Dale Ladner’s Kentucky-bred Alva Starr became a Grade 1 winner on Saturday, April 6, winning the 23rd running of the Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.
Trained by Brett Brinkman and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Alva Starr collared and put away pacesetter Red Carpet Ready at the eight pole and held at bay a late rally from Vahva. Alva Starr ran seven furlongs in 1:23.36 over the fast main track, defeating Vahva by a half-length at the finish. With the win, Alva Starr avenged a defeat in last year’s Raven Run Stakes (G2) at Keeneland where she was defeated by Vahva.
Alva Starr is a 4-year-old daughter of Lord Nelson out of the Into Mischief mare Sittin At the Bar. She improved her record to 8-5-3-0. In addition to the Madison victory, she also won last year’s Prioress Stakes (G2) at Saratoga at two. All told, she has now banked $778,450.
“I had no fear (about her coming from off the pace),” said Brett Brinkman, who bred the filly in Kentucky in partnership with Ladner. “Everybody calls her a ‘need the lead’ horse but she’s not. Without a doubt, it was a great race. The special ones win Grade 1s. She has her distance limitations, there’s no doubt. We’ll see where we go. Hopefully, we can capture another one and keep going.”
Winning rider Irad Ortiz said of the win, “They brought her over here ready to run. I just had to steer her around there. I peeked over at the screen at about the eighth-pole, and I saw somebody (Vahva) was to my outside. But my filly was still running at that point, and I was fairly confident we were going to be able to get the job done.”