SARATOGA SPRINGS — It happened once. It's not going to happen again.
When the Saratoga race meet started, all the 3-year-old fillies in the land had to bow at the eye-catching sight of Malathaat. She is a unique-looking thoroughbred specimen with a diamond-shaped blaze between her eyeballs. And she runs as impressively as she looks.
She won her first five career starts, and the smart money was on her to make it 6-for-6 when she got to summer school at Saratoga.
On the way to that perfect half-dozen, Malathaat got beat. The Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks was not hers for the taking on the second Saturday of the Spa meet. That's because the filly no one expected to win won.
Maracuja, a gunmetal gray gal, pulled off the improbable upset when she got her head in front of Malathaat's on that sunny July 24 afternoon. Four fillies ran in the CCA Oaks; Maracuja was the longest price on the board at 14-1. Those who believed got paid.
Malathaat was the 1-5 favorite.
Rob Atras, Maracuja's trainer, has basked in the afterglow of that win for the past 25 days. Now, though, it's game time again. And the question he has been asked for the past four weeks is a simple one. Can she do it again?
So, can she?
"Can lightning strike twice? I don't know," Atras said with a smile outside his barn at Clare Court, which is part of the Saratoga backstretch.
Going into the Coaching Club American Oaks, the 36-year-old Atras knew how intimidating the mountain was that his horse had to climb. Now, here comes another one. Saturday's Grade I, $600,000 Alabama at 1 1/4 miles is the premier race of the summer for 3-year-old fillies. The Alabama is an eighth of a mile longer than the CCA Oaks.
Malathaat will be the favorite when the seven fillies enter the starting gate, but know this: She will have to deal with Maracuja.
Atras is taking the low road once again as he heads into the toughest test to date for his hard-trying filly.
"She will have to run an A-plus race to tackle that filly again," Atras said. "I think she is up for it. I don't know if we can beat her, but I think she will run a good race, judging by the way she is training."
After the hard-fought win in the CCA Oaks, Atras thought Maracuja might be wiped out for a little bit.
But Atras didn't see his filly dragging around the barn; her tongue wasn't hanging down by her knees.
"She actually came out of it really well," he said. "That is important since she ran so hard. Sometimes, they need a little time between races and we were able to go on with her and prepare for (the Alabama)."
Maracuja has won two of her five starts this year. She will be ridden once again by Ricardo Santana Jr., who was on board for the first time in the CCA Oaks. In her three prior starts, Maracuja's partner was Kendrick Carmouche, but he is recovering from a broken right ankle.
Maracuja is owned by John Sakkos' Beach Haven Thoroughbreds, which has only been in existence for four years.
This weekend, the whole team has a chance to sweep the two major races for 3-year-old fillies at the Spa. If Maracuja is able to do that, she will vault into the top spot in the division.
"I am expecting and hoping that she runs another top effort," Atras said. "She is probably getting a little more respect, but I think the other filly is a deserving favorite. We know what Maracuja is, but I think everyone will probably think she needs to do it again to prove herself. And that is fine."
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Maracuja looks to do it again, this time in Alabama at Saratoga - Times Union
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