Patsy Symons was well-rewarded at Saratoga Racecourse on Monday for going to $190,000 to purchase Skinner Box at the OBS spring sale of 2-year-olds in training. Skinner Box set sharp early fractions while pressed by Loon River and, after being narrowly headed by her rival, re-rallied and fought gamely to the wire to capture her career debut by a half-length. The cleverly-named dark bay Freud filly completed the 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf in 1:03.47 under jockey Jose Ortiz. [VIDEO]
Bred by Vivien G. Malloy and foaled at her Edition Farm in Hyde Park, Skinner Box is out of Talkin Indian, a Kentucky-bred multiple winner by Indian Charlie ($98,225). Talkin Indian is also a half-sister to multi-millionaire Better Talk Now, winner of five Grade 1 races, headed by the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Turf. Skinner Box sold as a yearling to E J Thoroughbreds for $65,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic fall yearling sale in Timonium before tripling her value at OBS after breezing a furlong in :10 1/5 in the under tack show.
Owner Patsy Symons is best known in New York-bred circles as the owner of successful New York-bred turf runners Gitchee Goomie and Effie Trinket, both trained by Rick Violette who conditions Skinner Box.
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Leah Gyarmati had nothing but praise for both filly and rider after Treadway Racing Stable’s Wonder Gal, piloted by Taylor Rice, finished third behind Cavorting and Angela Renee in the Grade 2 Adirondack for juvenile fillies on Sunday.
A large imposing filly, Wonder Gal earned her place in the Adirondack starting gate with an athletic and impressive come-from-behind 14 1/2-length victory while debuting in the Lynbrook Stakes for state-bred 2-year-old fillies. In contention at the top of the stretch in the Adirondack, she was stymied for running room. Once she found it, she stayed in the race and finished up gaining ground. [VIDEO]
“The hole was opening and the hole was closing,” said Gyarmati. “She’s a big filly, so she’s not going to just shoot right through there, and then she got slammed. When she got in [the hole], [Vivian Da Bling] came over on her and turned our filly sideways, and [Wonder Gal] hit the rail. She got a little schooling.
“It makes you wonder how she would have run with a clean trip. Those are two nice fillies that beat us, but it would have been nice to have clear sailing and see how close we get. She’s such a big filly; she needs that room, and you can’t really stop her and start her again.”
Gyarmati found no fault with her jockey’s ride. “It would have been nice for Taylor to tip her to the outside for clear sailing, but watching the race, I didn’t really see an opportunity for her to do that without looking really stupid. The point at which she might have [gone outside], the hole opened up wide on the rail. When you watch the head-on, there’s plenty of room, and it would have looked silly for her to ignore that hole and take her to the outside.”
Gyarmati anticipates that the trip and the education should serve Wonder Gal well down the road. “It was a very nice group of horses,” Gyarmati said. “The first time she ran it was a very easy spot. This was a really nice group of horses, and she’s certainly shown she’s right there with them. We have a nice filly, and she’s New York-bred to boot.”
She continued, “I think she’s going to want to go long. You look at her and she’s not a sprinter. She’s got a lot of options. We’ll maybe wait it out for the Frizette [at Belmont], where you have a little more room to run down the backside. We’ll see. If she’s jumping out of her skin and the Spinaway comes up… but the Frizette would probably be a better spot for her.”
