Sky Mesa’s brilliant 2-year-old filly Perfect Alibi squeezed through two narrow openings for a very game win in Sunday’s $350,000 Spinaway S. (G1) at Saratoga, putting her atop the juvenile filly division heading into the autumn racing season.
Already a graded winner by virtue of her victory in the Adirondack S. (G2) earlier in the Saratoga meet, Perfect Alibi is Sky Mesa’ third career Grade 1 winner and one of his five stakes winners during the 2019 calendar year.
As she did the Adirondack, Perfect Alibi settled several lengths off the pace set by Mundaye Call. Holding her position along the rail, she steadily advanced around the turn and slipped inside past Mundaye Call at the top of the stretch, while Frank’s Rockette had taken over the lead on the outside. In the stretch, Perfect Alibi was squeezed tight on the rail, but forged her way through inside the final sixteenth and pulled clear to win by 1 1/4-lengths in 1:23.44 for the seven furlongs.
“This filly is just a fighter,” trainer Mark Casse said. “She keeps coming. I think the farther she runs, the better she likes it. Now, we have to decide if we go to the Frizette (Oct. 6, GI at Belmont Park) or the Alcibiades S. (Oct. 6, G1 at Keeneland). Hopefully, if all goes well, we’ll head to the Breeders’ Cup. I think she’s proven she at least deserves a chance.”
Perfect Alibi is now three for four lifetime, with a narrow loss in the Astoria S. her only blemish. She has earned $380,988 for owner Tracy Farmer.
Bred in Kentucky by Pin Oak Stud, Perfect Alibi is the latest of five winners out of stakes winner No Use Denying and is from the family of Grade 1 winner Missed the Storm and multiple graded winner Green Means Go. The dark bay filly sold for $220,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling sale.
