Lady Dela Renta A, by Well Said, made her local debut a winning one in the Thursday (Oct. 24) feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
Trainer Jose Godinez has often brought New Zealand and Australian invaders to town to compete in Opens over the last handful of years, and his newest revelation Lady Dela Renta A impressed in Thursday’s $18,000 Fillies and Mares Open.
The field was reduced to five after a scratch and Lady Dela Renta A wound up as the public’s 2-5 betting favourite. She marched out to the early lead in the ladies’ feature, as leading driver Billy Dobson got the invader to the top in a :27 first quarter before reaching the half in :56.1.
Lady Dela Renta A never suffered an anxious moment, as she went on to pace away from her rivals and stop the timer in 1:52.4 to record the win in her local debut. Longshot Hilaria (who was driven by Brett Crawford) got the pocket trip behind the winner and wound up as a clear-cut second-place finisher, while Bye Bye Felicia (Mark Beckwith) was third under the wire.
Lady Dela Renta A, pictured victorious at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Oct. 24, 2019.
Lady Dela Renta A’s win was her ninth of the season and fifth since coming over to the U.S. from her native Australia.
Paying just $2.80 to win on Thursday, Lady Dela Renta A, who led an exacta that returned $22.40, became the fourth Godinez-trained distaffer to win the Fillies and Mares Open at Saratoga in 2019, but the first since May.
The five-year-old mare is owned by the Blindswitch Racing Stable of Cortlandt Manor, NY and Dolne Farm Services of Indiana.
Live racing at Saratoga will resume on Saturday evening and will feature a first-race post time of 6:45 p.m.
(With files from Saratoga Casino Hotel)