And One More Time Holds On in Ballston Spa

Live Oak Plantation's And One More Time (f, 4, Omaha Beach–Complicated, by Blame) both outfinished her rivals and overcame a stewards' inquiry to win the GII Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga Saturday. A Grade I winner at two and victress of the Spa's De La Rose Stakes at a mile last out July 17, And One More Time waited patiently in the gate for the break while several of her rivals proved a tad unruly, including 4-5 choice and dual Grade I winner Segesta (Ghostzapper).

When the gates finally opened, And One More Time broke outward, bumping Segesta, before heading straight to the lead. With her last two wins both from the front end, Javier Castellano kept the dark bay there through early fractions of :24.07 and :47.05 despite briefly adjusting his right iron and facing continued pressure from 21-1 Long Ago (GB) (Roaring Lion). And One More Time shook free of Long Ago on the turn and got the jump on the field in the sprint for home. As a number of her opponents made eye-catching moves behind her, And One More Time clung to her lead despite drifting in the stretch, with both European invader Sunlit Uplands (Ire) (Sands of Mali {Fr}) and Segesta appearing the most impacted and triggering a stewards' inquiry. It was Sunlit Uplands who proved the biggest threat to And One More Time, both in late stretch and in the stewards' room. In a game finish, And One More Time straightened out and held sway to the wire, getting the 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.80, with Sunlit Uplands a neck back in second. Deep Satin (American Phaorah), who dove to the inside in deep stretch, finished just another neck behind Sunlit Uplands in third.

Sunlit Uplands's rider, John Velazquez, quickly made a claim of foul and interference against the winner to go along with the stewards' inquiry into the stretch run. After deliberating for several minutes, the stewards disallowed both the claim and the inquiry and allowed the result to stand.

“This [win] means a lot to Mrs. [Charlotte] Weber [owner of Live Oak Plantation] and if it means a lot to Mrs. Weber, it means a lot to me,” said winning trainer Mark Casse. “She's been part of my family for over 50 years. She was there [at the winner's circle] and she was like, 'Please don't take this away from me!'”

Live Oak won the Ballston Spa twice previously, in 2006 with My Typhoon (Ire) (Giant's Causeway) and in 2010 with Dynaslew (Dynaformer).

And One More Time is first to the wire | Sarah Andrew

A $750,000 Live Oak buy at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale, And One More Time captured the GI Natalma Stakes at Woodbine in 2024 in just her third start. She spent exactly a year on the sidelines after the Natalma, easing back into stakes company south of the border last winter and spring with mixed results. Off the board in a trio of graded events, including the GI Just a Game Stakes June 6 at Saratoga–which was sandwiched between victories in the Plenty of Grace Stakes and the aforementioned De La Rose–And One More Time has been steadily racking up Beyer Speed Figures in the 90s.

Casse said And One More Time is currently at the best she's been.

“She's really on her game right now. I've never seen her so good. They had shots to get by her, but they couldn't. She deserves to be the winner.”

He continued: “She had a very serious injury as a 2-year-old and most horses wouldn't come back. She's come back and it's not easy to compete at the highest level. It takes a while, and she's caught on and is doing well.”

Pedigree Notes:

One of 10 graded winners and 30 black-type winners for Omaha Beach, And One More Time is also one of three Grade I winners for her Spendthrift-based sire. She's also one of two of her sire's stakes winners out of daughters of Blame, the Claiborne studmate of Omaha Beach's pensioned sire, War Front, who has 37 black-type winners as a broodmare sire.

The placed Complicated, a granddaughter of MGISW Educated Risk (Mr. Prospector) from the exceptional Grey Flight family, was a $110,000 purchase by William Harrigan/Miacomet Bloodstock at the 2016 Keeneland November sale and has a heck of a record as a broodmare. And One More Time is her fourth daughter or son to the races and her fourth stakes winner, joining GI First Lady Stakes winner Simply in Front (Summer Front), MGSW Honor D Lady (Honor Code), and SW Churchtown (Air Force Blue). Complicated has an unraced 2-year-old Golden Pal colt named Roosevelt, who went to Twin Creeks Farm for $475,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. She hasn't produced a foal the last two years and was covered by Into Mischief for 2027.

Back-to-back stakes wins for AND ONE MORE TIME!

She wins the G2 Ballston Spa Stakes pres. by @STIHLUSA under @jjcjockey for trainer @markecasse. pic.twitter.com/IgDoyT73Dd

— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) August 22, 2026

Saturday, Saratoga
BALLSTON SPA S. PRESENTED BY STIHL-GII, $300,000, Saratoga, 8-22, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16mT, 1:40.80, fm.
1–AND ONE MORE TIME, 124, f, 4, by Omaha Beach
            1st Dam: Complicated, by Blame
            2nd Dam: Consequence, by El Prado (Ire)
            3rd Dam: Educated Risk, by Mr. Prospector
($750,000 Ylg '23 FTSAUG). O-Live Oak Plantation; B-William B.
Harrigan & Mike Pietrangelo (KY); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Javier
Castellano. $165,000. Lifetime Record: GISW, 11-6-1-0,
$694,672. *1/2 to Honor D Lady (Honor Code), MGSW-USA,
MGSP-Can, $745,942, Churchtown (Air Force Blue), SW-USA,
SP-Can, $375,989 and Simply in Front (Summer Front),
GISW-USA, GISP-Can, $2,868,611. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
*Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Sunlit Uplands (Ire), 124, f, 4, Sands of Mali (Fr)–Illico (GB),
by Dansili (GB). (8,000gns Wlg '22 TADEWE; 16,000gns Ylg '23
TATOCT). O-Rachel Flynn and Rae Guest; B-Prospect Stables
(IRE); T-Stuart C. Williams. $60,000.
3–Deep Satin, 124, m, 5, American Pharoah–Take the Ribbon,
by Chester House. O-John D. Gunther. and Eurowest
Bloodstock Services; B-Eurowest Bloodstock Services (KY);
T-Cherie DeVaux. $36,000.
Margins: NK, NK, HF. Odds: 6.31, 9.98, 3.88.
Also Ran: Grayosh, Segesta, Ozara (Ire), Long Ago (GB). Scratched: Play With Fire, Scalable. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.