Power Squeeze Edges Candied in Thrilling Alabama Stakes Finish at Saratoga

August 17th, 2024 by Teresa Genaro

Content provided by BloodHorse

Power Squeeze, Candied, 2024 Alabama Stakes, Saratoga Race Course

Power Squeeze on the outside caught Candied at the finish to win the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga. (Gary Johnson/Eclipse Sportswire)

Power Squeeze made the most of the 1 1/4-mile distance in Saratoga's Grade 1 Alabama Stakes presented by Keeneland Sales, trailing the favorite Candied for most of the race until getting ahead when it mattered most, putting her head down at the wire to earn a narrow victory.

With 3-year-old filly divisional leader Thorpedo Anna opting to pass the $600,000 Alabama Stakes in order to run against the boys in next weekend's Grade 1 Draftkings Travers Stakes, the stage was set for post-time betting favorite Candied to earn her second Grade 1 win in the Alabama. At the eighth pole, it looked like the Candied would prevail, but Power Squeeze didn't get that memo.

Click to subscribe!

Power Squeeze and jockey Javier Castellano followed Candied and rider Manny Franco up the backstretch, well behind the pacesetting Chatalas. With both fillies well off the rail, Candied was a length or so in front when Franco asked her to go heading into the far turn.

Castellano gave Power Squeeze her cue, too, and both fillies circled the field, running wide as they came into the stretch. After getting bumped by Miss Justify, who had been knocked into by a tiring Chatalas, Candied regained her balance and momentum just as Power Squeeze took aim on her. The two fillies joined inside the sixteenth pole for a neck-and-neck run to the wire.

Power Squeeze now has won six of her last eight starts, including the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks presented by FanDuel TV. Her only defeats in that span came when she finished a well-beaten sixth in the Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks behind Thorpedo Anna and then when third behind Thorpedo Anna in the Grade 1 DK Horse Acorn Stakes.

"She's a fighter, and I liked the way she did it today," said winning rider Javier Castellano. "She's a very grounded horse. I knew it was a hot pace."

It was the second straight close finish for Power Squeeze, who won the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks by a nose on July 8.

"I never felt like a winner until the wire," said the trainer of Power Squeeze, Jorge Delgado. "That was an absolutely outstanding ride from Javier [Castellano]. He measured the race perfectly."

Candied finished second, with Just Basking a length back in third. Miss Justify finished fourth and Chatalas, faded to sixth. Sent off at odds of 6.40-1, Power Squeeze paid $14.80 to win, running the mile and a quarter in 2:04.35 on a fast track.

The Alabama was Delgado's first career Grade 1 win.

Despite having been beaten twice by Thorpedo Anna, Delgado has no qualms about facing the divisional leader this fall, with his eye on the $1 million Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes at Parx on Sept. 21.

"The owner is a man of challenge. I am too," said Delgado. "You only have these kinds of chances so many times in your training career. We faced (Thorpedo Anna) twice, we lost twice, but I feel like if it is the right surface and right distance for us, we might have a shot."