Future Is Now outpaced familiar rivals to take the $175,000 Caress Stakes (G3T), a 5 1/2-furlong turf contest July 19 at Saratoga Race Course, scoring by a half-length.
It was a pace-pressing victory for the 5-year-old Maryland-bred daughter of Great Notion . Tracking Twirling Queen for more than a half-mile, Paco Lopez and Future Is Now made the winning pass in the stretch, timed in 1:01.08 on a firm course. The Mike Trombetta trainee paid $6.40 to win as the favorite.
Zeitlos and Time to Dazzle ran second and third, respectively, behind her, and Twirling Queen was fourth.
“She’s a very good filly; Trombetta, he does a very good job," Lopez said. "Today, she did very well in the gate. The last time she was a little nervous, a little uneasy in the gate, but today, very quiet and relaxed."
It was a bounce-back win for Future Is Now, who chased Pipsy in vain in the June 5 Intercontinental Stakes (G2T), resulting in a runner-up finish that ended a three-race win streak. Pipsy also ran in the Caress but never threatened in finishing eighth with a troubled trip.
This marks Future Is Now's second graded stakes victory of the year and fourth overall.
She races for the estate of her late breeder R. Larry Johnson, who bred her out of the multiple stakes-producing Bernardini mare Past as Prelude.
Great Notion stood this year for a private fee at Northview Stallion Station in Maryland.
