Gezora looks to bounce back in G2 Glens Falls

Peter Brant’s dual Group/Grade 1-winner Gezora will look to find her best form again with a stretch-out in distance in Thursday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls, a 1 1/2-mile inner turf marathon for older fillies and mares, at Saratoga Race Course.

The 4-year-old Almanzor filly makes her second start for Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott, who took over from five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown following Gezora’s runner-up finish to then-stablemate Kathynmarissa in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Modesty on May 1. There, Gezora made her seasonal bow and tracked four lengths off the pace in sixth-of-8 through the first three-quarters before making her bid in the turn and being outkicked by Kathynmarissa, who won by 1 1/4 lengths and captured the Grade 1 Dunkin’ Diana here two starts later.

Last out, Gezora raced more forwardly under Hall of Famer John Velazquez in the 1 3/16-mile Grade 1 New York on June 5 here. She emerged from the outermost post 8 and was keen through the first turn before settling in fourth behind the pace set by Portfolio Duration. She was under a ride approaching the far turn, but faded and landed last 12 1/4 lengths behind the victorious pacesetter.

“At this point, I’m going to put a line through it,” Mott said. “I think she’s better than that.”

Gezora [post 4, Junior Alvarado] showed her true talents last year in a stellar campaign in her native France under the care of trainer Francis-Henri Graffard. She won the 10-furlong Group 2 Prix Saint Alary in May at Longchamp ahead of a one-length score in the 1 5/16-mile Group 1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly and a runner-up effort to Aventure in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille going this distance at Longchamp.

She then landed 13th in the prestigious 12-furlong Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe against males, but made her way stateside for a statement victory in November at Del Mar in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf by a half-length over She Feels Pretty, who was subsequently named the Eclipse Award Champion Turf Female.

The Glens Falls will mark Gezora’s first outing beyond 1 3/8 miles since moving stateside, and Mott feels the added distance is a plus. 

“That’s helped her,” he said.

Bred in France by Haras d’Etreham, Gezora, out of the Group 1-winner Germance, has banked more than $2.1 million through a 12-5-3-1 record.

Mott will also be represented by Larry Goichman’s Grade 3-winner Alluring Angel [post 11, Kendrick Carmouche], who enters from a stalk-and-pounce neck second to returning rival Dona Clota in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial on June 13 at Delaware Park.

“She ran good, she ran hard – I thought she ran well,” Mott said of the effort. “I think there probably weren’t any Breeders’ Cup winners in there, but she ran good.”

The 6-year-old Fastnet Rock mare is in search of her first win since capturing the 1 3/8-mile Grade 3 Long Island in November at Aqueduct Racetrack. Her lone try at this distance was an even eighth in the Grade 3 Christophe Clement in January at Gulfstream Park in her only other outing this year.

Another contender that will benefit from added ground is Gary Barber, Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Speed Shopper [post 5, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], who was seventh 5 3/4 lengths ahead of Gezora in the New York.

Trained by Will Walden, the 5-year-old Quality Road mare is a dual graded stakes-winner at Saturday’s distance, capturing the aforementioned Christophe Clement in January and the Grade 3 Bewitch in April at Keeneland. Those efforts surrounded a one-length third to Sultana in the Grade 3 Orchid in March at Gulfstream.

Walden said the New York was an opportunity to see how Speed Shopper would fare around two turns again considering this year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf will be a two-turn affair at Keeneland.

“I think she’s truly a three-turn filly,” Walden said. “We obviously wanted to check that box, good or bad, because the Filly and Mare Turf is at nine and a half furlongs at Keeneland, it’s not around three turns. It wasn’t the answer we were hoping for, but we got one and now we can stay [here] and do exactly what she wants to do. 11, 12 [furlongs], that’s what she wants to do.”

In the New York, Speed Shopper was third in the early stages and in contention amid a group of foes while 1 1/2 lengths off the pace through the first three-quarters before fading under returning rider Manny Franco. It was a rare off-the-board finish for Speed Shopper, who landed in-the-money in eight of her other nine efforts since being transferred to the Walden barn last May.

“She’s been training phenomenal and her coat’s starting to come around,” Walden said. “She had some time off after her last race and we’re starting to see the older Speed Shopper wake up, which is what you want to see going into race week.”

European invader Survie [post 1, Flavien Prat] brings strong form to her American debut and has kept top company throughout this year for trainer George Boughey, including a January win at Lingfield ahead of a deep-closing third facing males in the 1 5/16-mile Group 1 Neom Turf Cup in February at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia.

There, she was last in the early stages and showed a strong turn-of-foot to advance through the middle of the pack into the stretch, gaining with every stride to edge Shin Emperor by a half-length for third while 6 1/4 lengths back of the victorious Royal Champion and 1 1/2 lengths behind Group 1-winner and consistent top-level performer Facteur Cheval.

The 5-year-old daughter of Churchill then cut back to one mile for a fourth with a similar strong late kick in the one-mile Snowdrop Fillies over the all-weather in March at Kempton, where she finished up strongly through the lane in the event won by Pina Sonata. A stretch-out to nine-furlongs in the Group 2 Dahlia in May at Newmarket saw her land third after missing the break and belatedly finding her best stride to make up ground late.

Last out, Survie broke better in the 10-furlong Wolferton against males again on June 16 at Royal Ascot, settling in mid-pack and in the two-path in the early stages under Ryan Moore. A group of rivals angled out and engulfed her straightening for the stretch run, and Survie showed good courage when asked to angle out to the center of the course. She gained with every stride and finished with interest, landing sixth 3 1/2 lengths back of the victorious Map of Stars.

Campaigned by Mrs. Doreen Tabor, the talented Survie was purchased for

$2,636,068 at last year’s Tattersalls December Mare Sale following a strong 2025 season that included a trio of group placings in the Group 2 Prix Corrida [second], Group 1 Pretty Polly [third] and Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet [second]. Trained in 2023 and 2024 by Nicolas Clement, Survie won the 2024 Group 2 Prix Malleret as part of a string of seven on-the-board finishes in 11 consecutive group stakes efforts.

Survie is out of the dual group-placed Le Havre mare Sotteville, a full-sister to dual group-placed Crisolles. She arrived in Saratoga on Thursday morning in the care of Boughey's traveling assistant Antonia Peck. She will clear quarantine this weekend and is expected to stretch her legs over the Oklahoma training turf on Sunday.

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. will send out a pair of graded stakes-winning contenders in the aforementioned Dona Clota [post 10, Tyler Gaffalione] and Venencia [post 6, Vincent Cheminaud].

Resolute Racing’s Dona Clota enters from her Robert G. Dick victory, showing the superior turn-of-foot to Alluring Angel and getting her neck down for her first American victory in her sixth attempt. The Chilean-bred 5-year-old daughter of Ivan Denisovich was a dual Group 1-winner in her native Chile, taking the Nacional Ricardo Lyon and the El Ensayo in 2024.

Miller Racing’s French-bred Venencia arrives from a runner-up effort over this distance in the Listed Keertana on May 23 at Churchill Downs, where she landed 2 3/4 lengths back of the victorious Ayra Stark. She makes her sixth outing for Joseph, Jr. and vies for her second career graded score after taking the Grade 3 Dowager in October at Keeneland for trainer Brendan Walsh, which was also her latest victory.

Completing the competitive field are dual graded stakes-winner Bellezza [post 7, Jaime Rodriguez] for trainer Miguel Clement; dual graded stakes-placed Storm Miami [post 2, John Velazquez] for trainer Amelia Green; dual-winner Favorite Memory [post 8, Jose Ortiz] for conditioner Cherie DeVaux; four-time winner Lady Firefoot [post 9, Ricardo Santana, Jr.] for conditioner Steven Schauer; and the stakes-debuting Massarat [post 3, Manny Franco] for trainer Brendan Walsh.

Bernietakescharge is entered for the main track-only.

The Glens Falls is slated as Race 8 on Thursday’s nine-race program. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.  

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