Sadie Lady does it all on the lead to win Dancin Renee

By Melissa Bauer-Herzog

Sadie Lady continued her top 2021 campaign Saturday when she registered her second stakes victory in three starts with an all-the-way win in the $97,000 Dancin Renee Stakes at Belmont Park.

Second in the Grade 3 Vagrancy Handicap last out, Sadie Lady was ready to avenge that loss from the moment she broke from the starting gate in the 6-furlong Dancin Renee. The 5-year-old Freud mare was the first out and quickly made it clear it wasn’t going to be easy for the others to come near her.

Opening up a few lengths on the field under Jose Ortiz, Sadie Lady raced through fractions of :22.79 and :45.61 for the first half-mile and was full of run as the field of five turned into the stretch. Sadie Lady slowed a bit in the final sixteenth, but never gave Ortiz a serious concern and he remained confident of a win.

Ortiz gave her a few taps as they approached the wire and it was enough to motivate Sadie Lady to finish. Fierce Lady and Ruvies in Time closed late but were not a real threat as Sadie Lady stopped the clock in 1:11.05. Fierce Lady finished 1 1/2 lengths back in second, a half-length in front of Ruvies in Time in third

“When we passed the half-mile pole, she switched to her left lead and she kind of went on her own,” said Ortiz. “I knew I had enough room to wait, but she went on her own. It was hard to take that momentum away from her. I just let her do her thing and use her speed and she used it well. I was happy with how she carried on. She ran a very good race. Her speed is her weapon.”

The Dancing Renee was the second stakes victory for Sadie Lady, who added “stakes winner” to her resume in the Correction Stakes in March at Aqueduct. She improved to eight wins in 20 starts with Saturday’s win and has now earned $406,232 in her four-year career for owner Dennis Narlinger.

The mare is trained by Rob Atras, who took charge from Arnaud Delacour late in 2019. Atras quickly found success with the mare when training her to a three-race win streak to kick off 2020. Sadie Lady was putting another such streak together this winter with back-to-back victories to end 2020 and start 2021 before her Vagrancy second.

Atras was a worried that Ruvies in Time may push Sadie Lady but had no fear when his charge quickly took command.

“I was a little concerned that Ruvies in Time might challenge us out of the gate, but she broke so sharp and Jose just let her roll out of there and everything went to plan,” he said. “She’s a really cool filly and likes to win. She’s not easy in the morning and the exercise rider does a really good job with her.”

Bred by JMJ Racing Stables and foaled at Sequel New York in Hudson, Sadie Lady is a second-generation homebred for JMJ Racing Stables, who also co-bred her Read The Footnotes dam Zucca with Sequel Thoroughbreds. Unraced herself, Zucca is a full sister to New York-bred stakes winner Out Of Respect.

JMJ Racing purchased their dam Val’s Diablo for $3,000 at the 2006 New York Breeders’ Sales Co. fall mixed sale carrying Out of Respect. The mare was sold again in 2014 to Connie Brown for $6,000 at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale while carrying a foal by Malibu Moon. Zucca has only visited the sales ring once, not selling on a bid of $1,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga fall mixed sale the same year she foaled Sadie Lady.

Zucca has one other foal of racing age – a Florida-bred 2-year-old Tapiture colt named Life Is Great bred by EVS Corp. Last year, the mare returned to New York to foal a Race Day colt and the mare gave EVS Corp a third colt in 2021 when foaling a New York-bred full brother to Sadie Lady a week after she won the Correction Stakes.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/06/12/sadie-lady-does-it-all-on-the-lead-to-win-dancin-renee/

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