Lady Dela Renta A loves The Spa

Lady Dela Renta A (Well Said) brought her two-for-two local record back to Saratoga Casino Hotel to compete in Thursday's Fillies and Mares Open.

The Jose Godinez-trained mare had little difficulty rattling off back-to-back wins in the $18,000 Open when she came to town in October.

On Thursday, Lady Dela Renta A returned to the Spa looking to stay undefeated against the track's top distaffers.

The race's 3-5 betting favorite drew inside her major danger The Charging Moa N (Jay Randall) in the five-horse feature but unlike in her previous pair of local tries, Lady Dela Renta A took back in the early going and opted to come from off the pace.

Leading driver Billy Dobson sat patiently with the five year old mare as the first lap went in 57 seconds. Lady Dela Renta A made her move just past the half and powered-up first over to overtake the leader past three quarters in 1:25 but in the meantime towed The Charging Moa N into contention as that one drafted behind the cover of the favorite.

Those two drew off from their rivals in the stretch before Lady Dela Renta A held off the charge from The Charging Moa N and reported home in 1:54.2 to move her record at the Spa to three-for-three.

The Charging Moa N was a strong second to complete a $5.20 exacta. Bye Bye Felicia (Mark Beckwith) earned the show spot. The victory in the feature was one of three on the card for Dobson. Lady Dela Renta A's win was her eleventh of the season and moved her '19 bankroll to over the $150,000 mark.

Godinez won the previous two installments of the local Open for pacing mares with his Dibaba N who scored impressively in her pair of Saratoga starts. With Thursday's victory, Godinez now has nine wins in the Fillies and Mares Open at the Spa in the 2019 campaign.

Live racing resumes on Saturday evening with a first post time set for 6:45pm.

by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway