Casse's duo of La Cara and Nitrogen take on Good Cheer in the Alabama

Trainer Mark Casse will send out two opposite fillies in Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga. Casse’s pair of La Cara and Nitrogen will be joined by four other 3-year-old fillies, including Good Cheer, set to go 1 1/8 miles.

La Cara has turned into a formidable filly in the division, after showing promise as a 2-year-old. To start her 3-year-old campaign, La Cara dominated the Suncoast at Tampa Bay Downs in front-running fashion, then came off the pace to finish a solid second in the Grade 2 Davona Dale, a one-turn mile at Gulfstream. Casse got La Cara back around two turns in the Grade 1 Ashland, where she turned in her best performance yet, a 1 1/4-length victory from gate to wire.

La Cara looked like a contender for the Kentucky Oaks, though favoritism went to Good Cheer off her undefeated record. La Cara got to the front in the Oaks and led for half of the race, before fading to finish ninth, appearing to not like the wet track. Good Cheer would go on to win, stamping herself the filly to beat in the division.

In their next meeting, in the Grade 1 Acorn at Saratoga over a very sloppy track, it appeared Good Cheer would have the upperhand again. However, La Cara, with Dylan Davis aboard, relished the going and skipped away to a three-length victory, Good Cheer finishing fifth.

“She loves it here,” Casse told track publicity. “She won her maiden at Saratoga last year. In the paddock, Dylan said she could handle this kind of mud and was going to be just fine. I was just watching the splits, and I thought when he got away with a half in 47 (seconds) that was pretty good. And then at about the half-mile pole I could see that the others were hustling, and she was still relaxed.”

As for Good Cheer, it was the first time she had lost, and trainer Brad Cox was confused as everyone else and had no excuses after the race.

“She wasn’t traveling. You could tell at the half-mile pole (jockey Luis Saez) was getting after her a little bit,” Cox said. “The winner was obviously well in front. It just wasn’t her day. Graveyard of champions, weather and tracks are a great equalizer. She’s performed on an off track. I’m not going to use that as an excuse. For whatever reason, she just wasn’t up for giving her ‘A’ effort today.”

In Saturday’s matchup, a sloppy track isn’t expected. Davis will be back aboard La Cara, 5-2 on the morning line from 6. Luis Saez will be back aboard Good Cheer, the narrow 8-5 morning-line favorite from post 2.

While those two were prepping for the Acorn, Casse was prepping Nitrogen for a start in the Grade 2 Wonder Again on the turf the following day. Nitrogen went into the Wonder Again with a four-race win streak and was clearly the top turf 3-year-old filly. The same rain that made the track sloppy for the Acorn, forced the Wonder Again off the turf. Nitrogen, facing just two other horses, romped to a 17-length victory, validating Casse’s decision to run her.

“Maybe I should have run her on the dirt a little sooner,” Casse said. “She ran a mile in (1:36.16) and probably could have run in (1:34), so she was pretty impressive. I know it was a small field and I know they were turf horses but, still, she was pretty impressive.”

There was always a belief that Nitrogen could run on dirt, given her pedigree and a solid dirt work that Casse referenced. Nitrogen’s sire, Medaglia d’Oro was a three-time Grade 1 winner on dirt, and sired two of the best dirt fillies of all time in Songbird and Rachel Alexandra. Nitrogen’s dam, Tiffany Case, was stakes-placed on dirt.

Casse decided to stick to his plan and ran Nitrogen once more on turf, where she was beaten by nose in the Belmont Oaks. Regular ride Jose Ortiz will be aboard Saturday from post 4 at 9-5 on the morning line.

An interesting invader that showed up in the entries is Sweet Azteca, who is surely the first Scandinavian-based filly to run in the Alabama. Bred in Kentucky, Sweet Azteca began racing on turf in Norway and Sweden for trainer Niels Peterson. Switched to the dirt to break her maiden, Sweet Azteca then traveled to Dubai, where she eventually won the Group 3 U.A.E Oaks. Peterson then stepped Sweet Azteca up against males in the Group 2 U.A.E Derby, where she finished fifth. Admire Daytona, winner of that race, ran last in the Kentucky Derby, while runner-up, Heart of Honor, ran fifth in the Preakness and sixth in the Belmont. It appears Sweet Azteca, who gets Joel Rosario aboard from post 5, prefers to race from off the pace.

Margie’s Intention, also trained by Cox, will break from the rail with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard. Margie’s Intention had raced strictly in Louisiana-bred company prior to switching to Cox and winning the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan. Margie’s Intention was then third in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks.

Kinzie Queen, third in the Black-Eyed Susan and Delaware Oaks, completes the field with Junior Alvarado aboard for trainer Greg Compton.

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