Chief Wallabee targets Curlin Stakes for Saratoga graded breakthrough
Chief Wallabee heads to the July 29 Curlin Stakes with four top-four graded finishes already on his card, chasing the win that would move him onto Saratoga's late-summer ladder.
Chief Wallabee is being aimed at the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, and the 1 1/8-mile dirt test could give him the graded win that has so far stayed just out of reach. The race comes July 29, three days before the Jim Dandy, putting the colt in the middle of Saratoga’s summer progression toward the division’s biggest prizes.
The Mike and Katherine Ball homebred has already made himself a known quantity in top company. Equibase lists Chief Wallabee as a 2023 Kentucky-bred colt by Constitution out of A La Lucie, by Medaglia d’Oro, trained by William I. Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado. In five career starts, he has posted a 1-1-1 record and earned $566,600.
What stands out most is how often he has been in the picture without quite getting the breakthrough. Chief Wallabee finished second in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in 1:43.33, third in the Florida Derby, and fourth in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. His only victory came in his 7-furlong maiden special weight debut at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 10, 2026, when he beat The Puma by 1 1/2 lengths.
That profile gives the Curlin real weight. The race is restricted to 3-year-olds who have not won a graded stakes, which means Chief Wallabee can remain on the serious end of the class ladder while still taking the next step. A graded win at Saratoga would lift him from the group of promising sophomores who have been competitive in major prep races into the group expected to be part of the late-summer conversation.
The timing also matters on the Saratoga calendar. NYRA’s 2026 summer meet runs from July 3 through Labor Day and includes 20 Grade 1 races among 73 stakes worth more than $23.575 million in purses. The Curlin sits inside that deeper schedule, with the Jim Dandy, Whitney and Travers forming the next stretch of targets for horses that prove they belong. In 2025, the Curlin drew 21 nominations and carried a $135,000 purse, a sign of how much interest the race generates for developing 3-year-olds.
NYRA also said in March that Saratoga overnight purses would rise by nearly 14 percent on average, adding more reward to a meet already loaded with stakes opportunities. For Chief Wallabee, the Curlin is more than another stop. It is the chance to turn a strong résumé into a graded result and make Saratoga’s biggest late-season races look like the next logical destination.
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