Two-turn ability was confirmed and future stardom projected in Saratoga stakes for New York-bred distaff competitors on Monday, as four-year-old TALKING TREASURE won the mile and an eighth Saratoga Dew at even money, and two-year-old GOODDAY captured her New York debut with a front-running score in the six-furlong Vichy. Neither winner was a surprise (Goodday was almost even money at 1.15-to-1), and both look ready to be major factors on New York Showcase Day (October 18 at Belmont) and/or in other stakes events for state-bred fillies or in open competition.

For Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey's homebred Talking Treasure, the Saratoga Dew was her fifth career stakes victory and her second consecutive black-type tally at Saratoga in 26 days, but it was her first effort ever at nine furlongs -- a distance for which she seems well-suited. The $82,750 event was for New York-bred fillies and mares that had not won a 2008 graded stakes at a mile or longer, but that narrowly-tailored condition potentially excluded only two Grade 2-winning three-year-old fillies -- Sweet Vendetta and Sherine -- that are unlikely to take on older competition. Talking Treasure was one of four stakes winners in the Saratoga Dew and was the obvious choice among seven starters with two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey John Velazquez on board for the seventh time -- second consecutive -- in competition.

The one three-year-old filly in the Saratoga Dew, recent New York Stallion Statue of Liberty Stakes winner (at Saratoga) Raffie's Treasure, immediately grabbed the lead from the outside post and set the pace through three quarters with Talking Treasure stalking close behind in second place and under wraps. Talking Treasure took command in the upper stretch, opening up a daylight-margin advantage and finishing a ...continued on "NY-breds in the News" page