SARATOGA SPRINGS – In a sensational comeback, Farda Amiga – making her first start since winning the May 3 Kentucky Oaks – came with a bold late rush under Pat Day to run down pace-setting Allamerican Bertie and win yesterday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Alabama Stakes, the Old Spa’s showcase event for 3-year-old fillies.

The victory, by three-quarters of a length in 2:04.3 for a mile-and-a-quarter over a muddy track, gives the Kentucky-bred daughter of Broad Brush, trained by 33-year-old Brazilian horseman Paulo Lobo, a leg up on the championship over You, who launched her bid on the far turn but tired to settle for third.

“I think today she proved she is the best 3-year-old filly in America,” Lobo said. “She was sick after the Kentucky Oaks [and went] almost 105 days without a race.”

Allamerican Bertie, coming off a runaway score in the Delaware Oaks, broke on top and set a solid pace (:23.4, :47.4) under Larry Melancon, and still held a daylight lead turning for home. She turned back You in midstretch, but Farda Amiga was coming like a freight train after circling the field on the far turn, and won going away.

“She wasn’t liking the stuff hitting her face, so I took her to the middle of the track,” Day said. “I didn’t know if she’d be good enough to get up. She really stepped up to the plate.”

Bella Bellucci, the likely post-time favorite if she ran, was scratched by trainer Neil Drysdale about 4 p.m., right before the start of the $500,000 guaranteed Pick 4, because of the muddy track.

“We were concerned about the track condition, because when she ran in the Acorn she pulled a muscle behind,” Drysdale said. “We were concerned she might injure herself again over a similar track. We’re better off safe than sorry.”

*

It figured there would be trouble in a race featuring Dollar Bill, the hard-luck horse of last year’s Triple Crown, and there was. Breaking from the gate in the Grade 2, $300,000 Saratoga Breeders’ Cup, Gander stumbled badly and went to his knees, tossing jockey Mike Smith over his head to the ground. Gander then ran loose around the track, causing some anxious moments for the other riders and fans alike.

The costly stumble concluded an ill-fated trip for Smith, who flew in from California to ride Bella Bellucci, and recalled the horrible spill here four years ago that broke Smith’s back and sidelined him for six months.

In the Saratoga Breeders’ Cup, Abreeze, shadowed by Gander, spurted away to a clear early lead under Rich Migliore and held it all the way to deep stretch, when Evening Attire, Sean Bridgmohan up, rallied to win by 1 ½ lengths. He ran the mile-and-a-quarter in 2:02.4 to pay $9.90, topping a $50.50 exacta. Dollar Bill, favored in the field of 10, finished another 5 ½ lengths back in third.