Chelsea Durand Photo

Gould’s Gold breezes for G2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun

by NYRA Press Ofiice

• Gould’s Gold breezes for G2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun
• Batten Down probable for G2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun
• Honor Marie works in company for G1 DraftKings Travers
• Secret Money no secret in G3 Caress presented by Albany Med Health System

4 G Racing, Lance Gasaway and Magdalena Farm’s Grade 3-placed Gould’s Gold worked Saturday over Saratoga Race Course’s Oklahoma dirt training track in preparation for the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun, a nine-furlong test for sophomores, on July 27 at the Spa.

The Kenny McPeek trainee was among the first to step onto the fast track shortly after its 5:30 a.m. opening and was accompanied by unraced stablemate Summer Diet – a $250,000 colt by Vino Rosso – to commence their work together. Gould’s Gold, piloted on the outside by regular jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr., sat just off Summer Diet through the turn and swept past his workmate with ease in the stretch to put several lengths between them and complete a half-mile in 47 3/5 seconds, according to NYRA clockers. Summer Diet was timed in 48.55.

“He worked fantastic,” McPeek said. “It was a very good work. I wanted him to stalk off another horse and then finish, which he did.”

Gould’s Gold was last seen finishing a good second to likely returning rival Batten Down in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby on June 22 at Thistledown, where he tracked the pace set by his victorious rival and put in a four-wide move to hold onto second by three-quarter lengths over Copper Tax. He also was second in the Sir Barton on May 18 at Pimlico Race Course where he was beaten a nose by Corporate Power, who exited that race to run a respectable second in the Curlin here yesterday.

Gould’s Gold has also been the workmate of multiple Grade 1-winner Thorpedo Anna, who breezed in company with him last week over the Oklahoma in 1:01.55 in anticipation of her start as the 1-2 morning line favorite in today’s Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks.

McPeek reported that his two contenders from yesterday’s $135,000 Curlin – Django and Elephants Ear – emerged from their respective fourth and fifth-place finishes in good order and will eye some class relief next out.

“They’re fine, but Elephants Ear lost a shoe in the race and staggered home,” said McPeek. “The other colt ran his best race, he was just no match for them. We’ll look at allowance conditions for both of them.”

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Batten Down probable for G2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun

The Tapit gray won the nine-furlong Grade 3 Ohio Derby last-out on June 22 at Thistledown by 1 3/4 lengths over Gould’s Gold. He entered from a fourth-out 8 3/4-length graduation going 10 furlongs on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

“I guess that is the way we are going,” said Mott of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy. “When you have a horse like that, you look at all the options and think of where you fit. We felt it was time to reach out and take a chance in the Jim Dandy.”

Mott added that the 10-furlong Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers on August 24 here may become a potential goal with a strong showing.

“The Travers is run here. If we run well, maybe he can come back and run in the Travers,” said Mott.

Out of the multiple Grade 1-winner and 2014 Champion Older Mare Close Hatches, Batten Down is a full-brother to the Mott-trained multiple graded stakes winner Tacitus, who was a close second to Tax in the 2019 Jim Dandy.

Glassman Racing’s Arthur’s Ride continued his work towards the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney, a nine-furlong main track test on August 3 at the Spa. The historic event is a “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Del Mar.

The 4-year-old Tapit gray breezed five furlongs over the Oklahoma dirt training track in 1:00.96 seconds in company with lightly-raced 4-year-old filly Nic’s Style, according to NYRA clockers.

“They both had a good work. They both looked good on the track,” said Mott. “They finished up well.”

Last out, Arthur’s Ride set the pace in a 10-furlong optional-claimer here on June 7 before drawing off to win by a widening 12 3/4 lengths, earning a career-best 111 Beyer in the eye-catching romp. The win made him 2-for-3 this year after a successful return from an over one-year long layoff in a one-mile March optional-claimer at Gulfstream Park.

The Florida-bred Arthur’s Ride, out of graded stakes winning Point Given mare Points of Grace, boasts a lifetime record of 6-3-2-0 with $214,955 in earnings.

Rousseau Racing’s Nic’s Style is an unbeaten 2-for-2, both coming in the care of conditioner Ralph Nicks at Gulfstream. The Florida-bred Uncaptured bay hasn’t been seen in the afternoon since a 10 1/4-length state-bred optional-claiming romp going 6 1/2 furlongs there in December, which came off a layoff since a 4 1/2-furlong debut win in May 2022.

“We are just bringing her back. She breezed with Arthur’s Ride and she breezed well,” said Mott. “She is 2-for-2 against restricted company, so we will see.”

Nic’s Style is out of the Street Sense mare Sense When, a half-sister to stakes-winner Holding Aces.

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Honor Marie works in company for G1 DraftKings Travers

Ribble Farms, Michael H. Eiserman, Earl I. Silver, Kenneth E. Fishbein and Dave Fishbein’s graded stakes-winner Honor Marie worked a half-mile in company with 2-year-old maiden Fiddling Felix this morning in 48.75 over the Oklahoma training track as he continues preparations for the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers on August 24, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Whit Beckman, the late-running Honor Code bay was last seen finishing a troubled fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 8 here.

The talented colt, who captured the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club in November at Churchill Downs to close out his juvenile campaign, has worked back three times, including a half-mile move in 48.77 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard here last week.

Manny Franco had the call this morning aboard Honor Marie, tracking his workmate down the backstraight before shifting through the gears down the lane to finish up on even terms and gallop out in front.

“It went about as perfect as I could have envisioned,” Beckman said. “He's not one that's going to break off real strong and take the bridle and want to run through it. He's one that clocks his opponent and is a little more meticulous to get into stride. They finished up beautifully together, galloped out together and did everything like I wanted today.

“I got them out in 1:02 and 2 and 1:15 and 1,” Beckman continued. “It's the same work he had last week with Irad - as they get through the work, he just slowly gets up to his company.”

Beckman, who noted he is not yet committed to a rider for Honor Marie’s next start, said he’s happy with how the horse is progressing into the DraftKings Travers.

“We're still five weeks out from the Travers. We're just trying to bring him in the right way,” Beckman said. “He's a smart horse. He doesn't do more than he has to and won't do more than you ask him to, but he always knows what he has to do regardless of the input.”

The $40,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase has banked $626,175 through a 7-2-2-0 record. A maiden winner at first asking in September at Churchill, Honor Marie has made all four sophomore starts in graded company, including a fifth in the Grade 2 Risen Star and a second in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby this winter at Fair Grounds ahead of a troubled eighth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May at Churchill.

Honor Marie endured two spots of trouble in the Belmont Stakes after being pinched back at the break by a stumbling Sierra Leone and trailing the field in last-of-10 under Florent Geroux. He advanced with purpose up the rail through the final turn and was making up ground after straightening away when he brushed with Antiquarian, who was drifting inward after being brushed by Sierra Leone. Honor Marie stayed on well to the wire to finish 5 1/2-lengths back of the victorious Dornoch.

“He ran fourth and he didn't have a clean trip by any stretch,” Beckman said. “Between the tougher trip and that the track for two days had been setting up for horses on or close to the lead, it was not something we're used to here in Saratoga. The track here usually plays pretty fair for closers or legitimate speed horses, it wasn't perfect for him that day, but he still ran extremely well.”

Beckman will debut Ryan Kamp and Larisa Kamp’s Papiamento in Race 1 today at Saratoga after the well-bred Medaglia d’Oro colt drew into the 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for 2-year-olds from three deep on the also-eligible list.

Papiamento is out of the unraced Curlin mare Serena’s Image, who is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winner Noble Tune and dual Grade 1-winner Honor Code, who earned Champion Older Horse honors in 2015 after top-flight scores in the Metropolitan Handicap and Whitney. His fourth dam is Hall of Famer Serena’s Song.

The $270,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase was bought for $250,000 at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training where he worked in 10.1.

“He's a very well-bred horse. He's a horse that I think will ultimately end up back on dirt, but he's such a two-turn type,” Beckman said. “Sometimes, putting a young horse that doesn't give you any feel like they're going to sprint on dirt into a sprint race can set you back a little bit.

“I think he could run on turf - it may not be his preferred surface - but we're looking for two turns and not looking to win the Hopeful with the horse,” added Beckman.

Beckman, a former assistant to Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, recalled the Pletcher-trained Eskendereya – eventual winner of the 2010 Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack – debuting with a good second here on turf in September 2009. Eskendereya won the off-the-turf Pilgrim one month later at Belmont Park and romped to an 8 1/2-length score in the following year’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.

“Eskendereya started out at two turns on the turf. He won the Wood and Fountain of Youth and he ended up being one of the best dirt horses I've seen,” Beckman recalled.

That’s not to say Beckman is comparing his young prospect with the talented Eskendereya, but rather as a reference to a way to identify and progress horses through the ranks.

“I'm not too worried about stats or percentages, it's about developing horses,” Beckman said.

***

Secret Money no secret in G3 Caress

Secret Money comes into Thursday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Caress presented by Albany Med Health System, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for older fillies and mares here, seeking her first win of 2024. The 4-year-old Good Samaritan filly has been living up to her name producing $843,220 in purse earnings from a $40,000 investment.

The Brendan Walsh trainee’s journey began at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling sale where she was purchased for $35,000 as a pinhook prospect. In 2022 at the Fasig Tipton Mid-Atlantic 2-Year-Olds in training sale, Secret Money sold for a final bid of just $40,000.

“We have always liked her. She has always been a nice filly since we had her. She has been very good to us. I would like to have a lot more like her in the barn,” Walsh said over the phone from his Kentucky base.

Secret Money has put together a strong resume in her two years on the track. She broke her maiden in her second start during the 2023 Keeneland spring meet sprinting 5 1/2-furlongs on the grass. She followed with a win in allowance company last May traveling the same distance over the Churchill Downs lawn.

Last year, in the one-mile Grade 3 Lake George here, Secret Money earned the ever-so-coveted graded stakes black type when running third to Surge Capacity. She bounced out of that strong effort and parlayed it into a win in September at Kentucky Downs in the Grade 3 Music City at 6 1/2-furlongs.

Secret Money has since only faced stakes company with her best result coming in the Grade 3 Unbridled Sydney on May 3 at Churchill where she finished second a neck back to the impressive turf sprinter Ova Charged.

The bargain price to star power trait runs in the family. Secret Money’s dam is the Grade 1 winner Awesome Humor by Distorted Humor - a $35,000 yearling turned earner of $848,950. Awesome Humor enjoyed much of her success at the Spa, winning the 2002 Grade 2 Adirondack and Grade 1 Spinaway as well as landing second in the 2003 Grade 1 Alabama.

Secret Money, campaigned by Emcee Stable, Fortune Farm, and Robert G. Hahn, will look to add to that impressive pedigree when she exits post 2 under Tyler Gaffalione.

Having come within a neck of Ova Charged, Secret Money now has the tall task of facing the first-through-third finishers from the Grade 2 Intercontinental presented by MTV Solutions in Future Is Now, Roses for Debra and Kaufymaker.

“She is doing great since her last race,” Walsh said. “We are looking forward to the race on Thursday. You know she has a nice draw, and she is plenty ready.”

Secret Money comes into the race off a half-mile turf breeze in 48.85 seconds over the Oklahoma grass on July 14. Walsh said the work went to plan and the filly would gallop into the race.

The Walsh barn doesn’t have to wait until Thursday for a stakes starter as they will send out Intricate in today’s featured Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks to face the top sophomore fillies in country in Race 6.

Intricate, winner of the Grade 2 Golden Rod in November at Churchill over Thorpedo Anna, arrives from a runner-up effort to Our Pretty Woman in the Monomoy Girl on June 15 at the Louisville oval.

“Intricate should run well. She ran very well in her comeback spot. I wouldn’t be surprised if she is right there at the finish,” said Walsh.