Mrs Cheese (American Ideal-Ms Cheesman) sprung an upset in the $238,356 featured New York Sire Stakes race for three-year-old pacing fillies on Saturday, July 13 over a sloppy track at Saratoga Casino Hotel.
Matt Kakaley sat behind the Scott Di Domenico-trained filly who drew the rail for her try in the big NYSS event. Mrs Cheese came to town off a win in the G3 Park MGM Pace at Yonkers but was dismissed at odds of 13-1 in what was her third start in Sire Stakes competition.
She sat the pocket to Send It Down Slim (Mark MacDonald), who carved out fractions of :26.4 and :56.1 in lap one. The leader held firm through three quarters in 1:24.1, feeling pressure from upset-minded Strutsville (Ridge Warren), who was the first-over force in the feature. Those dueling rivals were joined in the stretch by Mrs Cheese, who found open road in the passing lane before surging to score in 1:53.2 to complete the upset. Send It Down Slim was beaten by a head while Strutsville was a game third-place finisher.
Mrs Cheese, owned by Triple D Stables Inc., is now three-for-eight in her first season with $185,672 in earnings. She lowered her lifetime mark with Saturday's win.
There were also four $27,397 Excelsior Series divisions for sophomore pacing fillies on the card. Kakaley took the first two, winning with Time To Strike (American Ideal-Striking Terror) in 1:55.2 for trainer Travis Alexander and owner/breeder Fiddler's Creek Stables LLC, and Beantown Deuce (Huntsville-Dont Think Twice A) in 2:00.3 for trainer George Ducharme and owner Michael Goldberg Racing II. Fashion Terror (Huntsville-High Fashion Model) wired the third split in 1:54.2 with Brett Beckwith piloting for trainer Mark Ford and All Star Racing Inc. Ms Frances Assisi (American Ideal-V String) won the final division in 1:56 for Beckwith and trainer Cote Keim, who co-owns with Craig Miller.
Natameri captured the night's $21,918 Open Handicap Pace with a tough front-end effort, battling a gutsy Little Willy (Beckwith) from the half to the wire and holding him off by a head to win in 1:52.4 with Wally Hennessey in the sulky. Talking Tom (Leon Bailey) finished third. Natameri, a seven-year-old American Ideal-Native Daughter stallion, is trained by Jess Okusko for Purple Haze Stables LLC. He is one-for-four in 2025.
Live racing resumes on Monday afternoon at Saratoga with a noon start to the matinee.
(With files from Saratoga Raceway)