SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – After a scrambling stretch run that saw several lead changes, Juddmonte Farms homebred Viadera made a late push in the final jumps to capture Friday’s $85,000 De La Rose Stakes at Saratoga.
Sent from post 6 under Joel Rosario at 6/1 odds, Viadera settled off the pace under a hold heading into the clubhouse turn. Up front, Xenobia outdueled Catch a Bid for the lead before posting opening fractions of :24.95, :49.60, and 1:14.00.
Given the cue midway through the far turn, Viadera tipped out to make a four-wide bid for the front. She struggled to gain ground initially and watched her two Chad Brown stablemates Catch a Bid and Noor Sahara each take over the lead at one point.
Surging alongside Noor Sahara inside the 1/16 pole, Viadera got up in the shadow of the wire before crossing victorious in a final time of 1:38.17 for the mile-long route over the good inner turf course.
“The longer distance today helped,” Rosario said. “She was very good today. I followed (Noor Sahara) and there were two horses in front (of them). It was a great trip and she was able to finish with a galloping finish.”
Noor Sahara took second over Passing Out, while Clara Peeters was just a smidge further back in fourth. Catch a Bid weakened late before crossing fifth.
Xenobia and a non-threatening Hogans Holiday completed the order of finish. Blowout (Brown’s fourth entry) scratched, as did Bridlewood Cat, the Main Track Only entry.
Viadera’s win was her first of 2020 and followed a good fourth in last month’s Intercontinental Stakes (G3) while making her North American debut. The British-bred 4-year-old Bated Breath filly improved her record to 11-4-1-1 with $156,441 earned.
“She kind of lost herself back in the field in her last race,” Brown said. “We expected her to get better position this time. I thought Joel did a great job. She just lost her way (last time out) and lost contact with the field. She didn’t really show much interest until late when she made a little run. Coming out of that race, she trained a lot sharper.”
Viadera returned $14.40 to win, $8.30 to place, and $4.80 to show. Noor Sahara brought back $7.40 to place and $4.60 to show, while Passing Out paid $3.40 to show.
