A pair of maiden special weight winners over the past weekend at Del Mar set the tone for what promises to be a very special August for Old Fashioned’s runners in the coming few weeks.
On Aug. 10 in a 6 1/2-furlong affair on the main track for 2-year-old fillies, Manahatta broke a step slow but made her way to the front in the first quarter mile. From there, the chestnut 2-year-old dictated the pace, winning by a length in 1:17.39.
Manahatta, bred in Kentucky by Dr. O. M. Patrick, is owned by Gainesway Thoroughbreds and Peachtree Stable. Kings Equine purchased Manahatta for $30,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Summer Yearlings sale, then sold her to Gainesway for $90,000 at this April’s OBS Select 2-year-olds sale.
Manahatta is a possible starter in the Del Mar Debutante (G1) on Aug. 30.
Two days earlier, 3-year-old Fashioned Lady rallied up the rail from just off the pace to break her maiden at the same distance as Manahatta. The gray filly is owned by her breeder R-Cher Family Farms LLC and picked up $45,000 for the victory.
On tap this Saturday at Del Mar is the $150,000 Rancho Bernardo H. (G3), where 3-year-old Fashion Plate will line up against older fillies and mares for the first time. The Simon Callaghan trainee won both the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) and Las Virgenes (G1) this spring at Santa Anita and has bankrolled $469,250 for co-owners Arnold Zetcher and Michael Tabor. Callaghan purchased the filly for his owners for $340,000 out of the 2013 OBS April 2-year-olds in Training sale.
On the East Coast, 3-year-old Sweet Whiskey is being pointed to Saratoga’s Grade 2 Prioress S. on Aug. 30. The filly won the Old Hat S. (G3) earlier this year at Gulfstream Park and placed in four additional black-type events. Sweet Whiskey was a $300,000 auction buy at the 2013 OBS Select 2-year-old sale.
One day after the Prioress at Saratoga, Fashion Alert will go postward in the Grade 1 Spinaway S. as the likely favorite. The 2-year-old out of Titan Queen has been nothing short of spectacular in her two starts, breaking her maiden by four lengths in the $100,000 Astoria S. June 14 at Belmont Park, then annexed the Grade 3 Schuylerville S. a month later at Saratoga. Fashion Alert is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Renee’s Titan and was bought by owner George Bolton for $125,000 out of the 2013 Keeneland September Yearling sale.
