Saratoga Picks | Glens Falls Stakes 2024

Godolphin’s dual graded stakes-winning Irish homebred Eternal Hope returns from a more than nine-month layoff in Thursday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls, a 12-furlong inner turf test for older fillies and mares, at Saratoga Race Course.

The Glens Falls is slated as Race 9 on Thursday’s 10-race card at Saratoga. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

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Trained by Charlie Appleby, the 4-year-old Teofilo chestnut won a pair of starts in the U.K. last year before shipping stateside to notch stakes scores at Aqueduct Racetrack over eventual graded stakes-winner Neecie Marie on firm footing in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Jockey Club Oaks Invitational in September and the nine-furlong the Grade 2 Sands Point over yielding turf through the rain last out on October 14.

Eternal Hope has been stabled at Godolphin’s Greentree facility located adjacent to Saratoga and has worked four times here, including a five-eighths breeze over the Oklahoma training turf in 1:05.65 on July 19. She followed this morning with a five-eighths breeze over the Oklahoma training turf in 1:00.60 in company with Group 2-winner English Rose.

“She hasn’t been seen since her American starts last year, but her preparation has gone well,” Appleby said. “We feel that, at that trip, she’s a filly we saw who can get to a good level in America. We’re looking forward to getting her back out. There will be a bit of improvement for the run, but she goes there in great shape.”

Eternal Hope is out of the Dubawi mare Voice of Truth, who is a half-sister to multiple Group 1-winning millionaire Rio de La Plata.

Eternal Hope, assigned 120 pounds, will exit post 5 in rein to Flavien Prat.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out a pair of contenders for Klaravich Stables, including defending race winner McKulick [post 7, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 122 pounds] and Royalty Interest [post 2, Eric Cancel, 122 pounds].

The pair worked five-eighths together this morning in 1:01.55 over the Oklahoma training turf.

“They worked great. It was a nice work together and they seem to be training pretty well,” Brown said.

McKulick, a 5-year-old Frankel mare, rallied furiously to reel in War Like Goddess and post a neck score in this event last year and deny her foe a third consecutive Glens Falls win.

She followed with a runner-up effort to returning rival Parnac in the 11-furlong Grade 2 Flower Bowl in September here before returning to the winner’s circle in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Waya in October over yielding Belmont at the Big A green.

McKulick made her seasonal debut with a half-length score in the 12-furlong Grade 3 Orchid in March at Gulfstream Park ahead of an even fourth to the victorious Royalty Interest in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay on May 3 at Belmont at the Big A. She enters from a non-threatening fifth in the Grade 1 New York presented by Rivers Casino on June 7 here.

Brown said McKulick, an impressive maiden winner at Saratoga in her August 2021 debut, will appreciate the added distance.

“She’s shown an affinity for Saratoga before. I’m not sure what happened last time out but getting her out to the mile and a half distance should help her cause,” Brown said.

Royalty Interest, a 4-year-old Le Havre bay, posted a sharp allowance win in March over the Tampa Bay Downs turf ahead of her frontrunning score under Eric Cancel in the Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay. She used similar tactics last out to lead the charge through the first three points of call in the New York before fading to 10th.

“She might have bounced a little bit that last race because Eric gave her another good ride on the front end and she didn’t kick on,” Brown said. “Her race previous, she took them all the way, which was a pleasant surprise. I see her back in good form in the morning.”

Christophe Clement will saddle a pair of contenders in Parnac [post 4, Dylan Davis, 120 pounds] and Atomic Blonde [post 6, Joel Rosario, 120 pounds].

West Point Thoroughbreds and Dream With Me Stable’s Parnac has won 5-of-13 starts topped by her frontrunning Grade 2 Flower Bowl score in September here.

She finished fifth in her seasonal debut in the Sheepshead Bay in May and has trained weekly since May 21 towards this event, including a half-mile breeze in 51 flat July 21 over the Oklahoma training turf.

“We have been waiting for a race going a mile and quarter or more for forever for the filly,” Clement said. “She is doing exceptionally well. I can’t wait to run the filly as she has been doing everything right.”

Atomic Blonde, owned by Clement in partnership with West Point Thoroughbreds and Winters Equine, was last seen finishing fourth in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial on July 7 at Delaware Park when 3 1/4-lengths back of the victorious War Like Goddess.

The 5-year-old German-bred daughter of The Grey Gatsby boasts a record of 21-4-5-4 for purse earnings of $493,249 topped by a Group 3 score in the Premio Verziere Memorial Aldo Cirla while in the care of her original conditioner Henk Grewe.

Atomic Blonde joined Clement for her 2023 campaign and posted her first win for new connections in May when rallying from last-of-6 to take the 12-furlong Listed Keertana at Churchill Downs.

Selective’s Chop Chop [post 3, Frankie Dettori, 122 pounds] captured the 12-furlong Grade 3 Bewitch in April at Keeneland, besting Atomic Blonde by 2 1/4-lengths.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the 4-year-old City of Light bay followed with prominent runner-up efforts in the aforementioned Keertana and Robert G. Dick Memorial.

The versatile Chop Chop won her first two career starts on turf in 2022, taking the Juvenile Fillies at second asking over yielding footing at Kentucky Downs one month before a narrow nose defeat to eventual Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Wonder Wheel on dirt in the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades at Keeneland. She hit the board in 5-of-7 starts last year but has found a new dimension as a 4-year-old racing long on the turf.

“She trained really well here at Saratoga leading up to the race at Delaware [Robert G. Dick] before we shipped her,” Cox said. “She gets a little nervous sometimes. She handled that ship really well and I do think she has gotten better with age. She was obviously a very good 2-year-old. The 3-year-old season was not quite what we were looking for, but she has rebounded and had a good 4-year-old season. She’s found a new talent, something different, going long on the turf. She has handled that marathon distance, and we are going to give her another shot next Thursday.” 

Chop Chop is out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Grand Sofia, who is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Rail Trip. She will look to reach millionaire status, having banked $979,702 through a 17-5-7-2 record.

Rounding out a talented Saratoga field is Don Alberto Stable’s Kentucky homebred Alpha Bella [post 1, Luis Saez, 122 pounds], who was a pacesetting fifth last out in the Robert G. Dick Memorial.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the 4-year-old Justify chestnut wired the 12-furlong Grade 3 La Prevoyante in January to make the grade ahead of a prominent second in the 1 1/16-mile Listed Miss Liberty in May at Monmouth Park.

Alpha Bella, out of the multiple graded stakes-placed Singspiel mare Andina, is a half-sister to graded stakes-winner Andina Del Sur. She has earned $371,865 through a 15-3-4-2 record.