Chelsea Durand Photo

After winning Honorable Miss, Finley’sluckycharm looks to go dancing in G1 Ballerina

by NYRA Press Office

• Wonder Gadot seeks super effort in G1 Alabama
• McCraken ‘strong possibility’ for G1 Whitney following Wednesday breeze
• Switzerland banks on confident run in G1 Vanderbilt
• Diversify likely to skip Whitney, targets G1 Woodward instead
• Rain forces G1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial to be rescheduled for Monday in steeplechase action

Trainer Bret Calhoun said Finley’sluckycharm came out of her 2 ¼-length win over Vertical Oak in the Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss on Wednesday in good order and remains on target for the Grade 1, $500,000 Ketel One Ballerina on Travers Day, August 25.

“We’re very happy with how she bounced out of the race,” Calhoun said Thursday morning. “It was the kind of race we wanted. There was a nice trip for her. I think it will allow her to point for the Ballerina.”

Finley’sluckycharm tracked the speed in the six-furlong sprint on Saratoga Race Course’s main track before overtaking Vertical Oak from the outside in the stretch. After finishing a neck behind Paulassilverlining in last year’s edition of the Honorable Miss, the 5-year-old Twirling Candy mare bested a five-horse field for her second graded stakes win in three starts.

“Paulassilverlining is a great filly and it looked like we had her put away in deep stretch but she came back and got us on the wire, so we had victory ripped out of our hands, so to come back this year and win it was great,” Calhoun said.

The Ballerina is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifier to the Grade 1, $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint on November 3 at Churchill Downs, offering Finley’sluckycharm a chance to atone for last year’s ninth-place performance in that race at Del Mar. The seven-furlong Ballerina is the same distance as the Grade 1 Madison on April 7 at Keeneland in which Finley’sluckycharm outkicked Miss Sunset by a neck.

“You look at her record, [and] the Madison is a convincing race,” Calhoun said. “There were eight graded stakes winners in there. She ran basically gate-to-wire with wide-open, suicide-type fractions and held them off. That was a race of champions there. That race in turn ended up costing us in the next race [fourth in the Grade 1] in the Humana Distaff [on May 5]. You saw the spacing between those races and this one two months forward. She was a fresh horse and put weight back on. She looked magnificent. Everything went right.”

Calhoun said keeping her at Saratoga can be beneficial since she’s run well at the historic course.

“She’s run twice at this track and obviously likes it,” Calhoun said. “Some horses have an affinity for this track and luckily she’s one who likes it. I don’t know where the challengers will come from, but it’ll be a great race. The fact that she’s had two starts here and run well both times gives you confidence.”

Classy Act is still planning to run in the Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Test for 3-year-old fillies, Calhoun said. The Into Mischief filly returned to the worktab on July 21 at Saratoga, breezing four furlongs in 52.78 seconds on the Oklahoma training track.

Classy Act is coming off a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Victory Ride, where she was edged by 47-1 longshot Dixie Serenade by a neck on July 8 at Belmont Park.

“It was a tough beat in the Victory Ride, it looked like she was the best horse. She didn’t see the horse up the rail and got nailed, but she’s another one who shipped straight from Belmont up here and has been settling in. She’ll breeze Saturday and then run in the Test. She proved she fits with this group in the Victory Ride.”

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Wonder Gadot seeks super effort in G1 Alabama

Having taken a square aim on the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama on August 18, multiple graded stakes winner Wonder Gadot is slated to ship to Saratoga within the next few days following her 5 ¾-length win in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales on the dirt at Fort Erie, on Tuesday.

The Ontario-bred Medaglia d’Oro filly won the June 30 Queen's Plate on June 30 over the Tapeta course at Woodbine by 4 ¾ lengths and could have swept the series with a win over the turf in the 1 ½-mile Breeder's Stakes on August 18 at Woodbine. Instead, trainer Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber will skip the third leg of the Crown, and keep the winner of five through 13 lifetime starts on dirt in the 1 ¼-mile Alabama.

“I've said all along that her least preferred surface in my opinion is the grass even though she's won on all three,” Casse said. “Honestly, I think Gary feels the same way. Besides the Kentucky Oaks, the Alabama [is the goal].

“I've been doing this since I've been a little boy, and I dreamed of winning the Alabama,” he added.

Wonder Gadot began her career on the grass, winning her debut at Woodbine before placing third in the Grade 1 Natalma. After closing out her 2-year-old year with a victory in the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct, Wonder Gadot began 2018 with a runner-up finish in the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds. She continued on the Kentucky Oaks trail through the spring with third-place finishes in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra and Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks before finishing second in the Grade 3 Fantasy on April 13 at Oaklawn Park. 

Wonder Gadot acquired 84 points to rank eighth on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard and put in a strong runner-up effort behind multiple grade 1 winner Monomoy Girl in the Run for the Lilies. A claim of foul against the winner for interference was disallowed after it appeared that the two rivals brushed in mid-stretch, but earlier trouble may have hindered the filly's best stride.

“We got a little bit unlucky in the Oaks,” said Casse. “Johnny [Velazquez] will tell you this. We had a little incident down the lane, but that wasn't what got us. What got us was about the five-sixteenth's pole, [Luis] Saez was on a horse [Coach Rocks] and he clipped heels, and when he did Johnny had to kind of check the filly, and our filly is not push-button fast. She's big and it takes her a little bit, she lost a bunch of momentum.

“Monomoy Girl is such a fighter, if you get into a ding-dong match with her, I don't know that you're going to beat her. So, we almost have to fly by her, and that's what we're going to try and do. Monomoy Girl is all fight. I have the utmost repsect for her. Brad Cox has done an unbelievable job with her to keep her good.”

Now looking to extend her win streak to three in the Alabama, Wonder Gadot gets better with each start, and does so at the right time, said Casse.

“She is just tough,” he said. “Her breeder David Anderson said ‘How do you do it? She looks better today than she did in the Queen's Plate.’ I'd like to say it's something super that we do, but it's just her. She gets bigger and stronger. Not a lot of horses can do that. Lexie Lou was like that, but she was not nearly as big a horse as Wonder Gadot. She would get bigger and stronger with every race, and that's Wonder Gadot. She looks better now, and we've run her a fair amount of races. She looks better now than six months ago.”

A rematch between Wonder Gadot and Monomoy Girl, fresh off last Sunday's Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks win, could come in the fall, according to Casse, should his filly win the Alabama. With Monomoy Girl likely pointing to the Grade 1 Cotillion on September 22 at Parx Racing, it may be the next stop on route to the Breeders' Cup on November 3.

“There's a possibility. It would depend, but it's been mentioned. There's only one guy who matters, and his initials are ‘GB’ [owner Gary Barber] That's the only one,” Casse laughed. “It's already been brought up. If we win the Alabama, do we go to the Cotillion? That's her, that's what she likes. She likes the month. I'd be more concerned with giving her too much time.”

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McCraken ‘strong possibility’ for G1 Whitney following Wednesday breeze

Whitham Thoroughbred’s McCraken exited his Wednesday breeze in good shape and is on target for the Grade 1, $1.2 million Whitney on August 4, trainer Ian Wilkes said Thursday morning.

McCraken, a 4-year-old colt by Ghostzapper, covered six furlongs Wednesday over Saratoga’s main track in 1:12.66 and trained Thursday morning, going out for an easy jog as part of Wilkes’ normal post-work routine. 

The breeze was his first recorded work since finishing third as the 7-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap on July 6 at Prairie Meadows.

“I wanted a very good work. He went 12 and three and clicked off 12s [12-second furlongs] all the way around,” said Wilkes. “He needed that type of work. I didn’t get what I wanted last race and the work before was slower than I wanted, so I needed more.”

Wilkes said he saw enough out of the homebred colt on Thursday to give serious consideration to running in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney, a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Classic this fall.

“It’s a strong possibility; that’s what I’m pointing him for,” he said.

The multiple stakes winner finished seventh in last year's Travers, his only other appearance at the Spa. This year, McCraken returned in May with a half-length win in an optional claiming contest on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. He followed up in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on June 9 at Belmont Park, where he traveled wide and was impeded late to finish sixth.

McCraken will have a walk day Friday, said Wilkes, and will work once more before the Whitney.

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Switzerland banks on confident run in G1 Vanderbilt

Woodford Racing’s Switzerland has rolled off three straight victories, including a win in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint on May 19, since Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen took over the training responsibilities for the 4-year-old.

The Speightstown colt broke his maiden in his eighth career start on February 16 at Aqueduct Racetrack, starting a four-race winning streak overall as he enters Saturday’s Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap.

Switzerland drew the rail in the stakes-laden seven-horse field, with Asmussen saying at his barn Thursday morning that he is slightly concerned with the post, but not with Switzerland’s conditioning or confidence heading into the race. 

“He’s doing very well,” Asmussen said. “The horse’s confidence is where it needs to be. He had a couple of easy races at Oaklawn which helped and we’re obviously going to test that confidence Saturday in the Vanderbilt.”

Switzerland, the 2-1 second choice on the morning line behind 6-5 favorite Imperial Hint, had in his final major preparation for the race on Monday, breezing three furlongs in 37.99 seconds on the Oklahoma training track. 

“He’s put in some really good work for this,” Asmussen said. “I’m very concerned with him drawing the one hole, but he’ll do his best from there.”

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Diversify likely to skip Whitney, targets G1 Woodward

Trainer Rick Violette said Grade 2 Suburban winner Diversify has a “15 percent” chance to run in the Grade 1 Whitney on August 4 at Saratoga and will likely wait and continue to train up to the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward on September 1. 

“He's doing great. We're still very much on the fence for the Whitney,” Violette said. “[It’s] still more likely we skip and go to the Woodward.”

As the field for the 1 1/8 mile Whitney takes shape, Violette remains versatile in his approach, but his short-term plan for the 5-year-old gelded son of Bellamy Road will be influenced by the ultimate goal of running in the Grade 1 Jockey Cup Gold Cup on September 29 at Belmont Park; a race Diversify won last year over Keen Ice and Pavel for his first career graded stakes victory.

Violette said initial reports on the Whitney field, which could include Pavel, Mind Your Biscuits and Tapwrit, makes the race interesting, but no definitive plans have been made.

“I still think most likely not. It's intriguing. So, if we did that [run in the Whitney], we'd wait and run in the Gold Cup and skip the Woodward. I'll go Woodward then Gold Cup, but if we ran in the Whitney, we'd skip the Woodward," Violette said.

The Ralph and Lauren Evans owned New York bred is awaiting his fourth start of the year after wiring the 10-horse field by 6 1/2 lengths in the Suburban at 1 ¼ miles on July 7, Stars & Stripes Day, at Belmont. That victory followed his win by a nose in the $200,000 Commentator against state breds at a mile at Belmont on May 28. 

“He's doing pretty good,” Violette said. “It's a funny thing, and I think they'll change the numbers, but the Ragozin numbers didn't come up that fast. [It] actually came up a slower race than the Commentator, which I think is ridiculous, to be honest. If he'd run a stupid-fast number, and was kicking the barn down, I'd be more reticent on taking a shot [in the Whitney] so, we'll play it by ear. I'll still go to sleep going to the Woodward."

Diversify's last two victories were a welcomed performance for the earner of $1,309,425 from 14 career starts after he abruptly faded to last against six competitors as the favorite in the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic on April 21. 

“He still owes me money!” Violette said with a laugh. “He thought his job was done, [going] two turns. That was the one that makes me scratch my head, and it was nice that he backed up, and that's what happened. He has awfully high cruising speed. It's a very, very big weapon.”

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Rain forces G1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial to be rescheduled for Monday in steeplechase action

Rain postponed the Grade 1, $175,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial – the first Grade 1 steeplechase of the Saratoga meet – from Thursday to Monday. All races for Thursday were moved off the turf.

The new draw for the race’s 22nd running, which will be Race 1 on Monday, will feature the same seven horses originally entered with no jockey changes. Modem, the original 9-5 favorite trained by Elizabeth Voss, will now leave from post 5 carrying the 156-pound highweight in tandem with jockey Jack Doyle.

All the Way Jose, trained by Jonathan Sheppard at 5-2, will now exit post 3 with Ross Geraghty. He will carry 154 pounds.

Iranistan, who drew post 1 originally, again will leave from that spot at 143 pounds. Darren Nagle rides for Sheppard’s other entry.

Rounding out the field is Personal Start, trained by Richard Valentine, from post 2; Overwhelming, for trainer Jack Fisher, from post 6; Show Court, trained by Archibald Kinglsey, Jr., from post 7; and Oskar Denarius, at 15-1 and carrying the low weight of 136 pounds, from post 4.