Good Samaritan steals victory from Triple Crown stars in G2 Jim Dandy

by Anthony Affrunti

It had been 26 years since a Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner faced off in a race at Saratoga Race Course. Saturday's Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy featured both, but like that Travers contested in 1991, neither found the winners' circle, as a last-to-first effort by Good Samaritan upset the dueling pair to sweep past the field and win the 1 1/8-mile race by 4 ¾ lengths in 1:50.69.

The field of five was led by Derby winner Always Dreaming, off his disappointing eighth place finish in the Preakness, who set the pace with early fractions of 24.13 seconds for the quarter-mile and 48.53 for the half while Preakness winner Cloud Computing kept watch on his rival at a safe, but ready four lengths behind. California shipper Pavel, off his maiden breaking sprint debut at Santa Anita sat chilly in third, while Giuseppe the Great and Good Samaritan rounded out the running down the backside.

It wasn't until the seven-sixteenths mark that jockey Joel Rosario, after a ground-saving trip, coaxed the son of Harlan's Holiday, swinging six wide on the turn before rallying to catch and pass the field to draw off. 

"He tries hard all the time, Rosario said. "He got beat a couple of times by good horses, but he looked like he really had it today. Actually, he does not have a lot of [early] speed, so I just let him be and be where he is happy. He wants to always put in one last run. When I passed the three-eighths pole, he gave me a very good feeling. He was getting over the track very nice, so I just kind of tried to save a little ground before turning for home, but he was on his game today."

Trainer Bill Mott's victory was his second at the meet, and fourth in the Jim Dandy, following Chief Honcho in 1990, Composer in 1995, and Favorite Trick in 1998. The victory also added to his customary habit of saddling a winner at Saratoga on his birthday. It was the 16th win in 24 years, and first since 2013.

Good Samaritan paid $19.20 to win, capturing the victory in his first dirt start after starting his career 2-2-1 in six starts on the turf.

"I couldn't be more pleased with the way he ran," Mott said. "It was a terrific race for him. The pace was a little bit slower than I thought it would be, I was a little concerned when they were going down the middle of the backside and they hung up the slow fractions, I was a little concerned about that. They did start to pick it up leaving the half-mile pole, [but] he ran into a very slow pace and ran well. 

"Elliott Walden had been trying to get me to run him on the dirt ever since the Breeders' Cup last November. We were going to do it earlier in the year and we missed some of the Triple Crown prep races and we decided to wait until after the Belmont Derby. We knew for sure he would run on the grass and we decided to do it after that. 

"We actually discussed waiting for the Travers for his first race [on the dirt]," he continued. "Last week, we came to the conclusion we should try this race. Initially, it was going to be the Travers, and then the way this was coming up it looked like we were going to have a decent pace in this race and the horse was doing so well that we decide to make this choice.

"You saw him coming through the stretch. He looks like he was good enough to get it done today. He looked pretty good. We'll certainly nominate for the Travers and we'll talk about it. I don't see why we wouldn't give it a try."

Mossarosa's Giuseppe the Great, who at 14-1 was the longest shot on the board for Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, swung five wide past rivals Always Dreaming, Pavel and Cloud Computing to get up for the runner-up spot. Always Dreaming, after running three quarters of a mile in 1:13.27, and the mile in 1:38.23 tired late in the stretch, but gutted out his run to remain third over Cloud Computing and Pavel respectively to his outside, who also succumbed to the early pace.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who rode four winners on the day, got some, but not enough from his Derby winning colt.

"He broke really well, and it went like we were expecting," Velazquez said. "We got the lead and he [Javier Castellano and Cloud Computing] was laying second because that's the types of horses they are. He put in a really good fight down the lane, he just couldn't get away from the other horses for whatever reason."

Cloud Computing, in with a fighting chance until the late stages, had the race his way, according to rider Javier Castellano.

"I thought I had a perfect position in the race, Castellano said. "I let Always Dreaming dictate the pace, so I was able to let up a little bit and save all the ground and, little by little, go for him. He [Cloud Computing] just didn't fire today."