By admin 
Venetta will attempt to pick up her fourth straight win and third in a stakes when she faces seven other New York-bred 3-year-year-old fillies Friday in the $200,000 Fleet Indian going 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course.
Read more Yankees, Dodgers Release Statements On Tommy John’s Death
In her debut, Venetta was bumped at the start and trailed the field in eighth, 12 lengths behind the pacesetter, before rallying to finish second in a 6 1/2-furlong state-bred maiden special weight in March at Aqueduct Racetrack. She earned a hard-fought maiden win going six furlongs at Belmont in April at the Big A, defeating next-out winner Careless Whisper by a head.
Trying stakes company for the first time in the seven-furlong Bouwerie for state-breds on June 3 at Saratoga, Venetta was away awkwardly but settled just off the pace in third and made an inexorable charge down the center of the racetrack to overtake returning rival Hot Currency in the final sixteenth en route to a 1 1/4-length triumph.
Venetta [post 3, Kendrick Carmouche] tried two turns for the first time in the New York Oaks on July 13 at Finger Lakes, making a three-wide bid with three-eighths to travel to claim the lead before being driven home by jockey Kendrick Carmouche to win by 2 3/4 lengths over Victory Hall, who will face Venetta again in the Fleet Indian.
“We’ve been pointing for the Fleet Indian and ran Venetta at Finger Lakes to give her experience around two turns,” said trainer Danny Gargan. “She didn’t have the best trip as Kendrick may have moved too soon, but she ran well and still won.”
Venetta, a Sequel Racing homebred, has been training at Belmont Park since November and currently is under the watch of Gargan’s Belmont-based assistant Rolando Quevaldo, who also exercises the daughter of Yaupon. She tuned up for her engagement in the Fleet Indian with a four-furlong breeze in :50 flat on Friday over the main track at Belmont. Gargan said that a strong effort from Venetta in the Fleet Indian could lead to a start in the Cotillion (G1) on Sept. 19 at Parx Racing.
Unlock the Value [post 8, Dylan Davis] will be facing stakes competition in only her second start as she enters the Fleet Indian off an impressive debut victory on July 30 at Saratoga.
Competing in a one-mile state-bred maiden race from the Wilson Chute over sloppy and sealed going, Unlock the Value was brushed at the start by a rival to her inside but led the field through modest fractions of :25.08 and :49.11. She opened up on her rivals in the stretch under a drive and was geared down late in the 9 1/2-length victory.
Chad Brown trains Unlock the Value, a $50,000 purchase from the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, for Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables.
Iron Orchard [post 4, Jose Ortiz], winner of the state-bred Seeking the Ante and the Frizette (G1) as a 2-year-old for her previous trainer Danny Gargan, will try to regain the winning thread in the Fleet Indian.
Now trained by Steve Asmussen for KatieRich Stables, she has made two starts this year, finishing ninth in the Victory Ride (G3) in July and fourth against New York-breds in the Johnstone on August 5, both sprint races at Saratoga. The Fleet Indian will be her first start around two turns since she was a troubled ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) last October at Del Mar in her final start for Gargan.
“I think she needed her last race to prepare for the two-turn race of the Fleet Indian,” said Asmussen. “I would be very surprised if she wasn’t [forwardly placed in the Fleet Indian].”
Power of Women [post 1, Flavien Prat] will make her stakes debut in the Fleet Indian as she seeks her third consecutive victory.
In June at Belmont at the Big A, Power of Women posted a front-running 10 3/4-length victory in a seven-furlong $25,000 claiming race for 3-year-old fillies and was haltered out of that race by trainer Horacio De Paz.
“She’s a New York-bred and she seemed to be running competitively,” said De Paz of the decision to claim Power of Women. “And then when we looked at her physically, she seemed like the type of filly who could continue to mature and go longer possibly.”
Read more Report: Alex Cora expected to be next Phillies manager
Making her first start for her new connections in a starter allowance for New York-bred fillies and mares at one mile from the Wilson Chute on July 25 at Saratoga, Power of Women led at every call and easily defeated three opponents to prevail by 4 1/4 lengths. The Fleet Indian will be the first start fully around two turns for Power of Women, who is by Big Brown and out of Woman Power, a two-time winner over a route of ground at Finger Lakes.
“We were happy to get the win, but we did not get a lot of information back because she wasn’t really tested throughout,” said De Paz, who trains Power of Women for Upback Racing and Liberty House Racing. “With her breeding, we think she can handle the mile and an eighth.”
New York Special [post 6, Edgard Zayas] returns to the main track after having made two consecutive starts on turf. She was second on dirt in a seven-furlong maiden special weight in April at Aqueduct before she successfully switched surfaces and stretched out to take a 1 1/16-mile maiden race on the grass in June at Saratoga. She enters the Fleet Indian off a third in the Suzie O’Cain at 1 1/16 miles over Saratoga’s inner turf on July 23.
Owned by Gary Barber, New York Special is by Curlin, who won seven Grade/Group 1 events on dirt and was Grade 1 placed on turf. She is a half-sister to Casa Creed, who won four Grade 1 events on grass, including two editions of the Fourstardave here at the Spa.
“She ran first time out on the dirt, she’s by Curlin, she trains really good over the dirt,” said dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse of New York Special. “We want to see. We think she likes the dirt. I’m not so sure she doesn’t like the dirt better than the grass, but we are going to find out. You never know until you run them a couple of times. I think she has the potential to become a pretty good horse.”
In the Suzie O’Cain, New York Special raced evenly and finished 3 1/2 lengths behind the winner Cosmic Candy Girl.
“It was OK,” was Casse’s description of New York Special’s performance in the Suzie O’Cain. “It wasn’t mind blowing to me, another reason why we are going to try another surface and see if maybe she doesn’t like the dirt better than the grass.”
Trainer Linda Rice will be represented by Hot Currency [post 2, Manny Franco], a stakes winner who has finished outside the exacta just once in her eight-race career; and Lady Rose [post 5, Jose Lezcano], who was entered in the Fleet Indian shortly after defeating elders in a first-level optional claimer for New York-bred fillies and mares entry day August 15.
Hot Currency, second in the Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series as a 2-year-old, began her sophomore campaign with a runner-up effort in an entry-level optional claiming race in January at Aqueduct.
She aired by 8 1/4 lengths in the restricted Fourstar Crook at that venue in April before starting twice at Saratoga, finishing second to Venetta in the Bouwerie in June and returning to clear the second allowance condition for New York-bred fillies and mares with a 7 1/2-length score in a 6 1/2-furlong event August 2. The Fleet Indian will be the first start beyond seven furlongs for Hot Currency, who races for Winning Move Stable, Sanford H. Robbins, Lady Sheila Stable, Silverwood Stables and IEE Racing.
CJ Stables’ Lady Rose won a seven-furlong starter optional-claiming race by two lengths in June at Belmont at the Big A and was fourth in a six-furlong entry-level state-bred event July 31 at Saratoga. Entered back at that level in a one-mile race August 15, Lady Rose stalked the pace before taking over in upper stretch and driving clear to a five-length victory
Twin Sports Racing, Cypresshead Racing, and Let’s Go Racing’s Victory Hall [post 7, Ricardo Santana Jr.], whose four wins include stakes victories in the Shesastonecoldfox last November at Finger Lakes for trainer John Ortiz and the Maddie May in March at Aqueduct Racetrack for current trainer Tom Morley, will make her seventh straight stakes appearance.
Following the Maddie May, she was last-of-8 in the Gazelle (G3) in April at Aqueduct and a distant fourth in the Bouwerie before chasing home Venetta in the New York Oaks.
Read more Report: Alex Cora expected to be next Phillies manager
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published August 16, 2026 at 11:10 AM.