A late surge, which is worth a $175,000

Resolute Racing's Pounce secured a late surge to win the Grade 3, $175,000 Lake George Stakes, a one-mile inner turf race for sophomore fillies at Saratoga Race Course, marking Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse's fourth stakes win of the day across North America.

Casse celebrated an impressive day with six overall wins, including victories at Saratoga in an optional claiming race (race 8, Full Screen), at Woodbine Racetrack in the Plate Trial (My Boy Prince), Trillium (G3) (Solo Album), and an optional claimer (Ready to Jam). He also triumphed at Monmouth Park in the United Nations (G2) with Get Smokin and at Gulfstream Park in a maiden special weight with Aristotle.

“It’s been a good day," Casse said, "We have a great crew. We got up to Saratoga a lot earlier this year, and I think that might be part of it. We have a lot of great people who put a lot of money behind us, and we’re doing really well with our 2-year-olds. We went out and recruited the strongest group of yearlings we’ve ever recruited, and it’s paying dividends.”

Pounce, a Lookin At Lucky bay filly, earned her second graded win, adding to her last-to-first victory in the Herecomesthebride (G3) in March at Gulfstream.

Ridden by Dylan Davis, who claimed his third win of the day, Pounce broke alertly from post 8, settling mid-pack. Sweet Rebecca, also owned by Resolute Racing, initially led the field under Tyler Gaffalione, but Gavea soon took over, setting an opening quarter-mile of 23.88 seconds on firm turf.

Gavea, piloted by Brian Hernandez Jr., continued to lead through the first turn, tracked by Manama Gold and Sweet Rebecca. Davis kept Pounce 3 1/2 lengths back in sixth position. “She has natural speed, so I thought I would be forwardly placed on the lead or second,” Davis said. “But I just really rode her comfortably out of the gate to get her to relax because I thought last trip she was on the engine too much.”

As the field approached the far turn, Pounce advanced into fifth position. By the top of the stretch, Davis positioned Pounce to the outside, clear of traffic, as Gavea clung to a narrow lead. After covering seven-eighths in 1:24.21, Davis asked Pounce for her best stride. She responded with a powerful finish, outpacing the closers Oversubscribed and Vive Veuve to win by three-quarters of a length in a final time of 1:35.84.

Vive Veuve rallied from ninth to secure third place, while Gavea held on for fourth. Sweet Rebecca, De Regreso, Manama Gold, Gala Brand, Lemon Muffin, and Magic Cross completed the order of finish.

Casse praised Davis for getting Pounce to relax, which allowed her to flourish. In her last graded stakes attempt, Pounce was overly eager early, resulting in an off-the-board finish in the Appalachian (G2) in April at Keeneland. She rebounded with a pacesetting third in the one-mile Penn Oaks on May 31 at Penn National.

“I was considering her to be a real star, and then she kind of disappointed me a little bit. We freshened her up and gave her a little more time. The only thing I said to Dylan was I wanted him to get her to settle if she would – and she did,” said Casse, now second in the trainer standings with six wins, one behind Brown.

Davis, aboard for the first time, was impressed with Pounce’s response. “I just waited for a spot to open up to push out, and when I pushed out, she responded really nicely,” he said. “She was finding more; she was just getting started because she was tough to pull up after the race.”

Jack Sisterson, trainer of Vive Veuve, was pleased with her performance despite a tough trip. “I’m a bit biased and maybe with a clean trip it’s a different result, but I’m over the moon with the way she ran. She shows up every time,” Sisterson said.

Joel Rosario, aboard the Chad Brown-trained Oversubscribed, acknowledged the close finish. “She did everything right, just a bit unlucky with the trip,” Rosario said. “She was running at the end, so too bad we got beat, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Pounce, bred in Kentucky by Bell, Rankin, VanMeter, and Hancock, is out of the winning Twirling Candy mare Bouncing. Initially campaigned by Quintessential Racing Florida and Hat Creek Racing, she was purchased in February for $370,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Digital Selected Sale. She earned $96,250 in victory, improving her record to 7-4-0-1 and returning $13.80 for a $2 win bet.