Lady Joanne races to Alabama Stakes win

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Lady Joanne fought off Octave and Lear's Princess in a tough stretch run to win the $500,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

Ridden by Calvin Borel and trained by Carl Nafzger, Lady Joanne held off the closing Lear's Princess and a late run from Octave, who could not get up in time on the rail.

After ducking in toward the rail just as the gates opened, Lady Joanne settled down and rated just behind the leaders in fourth as the field passed the clubhouse for the first time. She moved up to a perfect stalking position in third as Tough Tiz's Sis set the pace, and remained there up the backside while Folk and Octave were second and fourth.

Borel and Lady Joanne made the move at the quarter pole, and Octave made a move on the rail but did not get up in time. As Lady Joanne appeared to drift in deep stretch, she held off the closing Lear's Princess to win the 1 1/4-mile race by a neck, while Octave was 1 1/2 lengths back in third.

Following a steward's inquiry, the results were allowed to stand, and the Grade 1 event went to Lady Joanne in a time of 2 minutes, 8.62 seconds.

• DEL MAR OAKS -- At Del Mar, Calif., Rutherienne beat Valbenny by two lengths in the $400,000 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.

Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Rutherienne ran nine furlongs on the turf course in 1:46.79 and paid $9.20, $4.20 and $4.20.

Nakatani had been off his mounts for two days after bruising his left shoulder in a pre-race mishap Wednesday. He is scheduled to ride morning-line favorite Lava Man in today's $1 million Pacific Classic.

The victory, worth $240,000, was Rutherienne's sixth in seven starts.