(Always a Runner / Photos by Holly M. Smith)

From the NYRA Media Team:

After overcoming a significant bout with pneumonia last fall, it seemed improbable that the well-regarded Always a Runner would make it onto the Kentucky Oaks trail, let alone tally a perfect 3-for-3 ledger that was capped with a win in the prestigious route for sophomore fillies on the first Friday in May. Now, she looks to further her success in Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 DraftKings Acorn for sophomore fillies traveling nine-furlongs at Saratoga Race Course.

“She looks good, and there’s no reason not to just carry right on with her,” said her five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. “She’s lightly-raced and she bounced out of the Oaks good.”

The Acorn, which will feature a rematch of the top-three finishers from the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, is slated as Race 10 on Friday’s card for Day Three of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. The 14-race program also features the Grade 1, $750,000 New York in Race 11, the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford in Race 12, the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o’ Roses presented by Boldyn Networks in Race 4 and the Grade 2, $300,000 Wonder Again presented by Shift4 in Race 9. First post is 11:45 a.m. Eastern, with gates opening to the public at 10 a.m.

Campaigned by breeder Three Chimneys Farm with Douglas Scharbauer, the dark bay daughter of Gun Runner sold for $1.05 million at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, and quickly stamped herself as a top prospect in the incoming class of juveniles to the Brown barn last year.

However, uncertainty clouded her future in the fall when she came down with pneumonia. Despite the severity of her illness, the filly showed determination to overcome the infection, and displayed that same heart on the racetrack to warrant a February debut at Tampa Bay Downs, where she stalked and pounced to a dominant 6 1/2-length victory.

In April, Brown decided to roll the dice and place her on the Oaks trail in the Grade 3 Gazelle at Aqueduct Racetrack. The pacesetting Pashmina looked like a winner heading into the lane as she had a 2 1/2-length lead at the stretch call with Always a Runner a clear second. Under a strong ride from Dylan Davis, Always a Runner showed an impressive turn-of-foot in the final sixteenth to sweep by Pashmina and win by 1 1/4 lengths.

The improbable had happened, and Always a Runner not only punched her ticket to the Oaks, but emerged from post 7-of-13 there as the close second choice under Jose Ortiz. Patiently handled in the first stages, Always a Runner raced in mid-pack approaching the first turn, and settled in behind splits of 23.08 seconds and 46.85 set by Explora while racing in the two-path in eighth down the backstretch. Ortiz roused his charge in the far turn and an opening appeared in front of her as her more forward rivals commenced their bids, allowing Ortiz to angle her around to the four and five-path straightening for home.

Always a Runner hit the clear through three-quarters in 1:10.78 and set her sights on the tiring Explora and the pursuing Meaning, gaining ground with every stride to come to even terms with her rivals passing the eighth pole and drawing off an emphatic 1 1/4-length victory over Meaning in a final time of 1:48.82. The win was the first in the Oaks for Brown and the second for Ortiz, who went on to complete the Oaks/Kentucky Derby double the next day aboard expected Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets contender Golden Tempo.

“A great trip and a great ride. I think Jose did a fabulous job, especially in the first half of the race by holding his position between horses in traffic,” Brown said. “He never lost position, and I think that was really key. He kept her there and he kept her position to just move forward, and they got along really well. This is going to be a much different race in a short field, so we’ll have to see how it all works out. There’s really good horses in the race, just not many [runners].”

Brown said the string of races Always a Runner has put together is a tremendous accomplishment for a horse who faced such adversity early in her life and career.

“She was in deep water last fall, believe me. She overcame a lot,” Brown said. “To win the Oaks in her third start after getting pneumonia – a bad case of it – she’s a really talented horse. She’s handled everything like a pro and is 3-for-3 on three different racetracks. Now she’ll be on her fourth different racetrack here, and she’s training super.”

In the Acorn, Always a Runner, who earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure for her Oaks win, will face a much smaller field than last time with a rematch slated between her, Meaning and Oaks third-place finisher Counting Stars. Brown said he will not overthink tactics and will let the race play out as it will.

“You’re in a short field in big races and there’s not a lot to say,” Brown said. “The more you say, the more you can confuse things. It’s just going to have to be the horses finding themselves wherever they’re supposed to be.”

Always a Runner is out of the Grade 2-placed Malibu Moon mare Always Carina, a half-sister to 2019 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf-winner Structor. Both Always Carina and Structor were trained by Brown.

Ortiz returns to the irons from the outermost post 5.

Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Meaning [post 3, Juan Hernandez] will look to turn the tables on Always a Runner following her gutsy effort in the Oaks, where she sat closer to the pace than her familiar foe and got first run at Explora to take a head lead at the stretch call. She ran on bravely under returning rider Juan Hernandez and earned a 92 Beyer for the effort.

Trained by Michael McCarthy, the daughter of Gun Runner was making her fifth lifetime start in the Oaks, which came on the heels of back-to-back wins at Santa Anita Park in the Listed Las Virgenes and the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks.

“I thought that was a very good performance in the Kentucky Oaks,” McCarthy said. “She seems like she’s holding her form. I’m looking forward to running her at Saratoga and trying it again.”

Meaning debuted in September with a convincing win sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos Race Course, and landed an even fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in her first effort against winners in October at Del Mar. She was away from the races until her seasonal debut in the Las Virgenes in February.

The $440,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, out of the Grade 1-placed Into Mischief mare Figure of Speech, breezed a half-mile in 49 seconds flat on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

“She’s a very good work horse,” McCarthy said. “She’s just doing well. She’s trained well. She enjoyed her time in Kentucky.”

West Point Thoroughbreds’ Counting Stars [post 2, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] was a hard-trying third in the Oaks for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, and landed 2 1/4 lengths behind Always a Runner after a close stalking trip along the inside under Francisco Arrieta before swinging out in the lane and making a willing run.

“I thought she ran extremely well,” Casse said. “I thought she had a good trip and maybe she was a little intimidated down inside. When she got out late, she started running a little bit more, but she did get to save all the ground. She got beat by two good fillies. It was a good effort.”

Casse said a rematch of the Oaks top three makes for an intriguing race.

“They weren’t far apart last time, so anything is possible,” he concluded.

Ahead of the Oaks, the Honor A.P. bay was a prominent winner of the Grade 2 Fantasy at Oaklawn Park, and her other three career wins have come with stalk-and-pounce tactics. Casse said that adaptability is what helped her deliver a stellar effort in the Oaks.

“I was concerned when she got stuck behind horses [in the Oaks] but I thought she handled it well,” Casse said. “She’s got some gas if nobody wants to go.”

A $150,000 purchase at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, Counting Stars is out of the Paynter mare Paynterbynumbers.

Gary and Mary West’s Kentucky homebred Prom Queen [post 1, Flavien Prat] completes the group of contenders exiting the Oaks, where she landed fifth for dual Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox. Piloted by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, Prom Queen was seven lengths back in 12th through the first half-mile and swung five-wide for a belated bid in the stretch to be defeated 4 3/4-lengths.

The Quality Road bay debuted going a one-turn mile in January at Gulfstream Park, and graduated next up when stretched out to 1 1/16-miles for an eight-length trouncing of a February maiden special weight there. She then passed her first graded test with flying colors, annexing the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks over the same course and distance to earn her spot in the Kentucky Oaks.

Prom Queen is out of the Tapit mare Miss Bling Bling, whose dam Milwaukee Appeal was Canada’s Champion 3-Year-Old Filly in 2009 and also produced dual graded stakes-winner Actress, dam of Group 1-winner Hit Show.

Completing the field is Baccari Racing Stable, Alfred Riccio and Robert Cotrone’s Maximum Offer [post 4, Florent Geroux], who enters off a Kentucky Oaks undercard optional claiming win traveling 1 1/16 miles for trainer Ken McPeek. The Maxfield bay returns to stakes company after off-the-board finishes in the Listed Martha Washington in February at Oaklawn Park and Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks in March.

America’s Day at the Races presents daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule.