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Breaking the Rules puts 2020 unbeaten record on the line in Lure on Saratoga meet Closing Day

by Brian Bohl

Phipps Stable's graded stakes-placed Breaking the Rules will look to go 3-for-3 to start the year when he returns to stakes company for the first time in the campaign in the $85,000 Lure on Labor Day Monday at Saratoga Race Course.

The eighth running of the Lure, contested at 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon turf course, is one of two stakes on the 14-race card with a special first post of 11:30 a.m. Eastern that marks the finale of the 40-day summer meet at the Spa. Also highlighted will be the Grade 1, $250,000 Runhappy Hopeful for 2-year-olds going seven furlongs. Monday will also feature a mandatory payout of the Empire 6, which starts with Race 9 at 3.39 p.m.

Breaking the Rules ended his 2018 campaign with his first stakes win in the Tropical Park in December at Gulfstream Park. Making his 2019 debut, the son of War Front ran second in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf at the same track before closing his year with a 13th-place effort in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs and eighth in the Grade 3 Poker in June 2019 at Belmont Park.

Off an 11-month layoff, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey brought Breaking the Rules back on June 20 to compete over the Belmont grass, where he bested an eight-horse field in a 1 1/8-mile route. Cut back to the Lure's distance last out on July 29, the Kentucky homebred posted a one-length win over firm Saratoga turf, earning the first triple digit Beyer Speed Figure of his career with a 101.

Breaking the Rules will look to win the third consecutive race of his 5-year-old campaign, drawing post 5 with Joel Rosario aboard.

"His last two races have been good. They've been spaced a bit now and I think he's trained really well since we've come up here," McGaughey said. "I'm looking forward to running him. This will be a good stepping-stone to bigger and better things."

The Lure is named after the 2013 Hall of Fame inductee who McGaughey trained to a 14-8-0 record in 25 starts from 1991-94, including wins in consecutive years in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile from 1992-93. Lure won the 1992 Grade 2 Gotham on dirt before his remarkable turf success that saw him win nine graded stakes on that surface, including the 1994 Grade 1 International Handicap in Atlantic City.

"He was a very, very good horse," McGaughey said. "He was a nice one to have in the barn. He was fast. He brought it all the time and anytime you have a horse that's easy to train and as talented as him, it's a lot of fun."

Twin Creeks Racing Stables and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Virginia-bred Largent also enters with two straight wins including a one-length score in his stakes debut in the restricted Edward P. Evans going one mile on July 29 over the Colonial Downs turf.

With four wins and two runner-up efforts in six career starts, the 4-year-old Into Mischief colt will run in New York for the first time after racking up three wins at Gulfstream. Trainer Todd Pletcher said stretching him back to 1 1/16 miles, where he has one win and two second-place efforts in three starts, should be beneficial.

"He's consistently run well every time" Pletcher said. "We had a little hiccup that cost us some time during the summer and that's why we were delayed until the Colonial race. Since then, we planned on going back to another Virginia-bred race, but unfortunately they had to cancel the rest of the meet. This seemed like a logical spot to step up into some open restricted stakes company."

Pletcher entered Friday's action with 27 wins for the Saratoga summer meet, leading Chad Brown by one win with four days remaining in the race for the H. Allen Jerkens award. Pletcher has been the Spa's leading trainer 12 times.

Luis Saez will have the call from post 2.

Brown, who is seeking his third consecutive Saratoga training title, will send out a strong pair of entrants led by the French-bred Olympico, who was second in the Grade 2 Knickerbocker in October at Belmont. Off a nine-month layoff, Olympico returned to run fifth in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch on July 26 at Saratoga.

After arriving from his native country last year, Olympico made a stellar North American debut with a three-length win in the Grade 3 Fort Marcy in May 2019, earning a 103 Beyer. It was the first of three triple-digit Beyers in his career with the most recent being the 101 he garnered in the Knickerbocker going 1 1/8 miles.

Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard for that effort, will have the return assignment in breaking from the outermost post 6.

Olympico's stablemate, Devamani, has registered two runner-up finishes and a third-place effort last out in four starts during the current campaign. The French-bred 6-year-old will be looking for his first North American stakes win and first victory overall since November.

Jose Ortiz will be aboard from the inside post.

Ballagh Rocks, the winner of the 2017 Grade 3 Poker at Belmont, is 1-2-1 in five starts this year for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The 7-year-old ran second in back-to-back allowance races entering the Lure, starting at Churchill in June before last out on July 4 at Belmont.

Ballagh Rocks' lone stakes start this year came in the Grade 3 Appleton in March at Gulfstream, where he finished ninth. Junior Alvarado will ride from post 4.

Rose's Vision, a veteran of 21 starts for trainer Stewart Simon, will make his first stakes appearance in six starts. The 5-year-old gelded son of Artie Schiller won his only stakes in 2018 at Saratoga when he captured the Better Talk Now.

After making his last seven starts at Woodbine, Rose's Vision will ship in from Canada looking to build on a 1 ¼-length win in a seven-furlong sprint last out on August 16.

Jose Lezcano will pick up the mount, breaking from post 3.

The Lure is carded as Race 8 with a post time of 3.08 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.