Suffused notches first graded stakes win in Glens Falls; gives Jose Ortiz win No. 5

by Brian Bohl

Suffused stalked the pace and overtook four horses in the stretch to take the 21st running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Glens Falls on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course, giving jockey Jose Ortiz his fifth winner of the afternoon.

It was the second victory in three starts and first in a graded stakes for Suffused, who hit the wire in 2:13.55 for the 1 3/8-mile inner turf course. In the care of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the Juddmonte Farms' 4-year-old is 2-1-1 in five starts since arriving in North America from Great Britain.

Photo Call was the pacesetter for the 10-horse field, leading through fractions of 25.03 seconds, 50.01, 1:15.21 and 1:39.62. But Ortiz coaxed Suffused to the outside on the final turn and she responded with a late charge to beat Arles by three-quarters of a length.

"She had a beautiful trip, Jose gave her a great ride," Mott said. "I had a lot of confidence in her. When he produced her, she punched."

Off at 5-2, Suffused paid $7.80 on a $2 win bet and improved her career earnings to $346,019. The Champs Elysees filly was coming off a third-place showing in the Fasig-Tipton Waya, whose top four finishers all started the Glens Falls.

"I had a perfect trip," said Ortiz. "I followed the No. 1 horse [Miss Chatelaine] all the way around. When I asked her to run, she responded."

Ortiz improved his meet-leading win total to 61. That marked the first time a jockey cracked the 60-win plateau in a Saratoga meet since Javier Castellano's 66 wins in 2013.

"It's pretty amazing," Ortiz said of his five-win effort. "To do it here at Saratoga, where the competition is so tough, to do something Javier and Ramon [Dominguez] have done, I'm very lucky."

Ortiz holds a 10-win advantage over his brother, Irad Ortiz, Jr., as he seeks his first Saratoga meet title with two racing days remaining.

"It would be a dream come true," Ortiz said.

Suffused's two stakes victories have come at long distances, including a 4 3/4-length score in the Belmont Coronation Invitational on June 9 held over 1 15/16-miles. Mott said her next start could be the Grade 1, $500,000 Flower Bowl on October 8 at Belmont Park.

Arles, trained by Andreas Wohler, held off Miss Chatelaine by two lengths for third.

Photo Call, Achnaha, favored Guapaza, Itsonlyactingdad, Gap Year, Ball Dancing and Modernstone completed the order of finish.