Sippin Pretty turned the Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes upside down at Saratoga Race Course, finishing full of run to catch Goodall and win the 6 1/2-furlong dirt sprint by 1 3/4 lengths. The dark bay or brown Kentucky-bred filly covered the trip in 1:17.59 and returned $123,750 to owners Randall L. Bloch, Six Column Stables LLC, Mike Davis and Gene Rice.
The race unfolded the way a Saratoga sprint often does when the early pace gets tested and one filly gets the right stalking trip. Sippin Pretty was close enough to keep in touch, but did not rush into the early duel, letting the speed sort itself out before Ricardo Santana Jr. asked for more. Goodall, the filly expected to carry the class of the race for trainer Steven Asmussen and rider Flavien Prat, had a clear edge turning for home, but Sippin Pretty kept closing and collared her inside the final sixteenth. A Fine Chardonnay was third, giving Ian R. Wilkes a 1-3 finish with two starters in the 10-filly field.
The Victory Ride carried a $225,000 purse and was limited to 3-year-old fillies. NYRA had listed 15 nominations when the race closed on June 27, and its advance centered much of the attention on Spendthrift Farm’s pair of Tommy Jo and Goodall. That made Sippin Pretty’s performance even more striking, because she did not just beat a favorite, she did it against a race shape that rewarded patience and timing more than raw speed.
The rebound added another layer to the result. Sippin Pretty had been well beaten in the Eight Belles earlier in the season, then returned to break her maiden by 3 3/4 lengths at Gulfstream Park in just her second career start. The Victory Ride suggested that effort was no one-off, but part of a filly still learning how to use her speed and stamina over a sharp sprint trip. It also gave Yaupon another black-type winner and reinforced the stallion’s growing profile as a source of quick, adaptable runners.
Horse Racing Nation’s stakes history shows Echo Sound won the 2025 Victory Ride in 1:15.49, a faster final time that reflects how different Saturday’s pace setup was. This year’s result looked less like a meltdown than a tactical test Sippin Pretty passed cleanly, with HISA Rule 4212 keeping Lasix out of the race within 48 hours of post time. BloodHorse noted the win carried emotional weight for the ownership group, and the performance now puts Sippin Pretty back into the conversation for bigger Saratoga sprint spots and a broader place in the filly division.
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