Saratoga Maidens Presented By Keeneland: Deep Learning Passed Her Tests In Saratoga Maiden Special

[Wandering Eyes]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — There a was an easy-to-embrace educational angle to Deep Learning (Cairo Prince)'s victory in the third race Friday at Saratoga Race Course.

In her career debut Klaravich Stables' 2-year-old filly dealt with some bumping exiting the gate leaving her a bit farther off the early pace than trainer Chad Brown expected. With a patient ride by Flavien Prat and an impressive finish, Deep Learning scored by 3 1/4 lengths over Beach Ballad (Omaha Beach). She completed the 1 1/16 miles $100,000 maiden special weight contest on the inner turf course in 1:42.50 and paid $6.70 as the 2-1 favorite.

After the slowish start, Deep Learning was sixth, some eight lengths back, in the first run through the stretch while Beach Ballad was setting early fractions of :24.08 and :48.61. Prat guided the filly to an inside trip, took her to the outside at the three-sixteenths pole and she finished with resolve, passed the pacesetter near sixteenth pole and kept rolling.

“I was hoping she wouldn't be too far away, and they should be saving ground,” Brown said. “She accomplished a bunch of things today. Not only did she win, but she was able to learn something traveling behind horses and such and waiting.”

Brown purchased the filly out of Dovima by Union Rags for $325,000 at the OBS April 2-year-old sale.

“We don't buy that much there,” owner Seth Klarman said, “but he thought she kind of looked really great, and maybe (was by) a little bit of an off sire for what people were looking for. He said she always impressed him. Chad is just amazing with turf horses. Flavien gave her a brilliant ride. Very fortunate today.”

Brown said there were a few factors in the purchase: an impressive breeze at the sale and that she was handled by consignor Eddie Woods, who retired this spring.

“I bought so many great horses off him, including Lady Eli, and many others that he either sold me or just sent to me that he had through his program,” Brown said. “I loved buying his horses. I've loved receiving his horses through the years. So that was a big plus for me, after I saw her work.

“She reminded me of some of the better 2-year-old prospects I've gotten out of 2-year-old sales in the past, so we pulled the trigger. I'm fortunate enough to have the backing of Mr. Seth Klarman, who really lets me sort of direct traffic up front of what direction we're going and what prospects we're looking at.”

Bred by Tony Dardis, Dell Ridge Farm, Ken Donworth and Desmond Ryan, her dam was trained by Brown, but he said he didn't make the connection until after he had already decided she was a prospect to purchase. Brown said that he probably will give Deep Learning some time to recover from the maiden score and point her toward the GII Miss Grillo Stakes on Oct. 6. That race is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series with a berth in the GI Juvenile Fillies' Turf up for grabs.

Deep Learning was Klaravich's meet-leading sixth victory. Typically, Klarman gives his horses names connected to finance, so Deep Learning is a bit different.

“I would say it's an AI term,” he said. “It's sort of the idea of how they train the AI models. I'm just always looking for words that go together that sound like a racehorse.”

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