Nitrogen Aims to Prove 'Generational' Talent in Alabama

When the skies opened over Saratoga Race Course ahead of the June 7 Wonder Again Stakes (G3), dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse and D. J. Stable's Leonard and Jonathan Green had a tough decision to make. The race was moved from the turf to the dirt, a surface on which their star 3-year-old filly, Nitrogen, had never raced on before. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro was riding a four-stakes win streak and had claimed the top spot in the sophomore turf filly division after convincing wins in grade 2 company at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. Casse and the Greens had always considered running her on the dirt, but enough early success on the grass—which managed to earn her Canada's Sovereign Award for champion 2-year-old filly in 2024 despite finishing the year a maiden—made it hard to make a change. "It was hard to shift gears and move her from something where she had won four stakes races in a row and was dominating that group," Jonathan Green said. As Casse weighed his decision, he pulled up a Dec. 19 workout that Nitrogen had in company with stablemate and now grade 3 winner Dream On, who Casse noted as a very good workhorse. She had gone five furlongs in a bullet 1:01 at Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida. The work had left such an impression on Casse that he remembered to go back and look. "I went back and reviewed all my notes. I went back and watched her work," Casse said. "I said, 'I'm going to run her.'" Green was on board with the choice as the field was scratched down to just three runners. "We put our heads together and analyzed the way the race was going to be run, who was going to stay in," Green said. "We felt like that was the right time to go ahead and try her dirt debut." How did that dirt debut go? She's now entered back on the dirt Aug. 16 for one of the most prestigious races for 3-year-old fillies on the surface: the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1). Some may discount her 17-length margin of victory in the Wonder Again to the fact that she was running against two fillies who prefer grass. However, they cannot discount the time. Running one mile over a sealed, sloppy track in 1:36.16, she finished just.27 off the time set by 4-year-old colt Raging Torrent when he defeated champion Fierceness and 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner White Abarrio in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at the same distance two races later. Jockey Frankie Dettori had pushed Raging Torrent through the wire. Jose Ortiz had stood up in Nitrogen's saddle at the eighth pole. "She was literally galloping," Casse said of the performance. "I was a little concerned that maybe it was just the wet track. Since I've breezed her a couple of times on the dirt, it's not the wet track." Although the win was impressive, the way she has trained on the dirt is what convinced Green to green-light the Alabama after the filly suffered a surprise defeat by a nose on the grass in the July 5 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T). "She's been training up here (Saratoga) lights out on the dirt," Green said. "Training with (Casse-trained Alabama rival) La Cara, breezing with La Cara. Anytime you can compete against a two-time grade 1 winner in the mornings and hold your own, it gives you a little confidence in the afternoon." The versatility in surface should come as no surprise for Green given the early hype that surrounded this filly. Normally, all the D. J. Stable homebreds go through the sales ring before their racing careers. Nitrogen was the only one from the past five crops to never be under that consideration. "That's how much we thought of her since the time she was born," Green said. "From the get-go, she's been breaking down doors, breaking through glass ceilings." Green and his team visit their homebreds at Taylor Made near Nicholasville, Ky., every three to four months to analyze sale options for each horse as they develop. Upon one of their first visits after Nitrogen's birth in 2022, Taylor Made's director of sales and liaison for D. J. Stable, Jeff Hazlett, made a comment that would stick and impact the filly forever. "When Tiffany Case (Nitrogen's dam) came out with Nitrogen by her side, he said, 'This filly just breathes different air,'" Green recalled. "When I went home that night, I looked up the periodic table for any elements that were lighter than oxygen." Nitrogen sits to the left of oxygen on the periodic table, carrying an atomic weight of 14.007 compared to oxygen's 15.999. The name was available from The Jockey Club, and the filly was named when the paperwork to register her as a Thoroughbred was submitted. Since then, she has more than made good on her name. Carrying a record of 5-2-2 from nine starts for $1,246,604 in earnings, she's already a champion, four-time graded stakes winner, and three-time grade 1-placed. Now, she has the opportunity to really place herself as one of the top runners in the nation by earning her first grade 1 win on a surface on which she's less experienced, all while facing the likes of Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Good Cheer and dual grade 1 winner La Cara. "I think she's shown she's versatile and that she can handle different surfaces," Green said. "I would love to get her a grade 1 next to her name on any surface, but if she could do it on the dirt—especially with what she's already accomplished on turf—I think she's one of those generational fillies. "I hate to throw that term (generational) around, but we've been in business for 40 years, and I can't remember a filly of ours that has been so versatile and gets your dreams going and excitement flowing." Should she perform well in the Alabama, win or lose, more dirt races would be under consideration. Green pointed out the $1 million Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing as a possibility before analyzing whether the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) or Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) would fit her better by the time they get to Del Mar Nov. 1. "At the end of the day, I think her racing style kind of transcends surface," Green said. Her presence in either Breeders' Cup race will create quite a busy opening to November for the Greens. They announced Aug. 14 that D. J. Stable will offer a curated reduction of its bloodstock portfolio at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, which begins Nov. 4. READ: Keeneland November to Offer D. J. Stable Reduction Green said about 30 of D. J. Stable's broodmares will be on offer. Probably not too surprising given her past sales history, the group consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency will not include Nitrogen or her dam, Tiffany Case.