Saratoga Race Course Notes | ||||
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Stay Thirsty, the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 142nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers, was reported to be all set for the 1 ¼-mile race by trainer Todd Pletcher, a sentiment that was precisely echoed Friday morning by the connections of Haskell Invitational winner Coil, Preakness victor Shackleford, Belmont Stakes hero Ruler On Ice, Rattlesnake Bridge, Raison d’Etat and Bowman’s Causeway. “Everything is terrific at this moment,” said Pletcher at 11:28 a.m. “Stay Thirsty has already schooled in the paddock and is back in his stall. It will be an early night for me and a late night for [owner] Mike [Repole]. But basically, the major work is done.” In addition to Stay Thirsty, Pletcher will also be saddling favored Uncle Mo in the Grade 1 Foxwoods King’s Bishop and Hilda’s Passion in the Grade 1 Ballerina, along with the favored entry of Our Entourage and Never On Time in the second race, Anonymous Donor in the third, Sarah’s Pleasure in the sixth, and Maple Forest in the Grade 3 Victory Ride. “The preparation is the same whether it’s the Ballerina, or the Travers, or a maiden race,” said Pletcher. “Obviously, some carry more weight than others, but you have to treat each race somewhat the same. If you get too crazy about it, it’s not beneficial.” Wearing a protective cup over his right eye, Coil had an easy gallop Friday morning on the main track for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. In the Travers, the colt will not have any protection over the eye, which continues to heal from a scratched cornea. “It looks good; it’s healing, so that’s good,” said Baffert. “He’s not in any pain, and it’s too late anyway, because you can’t make any last-minute changes.” In trainer Dale Romans’ barn, Preakness winner and Travers hopeful Shackleford was, as usual, rolling in the dirt after his morning gallop. “His final roll before the race,” Romans said. “Well, maybe not. Maybe we’ll let him come out and roll tomorrow. Keep him happy.” Ruler On Ice will ship up to Saratoga Friday night, according to Lori Hall, who owns the Belmont Stakes winner with her husband, George. The son of Roman Ruler has been training at Kelly Breen’s base at Monmouth Park and enters the race off a third behind Coil and Shackleford in the Haskell. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin would like nothing better than a fast pace to target for his Travers starter Rattlesnake Bridge on Saturday. The Tapit colt stumbled at the start of his most recent victory in the Long Branch at Monmouth Park then steadily gobbled up ground from seventh place before winning by a nose. McLaughlin said all the figures he looked at indicated the performance matched up with the other Travers contenders, and he is expecting a big effort in the race. “I think Shackleford will be on the lead,” McLaughlin said. “I think Coil might be close. He just didn’t break last time [when winning the Haskell Invitational]. Stay Thirsty will be there. They won’t let [Shackleford] get away.” McLaughlin added that Rattlesnake Bridge was doing “fine” on Friday morning. Meanwhile, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott reported that Travers contender Raison d’Etat was on schedule for the race. “He galloped this morning,” Mott said. “He’s doing well.” Finally, trainer Chad Brown confirmed that Bowman’s Causeway was in good shape the day before the Travers. * * * Jackson Bend, winner of the James Marvin at Saratoga on opening day, turned in a bullet half-mile work on Friday in preparation for the Grade 1, seven-furlong Forego on Saturday, September 3. Sent out under exercise rider Maxine Correa, Jackson Bend was clocked in 47.22 seconds, fastest of 41 works at the distance over the Oklahoma training track. “It was great, so we’re happy about that,” said Hall of Famer Nick Zito, who trains the colt for Robert LaPenta and Fred Brei. “It looked like he maintained everything. If he has a good week, we should be OK. I was definitely looking for something to maintain that form that he had. He worked on the training track, that’s good, and it looks like he didn’t lose anything from the race, looks like he had a good month, so we’ll hope everything works out.” A son of Hear No Evil, the 4-year-old Jackson Bend is a veteran of the 2010 Triple Crown trail who finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby and was beaten just three-quarters of a length when third in the Preakness. The seven-furlong James Marvin was his first start under a mile since his juvenile season, and he earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 108 for the effort. * * * Trappe Shot, one of the top sprinters in the country, had his first breeze Thursday since coming up a nose short to Sean Avery in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on August 7. The Mill House-owned 4-year-old son of Tapit worked an easy half-mile on the main track in 49.73 seconds for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “We’re most likely going to the [Grade 1] Vosburgh on October 2,” McLaughlin said of the prestigious $350,000 six-furlong sprint at Belmont Park. “It was his first work since he ran. With this hurricane coming, I didn’t know what to do. We’ll get him back to working Saturdays.” McLaughlin mentioned that Trappe Shot remains nominated for the Grade 1, $250,000 Forego on September 3 at Saratoga, calling the race “a possibility,” but the Vosburgh remains his most probable next start. * * * Trainer John Kimmel said Friend Or Foe, his multiple stakes-winning New York-bred, likely will skip the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes on September 3 to be pointed toward the Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at 1 ¼ miles on October 2 at Belmont Park. The 4-year-old son of Friends Lake finished fourth in his most recent start in the Grade 1 Whitney, a 1 1/8-mile race won by Tizway in 1:52.43. Friend Or Foe is undefeated in four starts at Belmont, including victories in the restricted Mike Lee Stakes and Empire Classic as well as the Easy Goer on June 5 in his most recent start there. * * * Mabou, who won yesterday’s Grade 1 New York Turf Writers’ Handicap for flat trainer David Jacobson, will be pointed toward a start in the Grade 1 Grand National in Far Hills, N.J. on October 22. Jacobson, best known for his work with claimers on the flat, claimed Mabou for $30,000 out of a fifth-place finish in a hurdle race on August 4 at Saratoga and decided to give him another start over the jumps. The move paid off as Mabou powered clear to win by 5 ¾ lengths at 16-1 in yesterday’s race, giving Jacobson a compelling case to enter him in more hurdle races. “We’re going to point for the Grand National,” said Jacobson, who owns the 8-year-old Dynaformer gelding in partnership with Drawing Away Stable. “It’s the obvious and only race to run him over the hurdles. We’ll consider maybe running him once at Belmont in a non-claiming, ‘sprint’ race, probably at a mile and a half [on the flat], just to get a race into him. He ran 21 days back and ran the best race of his career. If something works, you want to stick to it.” The Turf Writers’ Cup was the first graded stakes win for Jacobson, who had previously never run a horse over the jumps. “Everyone on the racetrack has been congratulating me,” said Jacobson. “People I never speak with. Everybody was rooting for Mabou. [Trainer] Mike Hushion came over. It’s just been really special and so positive.” The 2 3/8-mile Turf Writers’ Cup was contested around an oval, with the 2 5/8-mile Grand National to be held on a course Jacobson admits will be more challenging for Mabou. “I’d love to run him back [at Saratoga]; the way he won yesterday was so dominating,” said Jacobson. “[Jockey] Robby [Walsh] didn’t really use him, and even coming back to the winner’s circle he was trying to run off. I’m concerned, but he has a lot of heart and I think he’ll be able to handle it. He ran really well yesterday, and hopefully he’ll run like that on October 22. But that’s a long time from now; a lot of things could happen.” Jacobson reiterated that the feat he accomplished yesterday wasn’t always rare, as his father, Buddy Jacobson, and Oscar Barrera would claim both flat and steeplechase horses. “Now it’s a big thing, but back in the ‘60s people did it,” said Jacobson. “If someone claimed a jumper, it was like someone claimed a flat horse. When I claimed this horse, it hadn’t been done in five years, 10 years – nobody knows the last time a jumper had been claimed. I think the last one to do it was Oscar Barrera. That’s what I’m told.” * * * A field of six New York-bred fillies and mares was entered for Monday’s $75,000 Saratoga Dew, with Spa City Princess and Bankers Buy toting high weight of 124 pounds for the 1 1/8-mile race. Trained by Pat Kelly, Spa City Princess was most recently seventh in the Irish Linnet on the turf, having entered that race off third-place finishes in the Grade 2 Shuvee and the Grade 3 Bed o’Roses. The Saratoga Dew also drew D’Oratory, Go Unbridled and Beautiful Risk, the first three finishers in an optional claimer on August 7, and Mineralogist, the 2009 Maid of the Mist and Joseph A. Gimma winner who is seeking her first victory of 2011. |
