Francesca LeDonne Photo

Pletcher to work talented sophomore trio on Friday before deciding next starts

by NYRA Press Office

• Sadler's Joy to make fourth Sword Dancer (G1) appearance
• Russell expects Wondrwherecraigis to show up in Saturday's Amsterdam (G2)
• Jack and Noah likely to face elders next out 
• Trombetta hopeful that the cutback will suit Win Win Win
• Catalano hopes Big Dreaming can carry on family tradition
• Rookie Report: Shadwell debuts $1 million purchase

Trainer Todd Pletcher originally was pointing Dr Post to the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby, but said he is keeping his options open and plans on working the horse, along with promising allowance winners Money Moves and Happy Saver, at Saratoga Race Course on Friday morning.

Pletcher said he could determine the next spots for his sophomores by the weekend, with the Grade 2, $150,000 Jim Dandy on September 5 at the Spa and the $100,000 Federico Tesio on September 7 at Laurel Park among the possible spots as well. The Jim Dandy, is one of four graded stakes on the final Saturday of the Saratoga summer meet.

"They are all working tomorrow, and we'll finalize plans probably on Saturday and see who will stay here and maybe who will go to Kentucky," Pletcher said. "The Tesio on the seventh is a possibility."

St. Elias Stable's Dr Post was on the Triple Crown trail earlier this year, running second to Tiz the Law in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20 that served as the series' first leg this year. The Quality Road colt ran third last out in the Grade 1 Haskell on July 18 at Monmouth and has earned enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, with his 80 points and $331,035 in non-restricted stakes earnings putting him in eighth for a race that could fill its customary field size of 20.

But the "Run for the Roses" might not be in play Dr Post, who is 2-1-1 in five career starts, including a win in the Unbridled in April at Gulfstream Park.  The move leaves open the possibility of Pletcher, who has saddled more Kentucky Derby contenders than any trainer in history with 54, will not have an entrant in the race for the first time since 2003.

Money Moves and Happy Saver will both face stakes company for the first time in their next respective starts.

Owned by Robert LaPenta and Bortolazzo Stable, Money Moves won his first two starts at Gulfstream Park before running second by a neck to Prioritize going 1 1/8 miles on a fast Saratoga main track in an optional claimer on July 25. The Candy Ride colt earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for that runner-up effort.

Unraced as a juvenile, the Kentucky bred has flashed the talent that made him a $975,000 purchase at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sale.

Wertheimer and Frere's Happy Saver has followed a similar trajectory. Also unraced as a 2-year-old, the son of Super Saver has started his career 2-for-2, posting a 5 ½-length debut win on Belmont Stakes Day going seven-furlongs on Big Sandy before besting an allowance field by four lengths on July 26 at Saratoga going 1 1/8 miles.

"They've run well enough in their allowance races to show they have stakes in their future," Pletcher said. "We'll see if they can handle the step up in class. I think all three are high quality colts and train accordingly."

Should Pletcher choose to run any of the trio in the 57th edition of the Jim Dandy, the respective colts will once again be competing at a mile and a furlong. Dr Post is the only one of that group that has not previously raced at the Spa but has registered three works here already entering Friday.

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Sadler's Joy to make fourth Sword Dancer (G1) appearance

Woodslane Farm homebred Sadler's Joy, who captured the 2017 renewal of the Sword Dancer and was sixth in 2018 and second a year ago, will make his fourth appearance in the 12-furlong Grade 1, $500,000 event on Saturday at Saratoga.

Trained by Tom Albertrani, the 7-year-old Kitten's Joy chestnut, out of the unraced Dynaformer mare Dynaire, has banked more than $2.5 million in a 31-race career and will look to capture his second Sword Dancer along with a berth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf on November 7 at Keeneland Race Course.

"He's been one of the most consistent turf horses going these longer distances," said Albertrani. "He still continues to do well. He's still strong and he's pretty bright. You'd never tell looking at him. He doesn't show his age.

"These horses that run a route of ground, they don't do much running until the very end," added Albertrani. "So, I think it's a lot kinder on a horse like him, who gallops around there and runs a half mile at the end."

Sadler's Joy has demonstrated remarkable consistency from his fourth-out maiden win on August 22, 2016 at the Spa through to his most recent effort when crossing the wire first in the Grade 2 Bowling Green on August 1, only to be disqualified and placed fourth for impeding Sword Dancer-rivals Cross Border and Channel Maker in the stretch run.

The horse recorded his first triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure in January 2017 when finishing second, by a head to Taghleeb, in the Grade 3 W. L. McKnight at Gulfstream Park. Though his next 25 starts, the popular horse has recorded 18 additional triple-digit Beyers while never dipping below a 94, which came over soft going when third in the 2018 Grade 1 Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont.

"Our goal is for him to eventually stand stud here in the states," said Albertrani. "He's run well in two Sword Dancers. He's always right there, we just need him to be a little more forward in some of these big ones."

With a record of 31-7-4-10, the late-running horse is a constant in-the-money threat.

"He always keeps you on the edge of your chair," said Albertrani. "With his running style, you hope he has a good trip but he tends to lose a lot of ground when he makes that big move off the far turn.

"We always get a little frustrated when we do the math and look at the Trakus data after the race and he's run the longest of any horse in the race and the fastest last quarter most of the time," added Albertrani with a laugh. "We get frustrated when we see he was beaten six feet for the race but ran forty feet further, but then we get a little chuckle after a while about it. You really couldn't ask for a more consistent horse to have in the barn and it's a pleasure to train horses like that."

Sadler's Joy will exit the outside post 8 Saturday under regular Hall of Fame pilot Javier Castellano. Albertrani said he is hopeful the horse can save some ground ahead of his trademark close.

"He just has no early foot. Once Javier asks him for a run, he's looking for a way that he doesn't get stopped," said Albertrani. "He likes to be in the clear. If he could even find an opening inside we might end up in a position where we could get stopped, so his style is to find some daylight and get motoring at the end."

Albertrani said he is hopeful for a similar trip to the Bowling Green, but with a less dramatic ending.

"Last time it worked out well because it was a smaller field and he didn't have to go as wide at the end," said Albertrani. "In these turf races, you have to try and save as much ground as possible. Last race, he was absolutely the best horse in the race. He ran huge. It's unfortunate he came in a bit but it's just one of those things."

Mark T. Anderson's Beau Belle, a 5-year-old Giant's Causeway mare, is nominated to the Grade 2, $200,000 Glens Falls, an 11-furlong turf marathon for older fillies and mares slated for September 5.

In a case of, 'racing is a small world', Beau Belle is out of the graded-stakes winning Royal Solo mare Binya, who produced Dynaire - the dam of Sadler's Joy.

"She's also related to Sadler's Joy. It's funny how she ended up in the same barn," said Albertrani.

The late-bloomer graduated in her 15th start last July over a yielding Saratoga turf in a maiden special weight and followed up with an allowance score a month later again over yielding turf, both races at 1 3/16-miles.

Albertrani has stepped Beau Belle up significantly since that run of form, including a fifth in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational in October at Belmont, a third in the River Memories in July at Belmont and a last-out fourth in the Grade 3 Waya under rider Manny Franco on August 8 at the Spa.

"She's heading to the Glens Falls and hopefully can make amends herself for her last race," said Albertrani. "I thought she'd be more on the front end in her last race and she got caught behind horses and got a little rank but still managed to run good. I thought her best chance would have been on an easy lead but Manny took her back and she was struggling and got a little too rank for her own good behind horses."

Beau Belle worked an easy half-mile in 53.04 Friday on the Saratoga main track.

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Russell expects Wondrwherecraigis to show up in Saturday's Amsterdam (G2)

Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group, Madaket Stables and Bethlehem Stables' Wondrwherecraigis will look to give trainer Brittany Russell her first graded stakes win in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Amsterdam.

"It would be huge, especially at Saratoga. A graded stake is a graded stake but to win one at Saratoga is even more special. I wish we could be there," said Russell, whose only other graded-stakes starter was High Noon Rider, who finished seventh in the 2019 Grade 3 Valedictory at Woodbine Racetrack.

Unraced as a juvenile, Wondrwherecraigis was a debut winner in March, sprinting six furlongs at Laurel Park and doubled up off the nearly three-month layoff on June 6 in a Laurel allowance sprint. Both efforts came under jockey Sheldon Russell, the trainer's husband, who regularly worked the horse in the morning.

"The owners let us take our time with him to see what we had," said Russell. "My husband rode him in his first two starts and he always liked him in the morning. He always said he was nice, but we needed to take our time with him. He's a big, heavy horse."

Russell said Wondrwherecraigis impressed her by defeating older company at second asking off the layoff.

"He ran as good as we thought he would first time and came back after the COVID stint and beat older horses going five and a half, which isn't really what he wants to do," said Russell. "Sheldon came back and said it was a hard race because he had to use him a bit. He has speed but he also has the ability to sit off horses and make a run. Going five and a half that day, Sheldon had to use him a bit more but the horse was still there for him. Knowing that wasn't his preferred distance, he still stepped up and got it done."

Last out on July 10 at Belmont Park, the talented gelding set a wicked pace in the six-furlong Gold Fever under Jose Lezcano, marking off splits of 21.65 and 44.06 on the sloppy and sealed main track only to be nailed at the wire by Amsterdam rival Liam's Pride. The dark bay crossed the wire second but was demoted to third for interfering with another Amsterdam rival in Long Weekend.

Despite the disappointment of being disqualified, Russell took solace in the effort which garnered Wondrwherecraigis a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure and said the front-running style wasn't totally unexpected.

"Before he ran first time, he was always very rapid from the gate in the morning. He was always very smart in that sense," said Russell. "We thought he had it in him but it was also a sloppy track that day so we told Jose to jack him out of there and see where he puts you. The way he traveled that day it didn't surprise me and I was really proud to see him there late. Yes, he got beat a head and he got DQ'd, but he was fighting for it at the end."

Wondrwherecraigis has breezed three times since the Gold Fever, including a half-mile in 49.60 August 20 on the Laurel main track.

"He's doing great," said Russell. "After a bit of a hard race and looking at the options in the schedule, we opted to let him catch his breath and get back on a work schedule. He's done nothing wrong since that race."

The 3-year-old Munnings gelding, out of the Giant's Causeway mare Social Assassin, comes from good stock. His third dam, Towering Success, produced Affirmed Success, a more than $2.2 million earner boasting Grade 1 wins in the 1998 Vosburgh, 1999 Cigar Mile and 2002 Carter, who is currently residing at Old Friends in Kentucky.

Russell said she's hopeful of a big effort but will hold off on dreaming too big just yet.

"I think we'll take it one step at a time," said Russell. "His last effort shows he deserves a chance to run with them and show that he belongs. I think we'll learn a lot about him on Saturday."

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano picks up the mount from post 5.

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Jack and Noah likely to face elders next out

Trainer Mark Casse was delighted to see Jack and Noah display a swift turn of foot out of the gate and score his third stakes victory in Wednesday's Mahony against fellow sophomores on the grass, where he earned a 97 Beyer for the win. 

Owned by Gary Barber, the French-bred son of Bated Breath made amends from his prior effort on opening weekend, where he was fifth as the beaten favorite in the Grade 3 Quick Call.

"What a difference a start makes. He had so much trouble his first start there, so it was nice to see him back to his normal self," Casse said. "He's extremely fast, probably the fastest horse I've had in some time. When we ran him opening week, he broke a little slow, but the turf was a little soft and you could tell, he couldn't get moving. He has such quick acceleration that he just couldn't get moving. He wasn't himself. He's a trier and I was shocked to see him not run well last time."

A victory in the Mahony made Jack and Noah a stakes winner on turf at all three NYRA tracks. As a 2-year-old, he won the Atlantic Beach on November 11 at Aqueduct two starts after a first-out maiden win. He earned his first win of the year against stakes company in the Sir Cat on June 19 at Belmont Park.

Casse, who earned his first victory of the meet with the son of Bated Breath, will likely race Jack and Noah against elders for his next start. He did not rule out an eventual start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on November 7 at Keeneland but said that he would have to prove himself against older horses first.

"The next step would be to try him against older horses," Casse said. "That's one of the things well have to find out. He'll have to show he can compete with older horses and that will be the next step."

Bred by Oceanic Bloodstock Inc. & Ariane Gravereaux, Jack and Noah is out of the Mizzen Mast mare Winter Count.

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Trombetta hopeful that cutback will suit Win Win Win

Trainer Mike Trombetta has been anxious to get Win Win Win back to the seven-eighths distance over the main track and hopes that the distance will do him some good when he takes on a competitive field assembled for Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Forego presented by America's Best Racing.

Trombetta has had the prestigious seven-furlong event in the back of his mind for the versatile son of Hat Trick for a while. When trying to find the right spot for the horse, Trombetta goes back to his track-record setting performance in the Pasco last January at Tampa Bay Downs, where he stopped the clock in 1:20.89 winning by 7 ¼ lengths and garnered a career best 99 Beyer.

"He hasn't had too many opportunities to do it," Trombetta said. "I keep going back to his 3-year-old race in the Pasco, where he broke the track record at seven-eighths. It was a distance that he really liked. When I was looking around to see where we were going to run him, the seven eighths of a mile intrigued me a bit so I figured this would be a good place to go."

Owned by Charlotte Weber's Live Oak Plantation, Win Win Win is a stakes winner on both dirt and turf. After two unplaced efforts in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Preakness, he won the Manila going one mile over the Widener turf at Belmont Park. He did not race again for another 11 months and started off his 4-year-old campaign on the turf in the First Defence at Belmont Park, where he was tenth. He then switched back to the main track against a competitive allowance field to finish second behind fellow Forego aspirant Complexity.

"In his first start back, the turf was a little soft and it was his first start back so he may have needed the race," Trombetta said. "He didn't get away all that well, so we'll give him a pass on that one. His last race was better, it was more what I wanted to see. Now, we've trained up to this, so we'll see if he's ready for it."

A Florida homebred, Win Win Win is out of the Smarty Jones broodmare Miss Smarty Pants, who is a half to turf graded stakes winner Unbridled Humor. 

One race prior, Trombetta will saddle allowance winner Premier Star in the Grade 3 Amsterdam for 3-year-olds over the main track.

Owned by Marc Tacher's Sonata Stables, the chestnut son of second crop sire Tapiture arrives at the six-furlong race off a victory against elders in an allowance optional claiming tilt at Laurel Park. In his prior start, he was a distant fourth at Laurel behind Eastern Bay and Fortunate Friends, both of whom were next-out winners.

Premier Star began his career with two wins going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park, including a maiden victory over Grade 1 Runhappy Travers runner-up Caracaro.

"He won against older horses and ran pretty well," Trombetta said. "The only thing left for him is straight three year old stakes at this point for the rest of the season, so here we are. The first time I ran him, he stumbled out of the gate and got caught behind horses and didn't like it a whole lot. He had to come wide and finished fourth. The second time, he had a clean getaway and he went on and ran really well."

Bred in Kentucky by Charles H. Deters, Premier Star is out of the Hold That Tiger broodmare Letthetigerparty and was bought for $100,000 from last year's OBS October Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

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Catalano hopes Big Dreaming carries on family tradition

Trainer Wayne Catalano takes a lot of pride in being able to condition progeny of some the finest fillies that he has trained over the years and Frank C. Calabrese's Big Dreaming is no exception heading into Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Saranac over the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course.

The bay son of Declaration of War is out of multiple graded stakes winner Dreaming of Anna, who won the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies en route to Eclipse Award honors for Champion 2-Year-Old Filly. She did bulk of her running on turf however, having won five graded stakes races over grass.

"She won the Breeders' Cup on the dirt, but she was mainly turf. There was no Breeders' Cup turf race for 2-year-old fillies in those days," Catalano recalled.

Big Dreaming broke his maiden going one mile over the Churchill Downs turf in June, followed by a first level allowance optional claiming victory on August 1 at Arlington Park.

"There's not a whole lot out there right now, it was here or Kentucky Downs and that can be kind of a weird track for some horses," Catalano said. "We'll see what happens with the weather. The field doesn't look too tough, it's not an easy race by any means, but it doesn't look too tough."

Dreaming of Anna also produced stakes winner and third crop sire Fast Anna as well as graded stakes winner Dreamologist. Big Dreaming is the last offspring produced by the versatile daughter of Rahy, who passed away in 2017. 

"He's a big stout boy, whereas she was a bit on the smaller side," Catalano said. "I'm hoping he gets anywhere close to what she was."

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Rookie Report: Shadwell debuts $1 million purchase

Shadwell Stable's lucrative acquisition Zainalarab will make her career debut on Saturday afternoon in a six-furlong maiden special weight over the main track at Saratoga Race Course.

Bred in Kentucky by International Equities Holding, the juvenile bay daughter of War Front was a $1 million acquisition from the Gainesway consignment barn at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Train by Chad Brown, Zainalarab is the first progeny out of the graded stakes-winning Tapit broodmare Delightful Joy who is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Cali Star. Both are out of graded stakes winner Graeme Six.

"She's a very nice filly and Chad is very excited about her," said Shadwell Stable general manager Rick Nichols. "She was absolutely gorgeous at the sale. Conformationally, she looked great and had a strong pedigree to go along with it. When you put those two together it's going to get pretty expensive."

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. will pilot Zainalarab from post 5.

Brown will also debut well-bred filly Always Carina in the same race.

Owned by Three Chimneys Farm, the dark bay daughter of Malibu Moon is the second progeny out of the More Than Ready broodmare Miss Always Ready, making her a half-sister to last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Structor, who also was trained by Brown.

The Kentucky homebred has trained forwardly for Brown heading into her debut and arrives at her maiden test off a sharp work from the gate, where she completed a half-mile in 47.20 seconds over the Saratoga main track.

Always Carina will pick up the riding services of Jose Ortiz from post 2.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle first-time starter Jouster, a bay daughter of Noble Mission.

Owned by Jack and Laurie Wolf's Starlight Racing, Jouster comes from a long line of prestigious distaffers. She is the first progeny out of the Street Cry mare Playtime, whose dam was 2002 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Storm Flag Flying making her a direct descendant of Hall of Famer and prolific broodmare Personal Ensign.

Jouster worked a sharp five-eighths from the gate on Sunday morning in 59.80.

"I was really pleased with her gate work the other day," Pletcher said. "For a filly who has the pedigree that suggests she should run two turns, she has quite a bit of natural speed. I'm looking forward to her debut."

Bred in Kentucky by St. Elias Stables, Jouster was purchased at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale for $360,000, where she was consigned by Lane's End.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez rides from post 3.