Maple Leaf Mel is set to step to the top of the class and so is her trainer, Melanie Giddings.
Undefeated in five career starts, Maple Leaf Mel makes her Grade 1 debut in the $500,000 Test Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday. Giddings, meanwhile, began her own training career less than a year ago, and saddles her first Grade 1 starter.
The 3-year-old gray daughter of Cross Traffic comes into the race off a win in the Victory Ride (G3) at Belmont on July 8. Joel Rosario has the call on the 2-1 second choice leaving from post 8.
Pretty Mischievous is the 9-5 favorite in a field of eight going 7 furlongs.
“I feel good and I’m not nervous at all. I’m very grateful, especially at this point in my career and haven’t even been training for a year,’’ said Giddings, who previously worked for Hall of Famers Mark Casse and Steve Asmussen, and most recently Jeremiah Englehart before going solo in November 2022. “I’m very fortunate to have a horse like this.”
Englehart was the trainer through Maple Leaf Mel’s first four victories, including the Miss Preakness (G3) at Pimlico on May 19. When Giddings left Englehart, owner Bill Parcells (yes, the NFL Hall of Fame coach) sent his filly with her namesake.
The win in the Victory Ride, a fifth straight gate-to-wire triumph, gave Giddings her first graded stakes victory. Taking on the likes of Pretty Mischievous, winner of the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and the Acorn (G1), as well as Acorn runner-up Dorth Vader (6-1), and Munnys Gold (7-2) from Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn, is a formidable challenge.
The likely pacesetter in the Test, Maple Leaf Mel has given Giddings a good vibe about her chances.
“It just gives you more confidence every time you run her that as the competition has gotten steeper, she does it easily,’’ said Giddings, referring to her 2 ½-length win in the Victory Ride. “It makes you feel good going into a race like this.’’
Parcells told the Daily Racing Form this week that Giddings “has been with Maple Leaf Mel pretty much every day that Mel has been training. I was impressed with her last summer in terms of how she was helping get the horse prepared, and you know the results were good.”
Weather, post time for the Test Stakes
The weather forecast for Saturday calls for partly cloudy skies, temperatures in the low 80s and no afternoon rainfall. On Friday, the final four races at the Spa were canceled due to severe thunderstorms.
Post time for the Test is 4:26 p.m. ET. The Test is carded as Race 8 on a program that features the $1 million Whitney (G1) — Cody’s Wish is the 1-2 favorite – as well as the $600,000 Saratoga Derby (G1) — Far Bridge is the 2-1 favorite.
The picks for the Test: 1 Dorth Vader, 2 Pretty Mischievous, 3 Maple Leaf Mel
The field for the $500,000 Test (G1), from the rail out, with jockeys, trainers, odds:
1 Pretty Mischievous (Tyler Gaffalione, Brendan Walsh), 9-5
2 Clearly Unhinged (Javier Castellano, Michael McCarthy), 12-1
3 Tappin Josie (K Gomez, H De Paz), 50-1
4 Jersey Pearl (Luis Saez, D Miller), 15-1
5 Interpolate (Flavien Prat, Chad Brown), 15-1
6 Dorth Vader (John Velazquez, George Weaver), 6-1
7 Munnys Gold (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Todd Pletcher), 7-2
8 Maple Leaf Mel (Joel Rosario, Melanie Giddings), 2-1