to go with the pace last time. She ran a completely different way and he didn't take the speed away from her. Frank's Rockette, if she had no one up there with her, would have gotten away a lot easier. Regardless, we finished second, but he made her work for it.

"He knows the filly and has ridden her twice. He made good decisions both times and I can't fault him for anything," added DeVaux. "It will be up to him with how it goes out of the gate."

Frank Fletcher Racing Operations' Frank's Rockette boasts a perfect in-the-money record of four wins and four seconds, with purse earnings of $413,063. Two of those runner-up efforts came in graded company last summer in the Grade 2 Adirondack and Grade 1 Spinaway, both races won by Perfect Alibi.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Frank's Rockette opened her sophomore season in February at Gulfstream Park with a seven-length romp in the six-furlong Any Limit. She followed with a runner-up effort to Prioress-rival Kimari in the Purple Martin in April on a sloppy Oaklawn Park strip ahead of a ridden-out 3 ½-length victory in an optional-claiming sprint in May at Churchill Downs.

She will emerge from post 5 under Junior Alvarado, taking over for Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who is at Churchill this weekend to pilot Gamine in the Kentucky Oaks and Authentic in the Kentucky Derby.

Ten Broeck Farm's Kimari, trained by Wesley Ward, returns off a more than two-month layoff after finishing second last out on June 19 in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup, a six-furlong turf sprint at Ascot.

The well-traveled Munnings bay was a 15-length debut winner in April 2019 on the Keeneland main track. She then shipped overseas to Ascot where she was second, by a head, in the Group 2 Queen Mary, over five furlongs of soft turf in June 2019. Kimari made a victorious return to North America with a four-length score in the Bolton Landing in August 2019 on turf at the Spa and followed up in October with a half-length score in the Indian Summer on the Keeneland green.

She capped her juvenile campaign with a rallying fourth in the Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.

The versatile Kimari will boast the services of Irad Ortiz, Jr. from the inside post.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle the dangerous duo of Center Aisle and Secondary Market.

OXO Equine's Center Aisle, an Into Mischief bay, was purchased for $1.5 million at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-Year-Olds in Training sale. She sprinted to a 3 ¾-length victory in her March 29 debut at Gulfstream Park but was off-the-board next out when fifth after a slow start in a seven-furlong optional-claimer on May 22 at Churchill Downs.

Last out, Center Aisle was a wide third in the Grade 3 Victory Ride.

Klaravich Stables' Secondary Market, an Into Mischief bay purchased for $275,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall 2017 Mixed Sale, graduated at second asking by 5 ½-lengths in a 6 ½-furlong sprint last September at Belmont. She returned off a nearly one-year layoff on August 9 at the Spa to win a 6 ½-furlong allowance sprint over older company.

Joel Rosario retains the mount on Center Aisle from post 7, while Jose Ortiz picks up the mount on Secondary Market from post 4.

Rounding out the field are Up in Smoke [post 2, Luis Saez], Sound Machine [post 3, Eric Cancel], Hello Beautiful [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche], and Purrfectly Claire [post 8, Eric Cancel].

The Grade 2 Prioress is slated as Race 10 on Saturday's 12-race card, which offers a first post of 11:45 a.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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