The Alabama Stakes was first held in 1872 and has remained a fixture on the Saratoga Race Course calendar to become one of the most important races in the 3-year-old filly division. Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer and multiple Grade 1 winner La Cara lead a group of six fillies entered in this year’s edition trying to etch their names in the Thoroughbred racing history books as an Alabama winner alongside some true giants of the sport.

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The list of Alabama winners reads like a “who’s who” of elite female distance horses on the main track: Nest (2022), Malathaat (2021), Swiss Skydiver (2020), Elate (2017), Songbird (2016), Royal Delta (2011), Blind Luck (2010), Silverbulletday (1999), Banshee Breeze (1998), Heavenly Prize (1994), Sky Beauty (1993), Go for Wand (1990), Open Mind (1989), Mom’s Command (1985), Life’s Magic (1984), It’s In the Air (1979), Our Mims (1977), Desert Vixen (1973), Summer Guest (1972), Shuvee (1969), Gamely (1967), What A Treat (1965), Tempted (1958), Busanda (1950), Vagrancy (1942), Top Flight (1932), Maskette (1909), Beldame (1904), and Miss Woodford (1883).

The 2025 Alabama Stakes Presented by Keeneland Sales will be shown nationwide during a two-hour “Saratoga Saturdays” broadcast on FOX as part of NYRA’s “Saratoga Live” series that spans the entirety of the Saratoga meet.

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Read on for information on each Alabama Stakes entrant plus some betting insights.

Margie's Intention (Eclipse Sportswire)

1. Margie's Intention

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Brad Cox

Owners: WinStar Farm and Tom Mueller

Career record: 7 starts – 3 wins – 3 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $349,880

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 93

Pedigree: Honor A. P. - Playful Dancer, by Into Mischief 

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Closer

Analysis: Since stretching out to a mile for her second race after an unplaced finish in her career sprint debut, Margie’s Intention has developed into a consistent, high-level filly. She has won three times with three seconds in six races since her debut, including a coming-out party in the Grade 2 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on Preakness weekend. She rallied from off the pace to win the Black-Eyed Susan by three-quarters of a length for her first stakes victory. Magie’s Intention made her next start in the Delaware Oaks June 15 and finished second as the 5-2 favorite. She picks up the services of two-time Alabama Stakes winner Irad Ortiz Jr. (Questing, 2012; Nest, 2022), but the Honor A. P. filly must improve significantly in the Alabama to be a win candidate. She will be facing the best competition of her career with speed figures roughly 10 points slower than the major contenders. She always gives an honest effort but filling out the exacta or trifecta might be the ceiling for Margie’s Intention in the Alabama.

Bet Margie's Intention in the Alabama Stakes

Good Cheer (Eclipse Sportswire)

2. Good Cheer

Jockey: Luis Saez

Trainer: Brad Cox

Owner: Godolphin

Career record: 8 starts – 7 win – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $1,753,230

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 102

Pedigree: Medaglia d'Oro - Wedding Toast, by Street Sense

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker/closer

Analysis: After winning her first seven races by 2 ¼ lengths or more, including a victory in the $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks, Good Cheer lost for the first time June 6 at Saratoga in the DK Horse Acorn Stakes. She made a brief bid in the middle of the race, which was run on a sloppy track, but simply did not fire for the first time in her career while finishing fifth, 9 ¾ lengths behind front-running winner La Cara. How she responds to her first defeat will be a key storyline for the Alabama leading into the 1 ¼-mile race. Good Cheer has been favored in all eight of her races to date and the Godolphin homebred very likely will be well-supported again in the Alabama. There is not much speed in the race to set up her late-rallying style, which could be an issue if Acorn winner La Cara is again allowed to set an uncontested pace. Godolphin won this race in 2012 with Questing and could add a second win here with a filly bred to relish the 1 ¼ miles.

Bet Good Cheer in the Alabama Stakes

Kinzie Queen (Coady Media)

3. Kinzie Queen

Jockey: Junior Alvarado

Trainer: Greg Compton

Owners: John Holleman and Compton Racing

Career record: 13 starts – 2 wins – 4 seconds – 3 thirds

Career earnings: $293,030

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 94

Pedigree: McKinzie - A. P.'s Glory, by Mineshaft  

Color: Bay

Running style: Closer

Analysis: Kinzie Queen rallied to finish third in each of her last two starts while facing quality opposition in the Grade 2 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes May 16 at Pimlico and the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks June 14 at Delaware Park. The problem is the competition will be even tougher in the Alabama Stakes and there is very little pace entered in the race, aside from probable early leader La Cara, to set up the bay McKinzie filly’s closing rally. She is trying to secure the first stakes win of her career in the Alabama and has 10-15 points to make up on her peers in terms of her best Equibase Speed Figure. Kinzie Queen should be doing her best running late but rounding out the top three again looks like the ceiling against a group that includes a pair of Grade 1 winners and three group/graded stakes winners.

Bet Kinzie Queen in the Alabama Stakes

Nitrogen (Eclipse Sportswire)

4. Nitrogen

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Trainer: Mark Casse

Owner: D. J. Stable

Career record: 9 starts – 5 wins – 2 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $1,246,604

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 110

Pedigree: Medaglia d'Oro - Tiffany Case, by Uncle Mo

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Analysis: Canada’s 2024 champion 2-year-old filly, Nitrogen established herself as the top 3-year-old turf filly in the United States this spring with four straight turf stakes wins, including graded stakes wins at Tampa Bay Downs, Keeneland, and Churchill Downs. A deluge of rain leading up to the June 7 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets card at Saratoga Race Course washed the Wonder Again Stakes off the turf onto a sloppy main track, and Nitrogen handled the surface switch with aplomb in a 17-length runaway win when facing just two opponents. Her unbeaten season came to an end in her most recent race when Nitrogen finished second by a nose to Fionn in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes July 5 on the grass at Saratoga. Now, trainer Mark Casse will give her a second start on the dirt in the Alabama to see if Nitrogen’s Wonder Again Stakes win is replicable against a much tougher group of fillies who are battle-tested on the dirt. It’s worth a shot with a filly clearly brimming with natural talent, tactical speed, and the best speed figures in the field. Jockey Jose Ortiz is seeking his fourth win in the Alabama after victories with Elate (2017), Eskimo Kisses (2018), and Dunbar Road (2019).

Bet Nitrogen in the Alabama Stakes

Queen Azteca (Dubai Racing Club)

5. Queen Azteca

Jockey: Joel Rosario

Trainer: Niels Petersen

Owners: Team Valor International

Career record: 9 starts – 4 wins – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $302,332

Top Equibase Speed Figure: N/A

Pedigree: Sharp Azteca - Princesa Helena, by Palace Malice 

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker/closer

Analysis: It’s not often a filly who has been racing in Sweden ships in from Norway to compete in a Grade 1 race at Saratoga, but Queen Azteca does just that to compete in the Alabama Stakes. Owner Team Valor International said the Sharp Azteca filly will be transferred to U.S.-based trainer Rodolphe Brisset after the race, according to Daily Racing Form, and she totes a record of three wins in five starts this season. Her big win came from off the pace in the $217,800 U.A.E. Oaks presented by DP World Feb. 21 at Meydan, which was followed by a fifth-place finish against males in the U.A.E. Derby Sponsored by Jumeirah. Since that race, Queen Azteca has a win and a second at Jagersro in Sweden, so she’s in good form but also in very deep here against an elite group of U.S.-based 3-year-old fillies. She should be doing her best running late in the 1 ¼-mile race under two-time Alabama Stakes winner Joel Rosario (Blind Luck, 2010; Randomized, 2023) but passing a few fading fillies for a minor award seems like the best-case scenario.

Bet Queen Azteca in the Alabama Stakes

La Cara (Eclipse Sportswire)

6. La Cara

Jockey: Dylan Davis

Trainer: Mark Casse

Owner: Tracy Farmer

Career record: 11 starts – 5 wins – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $1,156,083

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 105

Pedigree: Street Sense - Cara Caterina, by Bernardini

Color: Bay

Running style: Pacesetter

Analysis: La Cara sandwiched a disappointing ninth-place finish in the Longines Kentucky Oaks between front-running Grade 1 wins in the Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland April 7 and the DK Horse Acorn Stakes June 6 at Saratoga. She won the Acorn by three lengths and soundly defeated fellow Alabama hopeful Good Cheer in the victory. La Cara was on target for the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks Invitational Stakes July 19 at Saratoga but was scratched from the race after her barn was placed under quarantine because of a suspected case of strangles. The Street Sense filly is 2-for-3 on the main track at Saratoga and is a beast when permitted to control the pace on her own terms, which could be the scenario in the Alabama. Like all of the fillies in the field, she will be trying the 1 ¼-mile distance for the first time, but she’s bred to handle the additional ground and figures to lead the charge into the stretch and play “catch me if you can.” 

Bet La Cara in the Alabama Stakes