La Cara bounced back in the Acorn Stakes as Good Cheer’s unbeaten streak ended without a fight
- Turf Diario
- Jun 7
- 3 min read
La Cara se rehabilitó en el Acorn Stakes y Good Cheer perdió su invicto sin ofrecer pelea
SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (Special for Turf Diario).- La Cara (Street Sense) returned to her best form with a powerful front-running victory in Friday’s $500,000 G1 DK Horse Acorn Stakes at Saratoga, the feature event on the second day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. In doing so, the homebred for Tracy Farmer handed heavy favorite Good Cheer (Medaglia d’Oro) her first career defeat.
Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse and ridden with confidence by Dylan Davis, La Cara took full advantage of her early speed over a sealed and muddy track, seizing the lead at the break and never looking back. She cruised home 3 lengths in front, stopping the clock in 1:49.20 for 1 1/8 miles.
“She’s a fantastic filly and we knew we were up against a monster in Good Cheer,” Farmer said, visibly emotional. “To win this race at Saratoga—it’s the best day of my life in racing. I bred her, I foaled her, I’ve been with her every day of her life. I’ve won the Whitney twice with Commentator and the Go for Wand with Hidden Lake, but this tops it all.”
La Cara had failed to fire in the G1 Kentucky Oaks, fading to ninth after setting the early pace. But back at Saratoga, where she broke her maiden last summer, she looked a different filly, clicking through fractions of :23.40, :47.80 and 1:10.74 while tracked closely by Look Forward (Bolt d’Oro), winner of the G2 Eight Belles.
Good Cheer, unbeaten in seven previous starts including a dominant win in the Oaks, never got involved under Luis Saez and finished a distant fifth.
“She just wasn’t traveling well,” said trainer Brad Cox. “There were no excuses. She broke fine but Luis had to ask her early, and that’s not like her. The track wasn’t the issue—she just didn’t fire.”
Davis, who also piloted La Cara to a front-running score in the G1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland, executed the game plan to perfection.
“The idea was to go and let her run her race,” Davis said. “She was comfortable up front and never felt pressure. I knew there were talented fillies chasing us, but she kept digging. This was her day.”
Look Forward stayed on gamely to finish second, holding off a late surge from Scottish Lassie (McKinzie) by half a length. They were followed by Bless the Broken (Laoban), Good Cheer, and Quickick (McKinzie). Shred the Bless the Broken (Into Mischief) was a late scratch.
“She really fought back when Irad came to her with Scottish Lassie,” said Umberto Rispoli, aboard Look Forward. “This second-place finish is huge for her future as a broodmare.”
La Cara’s juvenile campaign included a win in the G3 Pocahontas Stakes and a fifth in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. At three, she won the Suncoast Stakes by daylight and was runner-up in the G2 Davona Dale before her Oaks misfire.
Now a dual Grade 1 winner, La Cara has compiled a record of 11-5-2-0 and boosted her bankroll to over $1.15 million. A daughter of Cara Caterina (Bernardini), she hails from the immediate family of Grade 1 winners To Honor and Serve and Angela Renee. She returned $17.40 to win.
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