Just $13,564 separated favored Shotgun Hottie and second-choice Raging Sea when the gates opened for the $200,000 Shuvee Stakes (G2) on July 21 at Saratoga Race Course, and 2 1/2 lengths separated them at the wire, with Raging Sea the winner and Shotgun Hottie the runner-up.
Breaking from post 2, Venti Valentine stumbled badly at the start, going to her knees and righting herself thanks to the agility and quick thinking of jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. As Venti Valentine lagged behind the field, Flavien Prat was able to take advantage of the additional room to his inside to guide Raging Sea into a stalking position on the rail.
"There was a lot of commotion inside and Flavien gave another brilliant ride and made the decision to take the initiative," said trainer Chad Brown. "Our horse on paper could have been last early, but we got ahead of (Shotgun Hottie), and that key decision on the first turn took that horse out of her preferred running style."
"I didn't envision the race to go that way," said Prat, "but she jumped well, and when I saw Venti Valentine having a bad break, I asked her to get herself into the race and after that, I was able to stalk [along] the rail the whole way. She did the rest."
While Shotgun Hottie took to the outside up the backstretch of the nine-furlong race, Raging Sea kept her position on the rail, and with an open lane in front of him coming into the stretch, Prat guided Raging Sea to the lead, with Shotgun Hottie giving chase to get second.
Pacesetting Misty Veil finished third, followed by Just Katherine, and Venti Valentine, who was unable to recover from difficulties out of the gate.
"She stumbled bad, I can't believe I stayed on," said Ortiz. "It was crazy. I can't explain how I stayed on. She stumbled the first jump bad, tried to get up and stumbled again. After that I let her see how she felt—she wanted to go, so I let her. We tried to make a run, but it was just too much to overcome."
Raging Sea was bred in Kentucky by her owner, Alpha Delpha Stables. A four-year-old daughter of Curlin , she's out of the unraced Storm Cat mare Stormy Welcome and a half sister to Weather Wiz (Tiznow), who earned $308,875.
Raging Sea's lifetime record is 5-1-1 from 10 starts with earnings of $785,978.
"John Clay (of Alpha Delta) sends me a few 2-year-olds a year," said Brown, "and every year, there's a stakes horse in the group. He's primarily a commercial breeder, though he does keep and buy some fillies to race. He's got a tremendous operation."
Brown said that the $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Aug. 25 is a possible next start for Raging Sea.
"It would be a big step up for her," said the trainer, "but she's always knocking on the door in those grade 1s and there might be one with her name on it."
