BALLERINA STAKES

(Grade 1)

TOM Morley stood in the winner’s circle after the Ballerina and summed up what it’s like to win a Grade 1 on Travers Day. “It’s the Ballerina, it doesn’t get much bigger than that,” Morley said. “It’s Travers Day here in Saratoga, that’s absolutely icing on the cake.”

A graduate of the Darley Flying Start, Morley has engineered a breakout meeting at Saratoga, winning six races, including two stakes by Haveyougoneaway.

The New York-bred mare escaped the midwest after winning eight races and made her way back to her home state for new owners Gary Barber and Sequel Racing. Turned over to Morley, she’s won three of four starts and has her sights on the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita.

“We’ll have to plot our route to California carefully. She’s run three times in pretty quick succession,” Morley said. “She’s had three big efforts in relatively quick succession, so we might just train up to the Breeders’ Cup now.”

Strike Charmer upset the return of the undefeated Lady Eli in the Ballston Spa to cap a seven-stakes extravaganza. Owned by Courtland Farm and trained by Mark Hennig, the six-year-old mare saved ground, spun out and surged past Lady Eli to upset the Grade 2 stakes.

Lady Eli, making her first start since last July after a battle with laminitis, ran hard and ran well to be second, three quarters of a length from Strike Charmer.

Ridden by Junior Alvarado, Strike Charmer won for the first time since taking the Beaugay in April.

“Picture perfect,” Alvarado said, when asked about the trip. “That’s exactly what it was supposed to look like. It couldn’t work out any better than that.”