Sovereignty’s G1 DraftKings Travers victory decades in the making for Mott

Saratoga Race Course Notes

• Sovereignty’s G1 DraftKings Travers victory decades in the making for Mott
• Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna shows bravery in G1 Personal Ensign
• Book’em Danno completes Spa hat trick in G1 Forego
• Patch Adams earns 103 BSF in G1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial score; Highland Falls works for G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup
•  Jose Ortiz audible sends May Day Ready gate-to-wire in G2 Lake Placid
• Fierceness likely heading West; Mindframe, Antiquarian work for G1 JCGC
• Carmel Coast points to G1 Frizette

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott celebrated a long-awaited victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers at Saratoga Race Course, scoring in a big way when Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Sovereignty dominated the 10-furlong test for sophomores by 10-lengths under regular pilot Junior Alvarado. 

The win marked Sovereignty’s third Grade 1 coup this year, adding to Classic victories in the Kentucky Derby in May and Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets in June along with a Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun victory in July. And while Sovereignty makes things look easy with his power and grace on the racetrack, his accomplishments came after decades of hard work from Mott and his team after training Sovereignty’s second and third dams, Mushka and Sluice, to stakes-level careers. 

Mushka, a daughter of Empire Maker, was a multi-surface graded stakes-winner for Mott and owner Brushwood Stable [initially campaigned by Zayat Stables], posting six wins in 19 starts from 2007-10 before retiring and producing Crowned, Sovereignty’s unraced dam by Bernardini. Even before that, Mott trained Mushka’s mother Sluice to a stakes-winning career that saw her win 4-of-23 starts from 2000-02. She was purchased as a yearling by Guy B. and Diane Snowden for $1.5 million. 

Mott said the journey with Sovereignty has truly been full-circle. 

“It brings you back to memories when we bought Sluice, and then Mushka was purchased. She had two different owners and I got to train her for both of them,” Mott said. “It’s just another talking point, and it is kind of cool.” 

Sovereignty became the first Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes-winner since Thunder Gulch in 1995 to win the Travers, and did so with an off-the-pace trip engineered by Alvarado, who patiently tracked the top pair of Magnitude and Bracket Buster through splits of 23.47 seconds, 47.43 and 1:11.23 over the fast footing before shaking the Into Mischief colt loose and making a wide rally. 

Magnitude faded in the turn and Bracket Buster briefly took charge before Sovereignty swept up alongside him, looked him in the eye, and flashed an impressive turn-of-foot to draw off to the geared-down victory in a final time of 2:00.84. He earned a career-best 115 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest figure awarded to any horse this year. 

“I shook my reins and he does this thing where he starts coming up and he gets to the last horse [that he needs to pass] and he stays with them and gives them the look, and then he takes off again,” Alvarado said on Sunday morning. “It’s amazing how he does it. He likes to do that, and it’s like he’s letting them know, ‘hey, look!’ Then he takes off and it’s just a fun ride with him. He’s just that good, he knows it, and he wants to let the other horses know that, too.” 

Mott said he was pleased with the way Sovereignty came back from the effort.

“He’s great and he looks good. He came back with a good appetite,” Mott said. “As he was approaching that horse [Bracket Buster], I was [feeling pretty good], and then he rolled up beside him and it looked like they were going to go together. At the eighth pole, he just took off – the other horse might have folded up a bit, and then he took off.” 

The win was also the first Travers score for Alvarado, aboard for each of Sovereignty’s six wins. The 39-year-old native of Venezuela visited with Sovereignty on Sunday morning, and reflected on what the leading sophomore colt has meant for his career. 

“I feel great, we’re all happy. We’re still on Cloud Nine. It’s been a hell of a year,” Alvarado said. “I’m winning the biggest races right now and for me, the confidence is over the roof. I feel I can ride and win anything as long as I’m given the opportunity. I feel like I’m doing everything right, and that’s the confidence I gain every time I get to ride him.”

While Sovereignty used the Jim Dandy as a bridge between the Belmont and Travers, Mott said he does not anticipate racing the bay colt again until the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 1 at Del Mar. Sovereignty will remain at Mott’s home base at Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track to make his preparations. 

“We’ll stay up here [to train],” Mott said. “I always think fresh horses run pretty good, usually, and we’ll have to train him. If we run him, we’ve got to ship him somewhere, and he runs good enough fresh, so I’m not that worried.” 

Along with Sovereignty, Mott had a productive Saturday at Saratoga when sending out Scylla and Scotland to runner-up efforts in the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Ballerina and Grade 1 Forego, respectively. 

Juddmonte’s Scylla changed her tactics in the seven-furlong Ballerina and set the pace under Flavien Prat, leading through the first half-mile before being passed by Hope Road and keeping on well to secure place honors. LNJ Foxwoods’ Scotland was making his second start off a more than seven-month layoff, and made a strong rally from ninth-of-10 under Alvarado to come up just one length shy of the streaking Book’em Danno in the Forego. 

Mott, who noted that Scylla and Scotland were both in good order on Sunday, concluded that Saturday was indeed a day to remember. 

“We won a Grade 1 and were second in two Grade 1s, so it actually makes for a pretty good day,” Mott said. 

Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna shows bravery in G1 Personal Ensign

One year ago, Thorpedo Anna showed immense courage to finish a narrow head behind Fierceness when taking on males in the Grade 1 DraftKings Travers, and she showed bravery once again on Travers Day when edging Dorth Vader by a nose in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign, a nine-furlong route for older fillies and mares, at Saratoga Race Course. 

In victory, the 4-year-old daughter of Fast Anna was awarded a “Win and You’re In” berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, a race she won last November to cap her tremendous sophomore season that featured a Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks coup and two Grade 1 scores here in the DK Horse Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks, as well as the top-level Cotillion at Parx Racing. 

Trained by Kenny McPeek and ridden by Brian Hernandez, Jr., Thorpedo Anna traveled wide early in the Personal Ensign to the outside of Randomized and Bernietakescharge through the half-mile in 47.11 on the fast main track before making her move approaching the second turn and holding a 1 1/2-length advantage following three-quarters in 1:11.27. 

The George Weaver-trained Dorth Vader gained with every stride in the lane, but the reigning Horse of the Year fought back to the inside in a fierce stretch duel to prevail in a final time of 1:49.18 - it was 9 3/4 lengths back to Grade 1-winner Leslie’s Rose in third.

“Just bravery,” McPeek said of the performance. “I was ultra-impressed with the way George’s filly ran. I mean what they both did to the rest of that field was pretty darn impressive. Certainly, that is a tough beat for him, but I’m glad we held her off.” 

Thorpedo Anna earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure, her highest since earning that same number in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff, which was second to her career-best 111 for the Travers. 

McPeek said Thorpedo Anna exited the big effort in good order. 

“She’s doing super. I just went through every horse I have here and she’s probably the cleanest one right now,” McPeek said, with a laugh. “Legs clean. Cleaned the feed tub. Bright. Dragging her hotwalker around. Typical Thorpedo Anna.”

Thorpedo Anna has raced and won at six different racetracks, and could visit a new one next as McPeek said the Grade 3 Delaware Handicap on September 28 is a potential target moving forward. Another possible spot is the Grade 1 Spinster on October 5 at Keeneland, the track she broke her maiden over on debut in October 2023.

“I’m going to nominate to the Delaware Handicap. It has been a great race in the past, I think they downgraded it and the purse, but if we kept her up here, that would be a little easier. We’ll also nominate to the Spinster, of course, and we’ll take that as it comes,” McPeek said. “Both good races, but if she’s happy up here, it may be easier to leave her here, go to Delaware, come back and go to California.” 

The Breeders’ Cup Distaff currently looms the main target as the Breeders’ Cup Classic will likely feature dominant Grade 1 DraftKings Travers-winner Sovereignty, who also won the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets. 

“I mean, look, you’ve got to watch your competition out there. That horse yesterday [Sovereignty] was ultra impressive, the time he ran, the way he did it, even if he didn’t win the Classic, he is probably Horse of the Year,” said McPeek. “For me to take him on, I’m a little intimidated by him [laughs]. He’s pretty massive. I’ve watched him train all year, ran against him, he’s getting better and better. I don’t see how you keep him from continuing on. 

“For her to take him on right now, I think we’d hesitate on that right now - not that we are scared, but we are realistic,” McPeek added. 

Thorpedo Anna is campaigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings, Magdalena Racing, Mark Edwards and breeder Judy Hicks. 

Book’em Danno completes Spa hat trick in G1 Forego

Atlantic Six Racing’s Book’em Danno, the 2023-24 New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year, completed a perfect summer at Saratoga Race Course by taking Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Forego by one length over a rallying Scotland.

Trained by Derek Ryan, the 4-year-old Bucchero gelding entered the Forego, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, from back-to-back scores here over returning rival Mullikin in the Grade 3 True North over sloppy and sealed footing in June and the Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 19.

On Saturday, Book’em Danno, with regular pilot Paco Lopez up, tracked from third position before racing three wide into the turn and edging clear of the stubborn pacesetter Most Wanted approaching the sixteenth pole. He was kept to task to the wire with plenty in the tank to see off the closing Scotland in a final time of 1:22.43. 

Ryan said he was pleased with the performance, which earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure – down 13 points from the career-best 111 for his Vanderbilt victory.

"I was a little bit afraid because he ran such a big race the time before that he might regress a little bit, which I think he did," Ryan said. "But he's such a game horse he found a way to get it done. He got a great ride from Paco. I'm not sure why everyone doesn't give him the credit he deserves, he's the hardest-working jockey in America.”

Lopez started riding the gelding this year and has piloted him to four wins from five starts, taking a restricted handicap in March at Colonial Downs head of a troubled neck fourth to the victorious Mindframe in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs over sloppy and sealed going in May.

Ryan said Lopez, who piloted Book’em Danno’s half-sister Girl Trouble to victory in a pair of stakes at Parx, was keen to get the call on the talented sprinter.

"He rode the sister for Butch Reid and he worked the horse twice for me as a 2-year-old but since last fall, he'd been bothering me every week, 'I want to ride that horse,'" Ryan said. "In January he asked when he's working again and he took off his mounts at Gulfstream to come and work him. I thought, if he's that determined to ride him, I've got to use him - and it's worked out."

Ryan said the dark bay’s talent is only evident come race day.

"It's the competitive nature. He doesn't have a pedigree, he's not a pretty mover - he's just a racehorse," Ryan said. "You'd never think it watching him training every day, he just plods around there."

Despite Book’em Danno earning an all-fees-paid spot in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Ryan said if they make the cross-country trip to Southern California it would be for the six-furlong Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Other potential targets include the Grade 2 Phoenix on October 3 at Keeneland and the Grade 3, $250,000 Vosburgh on September 27 at Belmont at the Big A which awards a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

"He'll only have one more race this year. It will be either the Breeders' Cup, Keeneland or the race at Aqueduct," Ryan said. "Even though he's only had five races, it's been a hard campaign. He ran at Churchill, we ran in three races at Saratoga...we'll let him tell us what to do. We want him to be here next year and the year after, hopefully."

Book’em Danno has banked in excess of $1.8 million via a 16-10-3-1 record.

Patch Adams earns 103 BSF in G1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial score; Highland Falls works for G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup

CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm’s Patch Adams persevered down the lane to post a nose score over a game Captain Cook in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the Into Mischief bay tracked from fourth position under Luis Saez as Captain Cook pressed pacesetting Midland Money to the half-mile in 44.52 seconds over the fast main track. Saez waited patiently for an opening and found daylight on the turn for home, launching a sustained rally to duel and pass Captain Cook for the narrow win in a final time of 1:21.62 for seven furlongs. 

The victory, which earned a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure, continues a three-race win streak that includes an optional-claiming sprint in May at Churchill Downs over sloppy and sealed going and a 2 1/4-length score in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun on June 7 here during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

When asked how he felt about his horse at the top of the lane, Cox said, "I thought that he'd keep coming. We felt like we had him fairly tight and ready to roll. I really liked how he was training leading up to this race and what he was showing us in how he presented in day-to-day training. I felt we were going to get a big effort out of the horse, and we did. It was a huge effort and I'm very proud of the horse.”

Patch Adams graduated by 10 1/2-lengths at second asking sprinting seven furlongs in November at Churchill Downs. He tried his luck on the Kentucky Derby trail with fourth-place efforts in the Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn in January and the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby one month later before returning to one-turn events.

“He's one we had a lot of high hopes for - when he broke his maiden, it was very impressive,” Cox said. “He didn't quite get us where we wanted to go in the spring and we struggled a little bit with him with the Southwest and the Tampa Bay Derby, but once we cut him back, he's undefeated around the one turn.”

Cox said he will work with the ownership to determine next steps as they build toward a Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup start at Del Mar that could come in either the two-turn Dirt Mile or the six-furlong Sprint.

“I think the horse could go a little further based on how he trains and the way he puts himself into a race,” Cox said. “I don't think he's a mile and an eighth or a mile and a quarter horse, but given the right opportunity he could perform around two turns. I think the Dirt Mile will be in play and the Sprint as well. We'll talk it over the WinStar team and hopefully get him to the Breeders' Cup in one of those races.”

Cox said Patch Adams was in good order Sunday morning and will spend a few more days at the Spa before shipping back to Kentucky.

“He looked good this morning. He's tired and rightfully so,” Cox said.

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Patch Adams is out of the stakes-winning Distorted Humor mare Well Humored – a half-sister to Grade 1 winner American Patriot and Parchment Party, who captured the Grade 3 Belmont Gold Cup and Listed Birdstone at Saratoga this year.

Resolute Racing and Cha Cha Chestnuts’ stakes-winner Verifire failed to fire his best shot when last-of-8 in the Jerkens after bobbling at the start and bumping with Smoken Wicken before settling under Flavien Prat.

“He didn't get a position early that I thought he needed,” Cox said. “When Flavien knew between the three-eighths and the quarter-pole that he had no shot at getting a placing, it was probably a wise idea to let him ease on in. He actually looked really good this morning. Hopefully we can rebound with him and get him going soon.”

Cox sent out Most Wanted and Bishops Bay to finish fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego won by the streaking Book’em Danno.

Gary and Mary West’s Most Wanted broke from the inside post under Florent Geroux and asked to make the lead over Hold My Bourbon through a half-mile in 44.85. He was swarmed late in the turn but stayed on well to finish 3 1/4-lengths back of the winner.

“Tough trip. It was a lot to ask him to finish up given what he did up the backside,” Cox said. “I thought he actually stayed on pretty well. I'm very happy with how he looked this morning, so I'm glad he came out of it in good order. I'm not sure where we'll land with him moving forward but he's a good horse and can be competitive in these Grade 1s. He had his first chance yesterday and I thought he ran very respectable. We were looking for a better placing than that, but we'll re-group.”

Spendthrift Farm, Steve Landers, Martin Schwartz, Michael Dubb, Ten Strike Racing, Jim Bakke, Titletown Racing, Kueber Racing, Big Easy Racing, Rick Kanter, Michael J. Caruso and WinStar Farm’s Bishops Bay stumbled at the start under Irad Ortiz, Jr. but recovered to get good position into the turn and was third at the stretch call before weaking late to finish 4 1/4-lengths back.

“He sat a really good trip and was traveling as well as the winner at the five-sixteenths pole,” Cox said. “There was a little opening on the inside I thought he could have got through. He made a little move.”

It was back to business Sunday morning for the Cox barn with a number of notable workers, including Godolphin’s Highland Falls, who covered five-eighths in 1:02.09 with Luis Saez up over the Spa main track. 

The last-out runner-up to Sierra Leone in the Grade 1 Whitney will look to turn the tables on that rival when he attempts to defend his title in next Sunday's Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup. The 10-furlong test for 3-year-olds and up offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.

“He breezed well. It was just a maintenance work. He's doing well,” Cox said. “It's going to be a competitive race. He won it last year and he likes the mile and a quarter. We're excited about giving him another opportunity.”

A stacked field is anticipated for the Jockey Club Gold Cup, including last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic-winner Sierra Leone; Grade 1 Stephen Foster-winner Mindframe; and multiple Grade 1-winning multimillionaire White Abarrio. Also expected are Grade 3-winner Antiquarian,; Grade 2-winner Phileas Fogg; Grade 3-winner and 2023 Grade 1 Travers runner-up Disarm; and recent Grade 2 Charles Town Classic-winner Banishing.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup will be presented live on the FOX broadcast network. 

Highlighted by the 107th running of the Jockey Club Gold Cup, a special edition of Saratoga Live presented by Caesars Sportsbook will air on FOX from 1-2 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, August 31. To allow for national broadcast viewership, Jockey Club Gold Cup Day will feature a first post time of 11:20 a.m.

Jose Ortiz audible sends May Day Ready gate-to-wire in G2 Lake Placid

KatieRich Stables’ May Day Ready won her first three starts in rallying fashion, but turned to new tactics in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Lake Placid to end a four-race losing streak with a frontrunning score in the one-mile inner turf test for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Joe Lee and piloted by Jose Ortiz, May Day Ready graduated in style here last August with a nose win before taking the Listed Juvenile Fillies at Kentucky Downs in September and the Grade 2 Jessamine in October at Keeneland.

She was a 1 1/2-length second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in November at Del Mar and closed out a lucrative campaign [5-3-1-0, $1,014,025] with an off-the-board effort in the Group 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December at Kyoto.

Lee indicated the Tapit bay did not get much out of her seasonal debut when last-of-3 in the off-the-turf Grade 3 Wonder Again over sloppy and sealed footing here June 7. However, she performed admirably when stretched out to nine-furlongs for the first time when overcoming a difficult start to finish a four-length fourth in the local Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 5.

On Saturday, Lee and Ortiz expected Scarlet Sands to take command of the Lake Placid, but when that didn’t happen, Ortiz – tied with his brother Irad with a meet-leading 52 wins heading into Sunday's card – took matters into his own hands.

“When I asked Jose what he thought - he thought the five [Scarlet Sands] would go and we'll just break and see,” Lee said. “He made a great decision and just made use of her. When he saw that nobody was going, he thought he'd just go. That was a great audible by Jose and a great decision.”

May Day Ready showed the way through a half-mile in 49.16 and three-quarters in 1:13.39 with plenty in the tank to hold off a troubled-trip Play With Fire by a half-length in a final time of 1:35.70.

May Day Ready could now point to one-mile options such as the Grade 3, $175,000 Winter Memories on September 20 at Belmont at the Big A or the Grade 2 Valley View on October 24 at Keeneland. He indicated that a start in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on October 11 at Keeneland would come down to an owner’s decision.

“The Winter Memories is what we were thinking prior to this race,” Lee said. “There's the Valley View third week in October, but I'll leave it up to the owners, but probably not the QEII - the distance there is a little further than maybe she'd want to go.”

KatieRich Stables, Christopher Connors and Lawrence Appel’s New York-homebred Works for Me has worked back twice over the Oklahoma training turf since a troubled second in the local Listed Harvey Pack sprinting 5 1/2-furlongs over firm turf on July 4.

Lee said the 4-year-old Daddy Long Legs chestnut bumped with the Tom Morley-trained Felix down the backside before making a late bid to finish a 4 1/4-length second to a runaway Bring Theband Home.

“In the Harvey Pack, he got bumped around by Tom Morley's horse down the backside and nicked his leg. That minor nick went the wrong way and ended up being a wound with proud flesh, so he's walked for a few weeks, and we lost a lot of training,” Lee said.

Works for Me has since recovered and brought back patiently by Lee to work a half-mile in 50.32 August 17 ahead of a 49.90 half-mile on August 22 as they prepare for a potential start in next Sunday’s $135,000 Disco Partner, a 5 1/2-furlong sprint restricted to 3-year-olds and up that have not won a graded stakes in 2024-25.

“The first breeze went well. He looked well,” Lee said. “We're rushing a bit to get him to the Disco Partner and to avoid the weather I worked him Friday. I just wish we had a couple more works in him.”

The versatile chestnut captured the state-bred Notebook as a juvenile at Aqueduct Racetrack over the main track and added the Listed Turf Sprint Championship to his ledger in November at the Big A.

Fierceness likely heading West; Mindframe, Antiquarian work for G1 JCGC

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher has some serious firepower in the older dirt division and updated that Fierceness will likely head West for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on August 30 at Del Mar while Mindframe and Antiquarian breezed one week out from Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, a 10-furlong test for 3-year-olds and up, at Saratoga Race Course. 

“I’d say there is a good chance he is,” Pletcher said of Fierceness heading to California. “Mindframe breezed very well this morning. Assuming everything is in order tomorrow, the plan would be to split them up.” 

Derrick Smith, Repole Stable, Michael Tabor and Mrs. John Magnier’s Fierceness last ran fifth in the Grade 1 Whitney on August 2 here. The 4-year-old City of Light bay would look to get back on track in the Pacific Classic after winning his seasonal debut in the Grade 2 Alysheba in May at Churchill Downs ahead of a second in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap in June here and the Whitney.

“It is obviously not an easy race by any means assuming that Journalism and Nysos are in there, but I think the timing for the Breeders’ Cup Classic is good,” Pletcher said. “It gives us a little extra time, if we wait until September 27 and run in the Woodward or Lukas Classic, then we are coming back a little quick in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He ran very well at Del Mar last year in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, so we are confident he handles the track, just shipping a long way and taking on some nice horses.” 

The Pacific Classic awards a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which Fierceness was second in to Sierra Leone as a sophomore. The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a qualifier for the same race, and Mindframe breezed a half-mile in 49.45 seconds in company with Classicist on Sunday over the Saratoga main track to prepare. 

“I thought he worked very well today,” Pletcher said. 

The 4-year-old Constitution dark bay, owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables, won his last two outings, including the seven-furlong Grade 1 Churchill Downs in May at its namesake oval ahead of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster last out on June 28 there. 

Centennial Farms’ Antiquarian breezed a half-mile over the main track in 48.65 in company with Endorse.  The 4-year-old Preservationist chestnut was defeated a head by Phileas Fogg last out in the 10-furlong Grade 2 Suburban presented by Subourban on July 4 here. 

“Excellent, I thought he worked really well,” said Pletcher. 

Pletcher updated that Captain Cook came out well from Saturday’s nose defeat to Patch Adams in the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomores, at the Spa. The Practical Joke bay, making his barn debut, earned a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure. 

“I thought he ran super. Really good effort, just couldn’t quite get his nose down,” Pletcher said. “It is hard to be disappointed when you have one ready to run as well as he did. I just felt bad for the horse that he wasn’t able to win.” 

Carmel Coast points to G1 Frizette

Legion Racing, MHM Stables, Ed Stefanski and William Conlin’s impressive maiden winner Carmel Coast was nominated to Saturday’s Grade 1 Spinaway here, but trainer Whit Beckman said they will instead point to the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette on October 4 at Belmont at the Big A. The one-turn mile Frizette offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar.

The Omaha Beach dark bay earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure for her 5 1/2-length debut win on August 10 at the Spa. There, with Kendrick Carmouche up, Carmel Coast broke inward but soon showed the way through splits of 22.29 seconds and 46.21 over the fast main track, opening up comfortably at the stretch call and geared down through the final sixteenth to cover 5 1/2-furlongs in a final time of 1:17.25.

“We're going to wait for the Frizette,” Beckman said. “We knew she was nice but when they do that in the afternoon it gives you a little more to work with. She ran fast but Kendrick always said more distance for this filly, so we'll give her the time. We always thought moving along that she'll stretch out, but we'll take it step by step with her.”

The $120,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale purchase is out of the Arch mare Carmel Beauty, a full-sister to dual Grade 1-winner Arravale, who was named Canada’s Horse of the Year and Champion Grass Mare in 2006.

Legion Racing, Hoolie Racing Stable, Two Eight Racing and Ryan Kamp’s stakes-placed Zadorsky [post 1, John Velazquez] is slated to try turf for the first time in Friday’s Listed $150,000 Perfect String, a one-mile inner turf test for older fillies and mares.

The 4-year-old Tapiture bay has worked three times over the Oklahoma training turf, including a half-mile in 49.06 August 22.

Beckman said Zadorksy, who boasts two open-lengths scores over sloppy and sealed tracks in Kentucky this year, seemed to take to the grass.

“She's had three works now and every one of them have been equally as impressive. She looks like she likes it. We're optimistic – and if it comes off, we're really optimistic,” said Beckman, with a laugh.

Beckman noted that Icon Racing Stable’s Hero Declared exited his runner-up effort to 17 3/4-length winner It’s Our Time on August 16 here in good order. The Maclean’s Music colt was sent to post as the favorite in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds and showed the way through swift splits before It’s Our Time took over.

“He came out good. He's a huge horse - he went super-fast and got tired,” Beckman said. “We ran against a super-nice horse. He ran a good race to hold on for second and beat a lot of expensive horses. What he ran against that day is something I've never seen - 17 3/4-lengths at Saratoga going 6 1/2-furlongs is crazy.”

Beckman indicated Hero Declared will look for one mile or longer for his next outing.