Prestigious event for two-year-old fillies is now part of the July 4th Racing Festival, run at Saratoga while Belmont Park undergoes a $455m renovation project
Saratoga Race Course lies just 10 miles away from the Saratoga Battlefield, the site of the turning point in the Revolutionary War that led to America’s eventual independence.
The battle occurred in what is now known as Schuylerville – named for the famed general and New York senator Philip Schuyler – a town which will see its namesake race appropriately run on the Independence Day card at Saratoga Race Course’s July 4th Racing Festival.
The Schuylerville, first run in 1918, has been won a record six times by two of modern-day racing’s most influential Hall of Fame trainers: the late D. Wayne Lukas and his former pupil Todd Pletcher.
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Lukas, a staple for more than five decades in American racing who died on June 28, captured the Schuylerville in three consecutive years from 1986-88 (Sacahuista, Overall and Wonders Delight), and in 1995 (Golden Attraction), 1999 (Magicalmysterycat) and 2004 (Classic Elegance).
Pletcher, who worked for Lukas for more than six years, notched his wins with Freedom’s Daughter (2002), Ashado (2003), Cotton Blossom (2006), Georgie’s Angel (2011), Fashion Alert (2014) and Sweet Loretta (2016).
The historic test for juvenile fillies has seen several notable female horses announce their presence, with several going on to help shape the breed as broodmares.
In total, 10 fillies have been awarded shampion honors for juvenile campaigns that included a win in the Schuylerville, including Hall of Famers Cicada and La Prevoyante.
Meadow Stables’ homebred Cicada was never off-the-board in 16 starts as a juvenile, including wins in the Blue Hen at Delaware Park and in the filly division of the National Stallion Stakes at Belmont Park en route to the 1961 Schuylerville, where she began a legendary streak of stakes wins.
The length-and-a-half win in the Schuylerville came with Larry Adams in the irons for the first time in the daughter of Bryan G.’s career.
The stalking trip was well-timed according to New York Times writer Joseph C. Nichols, who noted a strong stretch run where Adams “slipped through on the inside to go into the lead and win.”
The Schuylerville was the true coming-out party for the eventual Hall of Famer, who went on to post five more consecutive stakes scores in the Spinaway at Saratoga, the Matron and Astartia at Belmont, the Frizette (Aqeuduct) and the Gardenia (Garden State) to lock up Championship honors. Her seasonal earnings of $384,676 marked a then-record for a two-year-old filly.
As a sophomore, Cicada would go on to win the Kentucky Oaks, Acorn, Mother Goose and Beldame as part of a 23-win career that earned her enshrinement in the Hall of Fame in 1967.
The Schuylerville was part of a flawless juvenile campaign in 1972 for the Ontario-bred La Prevoyante, who went 12-for-12 in a well-traveled season that began at Woodbine.
After five wins at Woodbine and Fort Erie in Ontario and Blue Bonnets in Quebec, La Prevoyante headed south to Saratoga for her first American foray, where a crowd of more than 13,000 gathered to see the Canadian superhorse.
“The fans, well aware of La Prevoyante’s ability, did not hesitate to back her into favoritism…,” Nichols wrote in the New York Times. “La Prevoyante was in the lead most of the way after breaking second, and by the time the field hit the stretch turn it was apparent that she was home free.”
La Prevoyante’s 5½-length romp was followed by six more stakes wins, including the Spinaway, Matron and Frizette en route to championship honors.
Her campaign was so strong that she was in a tight battle with the mighty Secretariat for Horse of the Year honors, which ultimately went to the latter.
Two of the three participating organizations (the TRA. and the staff of the Daily Racing Form) favored Secretariat as Horse of the Year – but the third group, the National Turf Writers Association, voted for La Prevoyante.
The filly was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995 after a career that included additional top scores in the La Troienne at Churchill Downs and Quebec Derby versus males at Blue Bonnets.
La Prevoyante’s championship season was the middle one in a trio of three consecutive champion two-year-old fillies whose resumé included a Schuylerville coup, bookended by Numbered Account in 1971 and Talking Picture in 1973.
The Schuylerville was also the starting line for the illustrious career of Hall of Fame mare Ashado in 2003. The daughter of Saint Ballado scored by three lengths in her stakes debut, notching the first of 11 graded stakes victories in her three-year career that was highlighted by G1 scores in the Spinaway, Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, Ogden Phipps Handicap, Go For Wand, Beldame and Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
And in recent years, the Schuylerville has provided plenty of drama and memorable winners, including in 2019 when Javier Castellano implored Comical for more in the final sixteenth to fend off the bid of Kiss The Girl by a neck in a thrilling stretch run.
In 2023, Castellano would again pilot a Schuylerville winner as Becky’s Joker shocked the Spa to graduate on debut in style at odds of 21-1.
The storied list of Schuylerville winners also includes several fillies who went on to shape the breed as broodmares. Among them are Weekend Surprise (1983), who produced all-time great sire A.P. Indy and Preakness-winner Summer Squall; and the aforementioned Numbered Account, dam of top sire Private Account and prolific multiple graded stakes-winning broodmare Dance Number.
As a field of six assemble for this year’s running of the $150,000 event, the next great filly could be lying in wait, ready to make her first step towards the history books as this time-honored race is run for the 107th time – and for the first time in modern history on America’s Independence Day.
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