In Te Domine, winner of the Statue of Liberty Division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series in her last start on August 12th, had lots of run for the first division of the $70,000 Riskaverse Stakes for three-year-old fillies at Saratoga on Thursday, but little opportunity to put it to good use. Hemmed in by traffic for most of the trip, the three-year-old daughter of Freud had to settle for third, making a brave late charge once she got running room.
Owned by a partnership of Blackout Racing Stables and Lawrence J. Zyra, and trained by Linda Rice, In Te Domine was making her seventh career start in the Riskaverse, but meeting open company for the first time. To this point, she had only once finished worse than second and has raced exclusively on grass. The Riskaverse was run at a mile on Saratoga’s Inner Turf course.
Breaking from post four of nine under Alan Garcia (who had ridden the filly to a first level allowance win on July 4th), In Te Domine was slightly crowded at the start, but managed to secure a clear spot at the hedge in fifth position by the time she entered the first turn. Down the back stretch as she advanced to fourth, however, her troubles began. Though very eager, she had to be kept under a stout hold to keep from running up on the heels of the leader, long shot Shirley She Can. At the same time, she was hemmed in by favorite Awesome Maria, who was pressing Shirley She Can at her flank, and Tidal Pool, who was tracking in third to Awesome Maria’s outside (but more or less on even terms with In Te Domine). The advance of eventual runner-up Snow Top Mountain as the field entered the turn only complicated matters. Snow Top Mountain split In Te Domine and Tidal Pool, and Shirley She Can hung tough on the hedge directly in In Te Domine’s path. In the final furlong, Awesome Maria was the first to pass her Shirley She Can. Snow Top Mountain followed suit, but just far enough behind to keep In Te Domine hemmed in. Finally, around the sixteenth marker Garcia was able to tug the filly into a new course to clear the fading Shirley She Can. Even after being held and checked at intervals for most of her trip, In Te Domine still had plenty of run and came on strong with a late charge, but there was no time before the wire for her to do better than get up for third.
Foaled and raised at her breeder Barbara Bongard’s Rojan Farms, In Te Domine now has a record of 3-2-1 from seven starts, with career purse earnings of $129,740. The sophomore is one of three winners produced by the A.P. Indy mare Luminate (purchased by Bongard at the 2005 Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale for $52,000), including a winning New York-bred filly A. P. Light by Cape Canaveral. Luminate has a New York-bred yearling filly by Flashy Bull and was bred back to Freud this year. Freud stands for Sequel Stallions at Keane Stud.















