One day after an even-money favorite was outrun by a 42-1 shot in the Alabama Stakes, another startling upset roiled the Ballerina Handicap at Saratoga today. Inside Information, the queen of the fillies and the 2-5 favorite after winning her last five races, buckled to her knees at the start and was defeated by Classy Mirage.
Even for Allen Jerkens, the master of the upset, this was a feat of storybook proportions. Classy Mirage went to the post as the second choice at 5-1, but still was considered no match for the team surrounding Inside Information: the owner Ogden Mills Phipps, the trainer Shug McGaughey and the jockey Mike Smith.
Together, they had racked up an almost perfect record: 11 victories in 13 starts, twice running third. And their 4-year-old filly looked like an eventual challenge to her renowned stablemate, Heavenly Prize, last year's 3-year-old champion filly. But once Inside Information fell leaving the gate, all the bloodlines and the connections and the statistics felt a pressure too great to overcome in seven furlongs.
"We were very fortunate today," said Julie Krone, who rode Classy Mirage. "We beat a very good horse. I wasn't banking on Mike's horse going to her knees right out of the gate, but sometimes you have to take advantage of other people's misfortune."
Jerkens also refused to dwell on Inside Information's misfortune, saying: "When I saw Inside Information go to her knees, I thought to myself that we could use that to our advantage. That's exactly what we did."
McGaughey, who has a barn stocked with fancy fillies, sounded stoical about his star's misstep.
"She went right down on her knees," he said. "She seemed ready, but she just outbroke herself. I thought when she made a move on the turn, she was going to get there. But then I saw they went the half in 47 seconds, and we weren't dealing with a bum or anything. Classy Mirage is a real nice filly."
In the starting gate, everything seemed in proper order to Smith, the regular rider on Inside Information.
"She was standing great," he reported, "and she was fast out of there in the first jump. But on the second jump, she bounced right off her head.
"When something like that happens, the outcome is going to change. We were giving a lot of weight and running on this track, and it's a whole lot to make up. Down the stretch, I knew she was beat."
Inside Information was carrying 126 pounds, 7 more pounds than Classy Mirage and 14 more than Laura's Pistolette, who finished third. The winner zipped the seven furlongs in 1:222/5 on a heavy track rated good after Saturday's rains. She paid $12.80 for a $2 bet and went home with $90,000 and three victories in her last four races.
"When a horse gets loose on the lead like that," McGaughey reasoned, "and we're giving a lot of weight to her and running on an off track, it's tough to go by anyone."
Just ask Golden Bri, the even-money choice in the Alabama, who ran sixth behind Pretty Discreet, who triggered the weekend's upsets at $87.50 for every $2 invested.
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