Cy Fair looms as filly to beat in Saratoga’s Coronation Cup
Cy Fair entered Saratoga’s $225,000 Coronation Cup with a Grade 1 win, a 56.02 Breeders’ Cup sprint, and a chance to prove she ruled the turf-sprint set.
Cy Fair drew post 2 with John Velazquez for Saturday’s $225,000 Grade 3 Coronation Cup at Saratoga. The 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomore fillies gave George Weaver’s filly a clean test: travel comfortably, show the same sharp turn of foot and finish with authority against runners already linked to her form.
The George Weaver trainee, owned by Medallion Racing, Swinbank Stables LLC, Joey Platts and Mark Stanton, brought a record of 6 starts, 4 wins, 1 second and 1 third for $892,255 in earnings, including a 2026 line of 2 starts, 1 win and 1 third. Foaled March 4, 2023, she is by Not This Time out of Remarqued, by Arch, and her Grade 1 résumé already included the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar, where she beat males in 56.02 seconds after taking the Listed Algonquin at Woodbine by 3 1/4 lengths.
The Algonquin helped educate the filly after she had gotten tense in the Bolton Landing. She carried that lesson to Del Mar, where she became the first Breeders’ Cup winner for Not This Time and gave Weaver his first Breeders’ Cup victory.
Cy Fair ran third in the Grade 3 Limestone at Keeneland on April 10 behind Slay the Day and Sapphire Beach, then turned the tables in the Grade 3 Mamzelle at Churchill Downs on April 30, beating Slay the Day by a length. Slay the Day returned to win the Grade 3 Soaring Softly on June 7, and Sapphire Beach won a 5 1/2-furlong allowance at Churchill Downs on May 31. Rusty Arnold said, “George’s filly will be tough, but we’ll see if we can give her a run.”
Weaver had targeted Royal Ascot before scrapping the trip after, in his words, “a couple of days I wasn’t happy with her,” and Medallion Racing said she was sound and expected back on the work tab within one to two weeks. She answered with a half-mile move in :50.90 on the Oklahoma dirt training track.
The Coronation Cup has been run since at least 1976, with Lady Shipman holding the race record at 1:00.85 and the biggest winning margin at 3 1/4 lengths. Italian Soiree won last year in 1:02.21.
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