Lawrence Goichman’s. homebred Tiz the Law filly Scythian lands first graded stakes in Sunday’s Miss Grillo at Aqueduct. NYRA Photo.
Lawrence Goichman’s homebred Scythian avoided trouble at the top of the stretch and came away with a victory in Sunday’s Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes at Aqueduct.
The 2-year-old daughter of two-time New York-bred Horse of the Year, classic winner and leading North American freshman sire Tiz the Law improved to 2-for-3 in the tumultuous Miss Grillo, which carries an automatic berth to the winner into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She won by 2 1/2 lengths over Virgin Colado with Correto third in the field of 12.
Scythian came into the Miss Grillo off a narrow victory as the favorite over males in a 1 1/16-mile state-bred turf maiden late in the Saratoga Race Course meeting for trainer Bill Mott. She went to post as the 11-1 fifth choice and settled into a tracking spot in fourth behind fellow Goichman New York-bred homebred Marvelous Madison, who is trained by Chad Brown, Lavender Disaster and New York-bred Grace and Grit.
Marvelous Madison and Manny Franco set the pace, clicking off early splits of :23.26, :48.71 and 1:13.47, just ahead of Grace and Grit, Lavender Disaster and Scythian.
“I was where I wanted to be,” Alvarado said of his trip. “I got to save ground right away coming into the first turn and the second turn I was still saving enough ground. If I had to go inside or outside, I knew I already had saved plenty for me to have enough horse at the end.”
Franco did his best to keep Marvelous Madison from getting out around the far turn, while Alvarado kept close tabs on the proceedings.
“I’ve got horse, where do I go?” he asked himself. “Is he going to pull her back inside or is she going to bolt?”
Marvelous Madison eventually gave the answers, bolting as the field approached the top of the stretch. She took Grace and Grit and Lavender Disaster with her, and Scythian wound up on the lead.
“When that happened, that’s when I zoomed in the inside and she took off after that,” Alvarado said.
Virgin Colada made a late rally under Flavien Prat to finish second, closing from 8 1/4 lengths back through the opening half to finish 2 1/2 lengths short. Correto finished a head back in fourth with She’s Got Will fourth. Scythian won in 1:42.68 over the firm turf.
“We’ve had 10 seconds at the meet, five in stakes. It’s always good to win one of these,” said Leana Willaford, Mott’s Belmont Park-based assistant. “She ran really well, Junior gave her a perfect trip. He had horse anyways [even with the incident in the turn]. He was in a perfect spot.”
Scythian, who Willaford said is likely for next month’s Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar, picked up $110,000 for her first stakes victory.
A second generation homebred for Goichman, Scythian is the seventh foal and first stakes winner out of the stakes-winning Empire Maker mare Dean Henry.
The winner of three of 12 starts, including the 2009 Saratoga Dew Stakes at Saratoga, Dean Henry earned $121,287. She’s produced stakes-placed winner Bonita Cat and winner Dancing Dean, and New York-bred winners Emperor’s Cause, Ascender and Somethingtotellyou.
