From the Spa: August 7 Midlantic-breds in Saratoga stakes

I Spent It wins the 2014 Saratoga Special. Photo by NYRA/Adam Coglianese.

by Joseph Aiello

“From the Spa” returns to keep you up-to-date on horses bred in the mid-Atlantic racing in Saratoga stakes 

The first race at Saratoga on Wednesday, August 7th is the Mrs. Ogden Phipps Stakes, a $75,000 hurdle race for fillies and mares four years old and upward. It is run at two and one sixteenth miles on the turf and features a field of seven entries, two of which are Mid-Atlantic breds. While the eight year old mare running from the inside post, Wigwam Baby, is a familiar face to the Spa having run in this race two years ago, Dawn Wall who breaks from the outside has not yet run over this track, and only has seven races lifetime as a six year old mare. This somewhat explains her longest morning line odds of 10/1, while Wigwam Baby is a more understandable 2/1 morning line favorite. Although they break from opposite posts and are on separate ends of the odds spectrum, there is no reason why both these mares cannot compete and win this race.

Wigwam Baby was bred in Pennsylvania by William L. Pape and Jonathan E. Sheppard, who is also the owner and trainer. This bay mare is by Langfuhr – Tepee Tot, by Waquoit, and has already raced at Saratoga three times, including the aforementioned Mrs. Ogden Phipps Stakes in 2017. In that race, she narrowly lost to Swoop, closing in the stretch after sitting in last only to miss by three-quarters of a length. A jockey change to Gerard Galligan may help time her move better, but in a very even field such as this, Wigwam Baby will need to be in top form and ready to pick up her second victory of the year.

Dawn Wall is a bay mare by Not for Love – Guelph, by Sky Classic who was bred in Maryland by Mary Voss. It is only appropriate then, that Elizabeth Voss is the trainer, not only due to the obvious connection, but also because she trained Swoop to victory against Wigwam Baby in the Mrs. Ogden Phipps in 2017, and will be looking to do the same here with a different longshot. This time, Dawn Wall will attempt to take down the likely favorite, and should be in prime position to do so with jockey Jack Doyle, who rode her to her only career victory last year at Fair Hill in the Iris Ann Coggins Memorial Stakes. It will still take a monster effort and one which would more than double her all time earnings of $37,600, but if anyone can do it, it is the Voss family which has been here before and played upset. Dawn Wall is owned by The Fields Stable.