Nanda Dea was a champion miler and Group 1 winner in Argentina, but her American trainer, Ignacio Correas, is in no hurry to rush the mare back to top-level competition. Nanda Dea ran her record to 10-8-1-0 and made it two wins from two American starts capturing the $100,000 Albert Stall Memorial Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds. She has shipped back to Correas’s base at Keeneland but will return to Fair Grounds for the $150,000 Tom Benson Memorial Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on grass. Favored Saturday at 13-10, Nanda Dea ran into problems before the eighth pole in the Stall when jockey Jose Ortiz elected to try and split horses after tracking the pace and coming into the homestretch with his mount full of run. The hole Ortiz went for closed, forcing him to steady and come around the rivals he had tried to thread, but despite losing much of her momentum, Nanda Dea gathered herself and won, going away, by a half-length. After getting a modest 83 Beyer in an eye-catching Keeneland allowance score last fall, Nanda Dea earned only an 87 this past weekend, a figure that probably doesn’t represent her true performance level. But while Correas believes Nanda Dea can evolve into a top middle-distance mare by the second part of 2025, he feels a patient approach best suits his intentions. Thus, the Benson, where Nanda Dea probably will face competition similar to the Stall, presents a more appealing spot than something more ambitious. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “We got in trouble, and we were lucky we had the kind of horse who could overcome that,” Correas said. “I want to take small steps building to the end of the year.” Nanda Dea had been scheduled to start in December at Fair Grounds but got sick and could not race. Correas shipped her to New Orleans in January but scratched the mare when her race was rained off turf onto dirt. Meanwhile, Correas this week welcomed a lauded South American dirt horse into his stable. Suablenanav Th, winner of the Uruguayan Triple Crown in 2024, cleared quarantine and has taken up residence in Correas’ small Gulfstream Park string. Correas typically gives South American imports several months before racing, often first sending the horses to a farm while they acclimatize to the Norther Hemisphere, but Suablenanav Th will go straight into training, eventually winding up at Keeneland. If Correas likes what he sees, he’ll go on with Suablenanav Th. If not, the colt will get plenty of time before getting serious. Suablenanav Th, by T. H. Approval, lost his debut, then went on a five-race winning streak that includes Uruguay’s Triple Crown, which begins over seven furlongs and ends at 1 1/2 miles. Sueblenanav Th last raced Jan. 6, finishing a troubled, fast-closing third in the Group 1 Gran Premio Jose Pedro Ramirez, beaten a nose for second and 2 1/2 lengths by victorious El Kodigo, who races Saturday in the $20 million Saudi Cup. * Closethegame Sugar, a multiple stakes-winning sprinter in Kentucky and second in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby last year, has taken up residence at Fair Grounds, where he’s posted two workouts toward his 2025 debut after breezing several times at a training center. Off form when most recently raced in September, Closethegame Sugar could start at Oaklawn Park, though trainer Adam Rice said he has no set plans for the 5-year-old. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.