(Sunday, August 17) The $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Saratoga lived up to its billing, as Proud Spell and Music Note hooked up in the stretch as expected, with Proud Spell holding on gamely in deep stretch to hold off her main rival by a head in a thrilling finish.

Proud Spell, ridden to victory by Gabriel Saez and trained by Larry Jones, returned $5.90 for the win as the second choice.

The filly stopped the timer in 2:04.08 for the 1 ¼ miles and earned $360,000.

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Just inside the final furlong, it did not look like Saez would be able to hold off Music Note with Javier Castellano aboard.

The bigger of the two fillies, Music Note drew abreast of Proud Spell and looked like she had plenty of time to get past her in deep stretch.

"When I saw Music Note come alongside of us, I told my filly, 'C'mon, let's start running," said Saez. "It was an exciting finish."  

Proud Spell was very game, never letting her much larger rival by her.

"This filly of ours has never been passed down the stretch, the entire time we've had her, she's never been passed," said Jones of Proud Spell.

Proud Spell now has seven victories in 11 career starts for earnings of $1,975,110.

Music Note completed the exacta, which returned $7.90, and had her four-race win streak snapped.

Owned by Godolphin Stable and trained by Saeed bin Suroor, the filly nearly scratched out of the race in favor of taking on the boys in next Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes (G1).

"Our filly ran a big race; we're happy with the way she finished. It was so close; it was a tough race," said bin Suroor.

The Godolphin filly Little Belle checked in third, followed by Mushka and Sweet Vendetta.

The co-feature on Saturday was the $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes (G1), and it looked similar to last year's running.

Grand Couturier made it back-to-back wins in the race for trainer Robert Ribaudo, who won his first Grade 1 race as a trainer in this race in 2007.

It almost did not happen this year.

Jockey Alan Garcia had plenty of horse as they turned for home but not much running room. The jockey had to steady briefly at the three-eighths pole, then steadied and stumbled slightly when bumped by the tiring pacesetter Presious Passion.

Garcia split foes with a furlong to go and drew off smartly to win by two lengths.

"I thought I was home free because I thought I had a lot of horse," Garcia said. "And then, the rail opened and I passed two horses. When I was right there, (Presious Passion) shut me off so fast and I had nowhere to go. I was thinking, `Oh my God, my horse lost all of his momentum,' but after that, he kept trying, so I said, `Let me keep riding.' Bobby (Ribaudo) did an excellent job with this horse, getting him to this race."

The winner returned $9.30 for the win and earned $300,000 and an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

The nine-year-old Better Talk Now had to settle for second after a wide trip, completing a $32.00 exacta.