2018 Lake Placid Stakes Contenders & Odds

Jim and Susan Hill's Daddy Is a Legend will go for her second graded stakes win at Saratoga Race Course in as many months when she competes against six other 3-year-old fillies in the 35th running of the Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid on the Mellon turf course Saturday.

Daddy Is a Legend is returning from a two-length win in the Grade 3 Lake George at 1 1/16 miles on July 20 at the Spa. Coming from off the pace, the Scat Daddy filly overtook Altea in the stretch, using a strong move from the rail to win over firm turf, earning a personal-best 95 Beyer Sped Figure in her eighth career start for trainer George Weaver.

After breaking her maiden in her third start, Daddy Is a Legend capped her juvenile campaign with a win in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante on November 25 at Del Mar. After a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Edgewood on May 4 at Churchill, she stretched out to the Lake Placid distance of 1 1/8 miles, running fourth in the Grade 3 Wonder Again on June 7 at Belmont Park before coming back to win the Lake George.

"It'll be a nice field of fillies; none of these races come up easy, but we're happy with the way she's training going into it," Weaver said. "She ran well in the Wonder Again but she still got beat by a length and a half. I think she would prefer to have some cover, but you can't always write your own race. I think she belongs in this race and hopefully we trained her well enough that she can get the distance and get the win."

Jockey Manny Franco, aboard for the Lake George win, will have the return call from post 2 as Daddy Is a Legend will look to conquer a turf course deluged with consistent rainfall all summer.

"She won the Lake George on firm turf, so if it was up to me, I'd like it firm, but it doesn't look like it's going to be," Weaver said. "When push comes to shove, I don't know if it's her best surface, but we're here now and committed, so she'll just have to deal with it."

Daddy is a Legend will also have to deal with Trainer Chad Brown's Rushing Fall.

Rushing Fall, installed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite in Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid for 3-year-old fillies on the Mellon turf course, is making her first start since she finished second to Toinette by a neck in the Grade 3 Edgewood on May 4 at Churchill. She started her career 4-for-4, including a win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in November at Del Mar.

Drawing post 6 in the seven-horse field, Rushing Fall will have the services of Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano as she stretches out to the Lake Placid distance of 1 1/8 miles for the first time. Rushing Fall has also done well under soft or yielding turf, with wins in the Grade 3 Jessamine on October 11 and the Grade 2 Appalachian on April 8 at Keeneland under those conditions.

"I'm excited to get her back. She seems to be doing real well," Brown said. "She shouldn't have a problem handling the soft turf, if it does rain like it's [forecast]."

Brown will also saddle Significant Form, who is 3-1 on the morning line and drew post 4 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. named to ride. After running fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 17 at Belmont at 1 ¼ miles, Significant Form will return to the distance at which she ran second to La Signare in the Grade 3 Wonder Again on June 7.

"I think the cutback to a mile and an eighth should help her; she's doing very well," Brown said.

Thewayiam has come in second in her last three starts - all against stakes company - including running just 2 ½ lengths behind Athena last out in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational. Stretching out to 1 ¼ miles for the first time, the French-bred daughter of Thewayyouare earned a 92 Beyer that was her best in eight starts since arriving from her native country.

Since shipping to North America, Thewayiam has four wins and three-runner up finishes in eight starts, winning at distances ranging from 7 ½ furlongs to the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Herecomesthebride on March 3.

"I think she's been remarkable, trainer Graham Motion said. "She just seems like she handles whatever you put in front of her and she's so tough. In the mornings, she's very straightforward. She's just a very tough competitor."

In the Appalachian, Thewayiam rallied from sixth to second, just one length behind Rushing Fall. Stretching out to the Belmont Oaks distance, Motion said her effort from midpack to earn second was impressive.

"I don't think any of us knew with confidence that she was going to get a mile and a quarter," he said. "I had a feeling that she would, but it just speaks to her competitiveness."

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will be in the irons from post 1.

Andina Del Sur will make her sixth straight graded stakes start, drawing post 7 for trainer Tom Albertrani.

Andina Del Sur ran fourth in the Lake George, carrying a field-high 124 pounds. Saturday's stakes will be her second time at the Lake Placid distance, following a close sixth-place finish two starts back in the Wonder Again.

"She always looks like she gallops out well, so I don't think extra distance hurts her," Albertrani said. "I think she was subject to a slow pace in her last couple of races. They kind of sprinted away from her and she stayed a little one-paced at the end. So, hopefully, going a little longer, she'll have a little extra. She ran a good race [in the Lake George] and she carried top weight that day."

Brown's other entrant, Significant Form, was fourth in the Belmont Oaks. After a fourth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, the gray or roan daughter of Creative Cause started her year with a win in the Memories of Silver on April 22 at Aqueduct Racetrack and was second to La Signare in the Wonder Again before making her second straight start Belmont. She will now be running at the Spa for the first time since winning her debut last August, with jockey Irad Ortiz. Jr. riding from post 4.

Capla Temptress, winner of the 2017 Grade 1 Natalma, will be looking for her first win in four starts this year, drawing post 3 for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Go Noni Go, who won the Grade 3 Bourbonette on March 17 at Turfway Park, has finished on the board in her last two starts, including second in the Grade 3 Regret on June 18 at Churchill and third in the Hatoof last out on July 7 at Arlington Park. Trained by Mike Maker, Go Noni Go drew post 5 and will be ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith.

Andina Del Sur looks to turn it around in Saratoga's G2 Lake Placid

Don Alberto Stable's Andina Del Sur will look to turn the tables on Grade 3 Lake George winner Daddy Is a Legend as the Tom Albertrani trainee makes her sixth straight graded stakes start in Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

Andina Del Sur carried a field-high 124 pounds and finished an even fourth behind the George Weaver-trained Daddy Is a Legend, beaten 5 ¼ lengths in the 1 1/16-mile Lake George on July 20. Saturday's stakes will be her second time at the Lake Placid's 1 1/8-mile distance, following a close sixth-place finish two starts back in the Grade 3 Wonder Again in June at Belmont Park.

"She always looks like she gallops out well, so I don't think extra distance hurts her," said Albertrani. "I think she was subject to a slow pace in her last couple of races. They kind of sprinted away from her and she stayed a little one-paced at the end. So, hopefully, going a little longer, she'll have a little extra. She ran a good race [in the Lake George] and she carried top weight that day. Hopefully, we'll get a little break in the weights going into the Lake Placid."

The chestnut daughter of Giant's Causeway won her 2-year-old unveiling by two lengths in October and moved into stakes company when she returned in January, finishing third in the Ginger Brew. She was third again in the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant and got her breakthrough win in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks in March at Tampa Bay Downs, where she split horses late to hit the wire a head in front of Goodthingstaketime and Altea.

Jose Ortiz will be aboard Andina Del Sur for the first time in the Lake Placid, which, in addition to Daddy Is a Legend, is also expected to attract last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine Rushing Fall, who suffered her first career defeat last time out in the May 4 Grade 3 Edgewood; Irish-bred Capla Temptress, exiting a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks; and Belmont Oaks runner-up Thewayiam.

Daddy Is a Legend `coming along nicely' for G2 Lake Placid at Saratoga

Trainer George Weaver reported that multiple graded stakes winner Daddy Is a Legend exited Friday's turf breeze in good order as she tries for the Lake George-Lake Placid double on August 18.

On Friday, the Pennsylvania-bred Scat Daddy filly worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 over the Oklahoma turf course for the Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid at 1 1/8 miles on the grass.

"She's doing very good and worked really well yesterday," said Weaver.

Daddy Is a Legend was sent off as the 8-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Lake George on July 20, where she prevailed by two lengths to pick up her first victory of the year.

"She's been a nice filly all along, and on paper she looked she was the best horse in the race in the Lake George and she ran like it," he said.

Daddy Is a Legend won the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante last November and began her 2018 campaign with a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Appalachian in April at Keeneland. Following her 3-year-old debut, Daddy Is a Legend went on to finish third in the May 4 Grade 3 Edgewood at Churchill Downs and fourth in the Grade 3 Wonder Again on June 7 at Belmont Park before her win in the Lake George.

"We're looking forward to the rest of the season with her," said Weaver. "She's maintained her weight coming out of the Lake George and is coming along nicely for the Lake Placid, so we're excited."