Pocket Listing to ship in for stakes debut in G3 Sanford

Reddam Racing’s California homebred Pocket Listing will look to build upon an impressive debut score at Santa Anita Park when he ships to Saratoga Race Course for Saturday’s Grade 3, $225,000 Sanford, a six-furlong sprint for juveniles.

The Sanford is slated as Race 5 on Saturday’s Independence Day program, which is headlined by the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby in Race 9 and the Grade 1 $600,000 Belmont Oaks in Race 7. The 11-race card also features the Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban presented by Subourbon Life in Race 8. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

Trained by Doug O’Neill, Pocket Listing [post 4, Manny Franco] romped on June 14 at Santa Anita after touting his first-out success one week earlier with a bullet half-mile in 46.20 seconds over the Santa Anita dirt, ranked best of 84 efforts on the day.

“You never know until they do it, but he was definitely showing in the morning that he would be ready to run in the afternoon, and he sure did,” O’Neill said.

Pocket Listing was well-backed in the five-furlong sprint restricted to maidens bred or sired in California. He exited post 4-of-8 under Antonio Fresu and showed the way through splits of 22.19 seconds and 45.80, opening up a 10-length lead at the stretch call and coasting home first by 8 1/2-lengths in a final time of 58.87. The winning effort earned a 62 Beyer Speed Figure.

Pocket Listing is by Listing, a Reddam Racing homebred son of Square Eddie that won stakes on dirt and turf, including the Grade 3 Quick Call in 2019 over the Saratoga green for trainer Ben Cecil. Pocket Listing, out of the In Excess mare Too Much Excess, is a half-sibling to the Square Eddie-sired stakes winners How About Zero and Don’t Sell, who were born and raised at Ocean Breeze Ranch in Bonsall, California.

“He's a homebred son of Listing for Paul and Zillah Reddam and he was definitely one of the better babies that came in, so we were pretty excited. He was training really well and the debut was definitely electrifying,” O’Neill said.

While many of the family can run on turf, O’Neill noted that Pocket Listing demonstrated main track characteristics.

“He looks like a dirt horse. He's a big, muscular type - you think leaner, smaller types, for the grass sometimes. Just to look at him, you think dirt but given his pedigree, I think he'd have no problem handling the grass if we choose to,” O’Neill said. “Listing is a cool stallion that Paul and Zillah didn't breed many mares to [at first] but now they're breeding more and more to him and his babies are all showing a lot of run and competitiveness. I'm really excited about the future with the Listings.”

Pocket Listing followed up Sunday with a five-furlong work in 1:01.80 in company and all being well will be on a plane headed east on Tuesday.

“He worked really well. He went five-eighths in company and finished up strong and galloped out good,” O’Neill said. “Everything we were hoping to see, we saw. We'll see how he eats up tonight, how he looks in the morning and see if putting him on a plane makes sense.”

O’Neill said the added distance shouldn’t be an issue for Pocket Listing, who will require no equipment changes for his stakes debut with Manny Franco up for the first time.

“Just a shadow roll, a bit and a rider and here we go,” O’Neill said, with a laugh.

Ten Broeck Farm’s filly Waggley [post 1, Junior Alvarado] is 2-for-2 and the lone stakes winner in the field after posting a 1 3/4-length score last out versus males in the five-furlong Kentucky Juvenile contested over sloppy and sealed footing on April 29 at Churchill.

Trained by Wesley Ward, the Life Is Good bay romped gate-to-wire sprinting 4 1/2-furlongs in her April 8 debut at Keeneland and was prominent again in the Kentucky Juvenile, stopping the clock in 1:00.37 while defeating just two rivals. The winning effort registered a 52 Beyer.

The $200,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale acquisition, a half-sister to dual Grade 3-placed Henry Q, is out of the winning Malibu Moon mare Lunar Empress – a half-sister to Grade 2-placed multiple stakes-winner Aspenglow and multiple stakes-winner Silver Heart.

Jackpot Farm, Alvin Fults and Jason Itkin’s Booked [post 2, Ricardo Santana, Jr.], a $325,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, graduated at second asking on June 7 with a prominent 1 3/4-length score in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden tilt on June 7 at Saratoga.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the Yaupon dark bay broke inward and rallied late to be second in his April 28 debut at Churchill Downs and was last-of-6 early as the Wesley Ward-trained filly Fanshell Beach zipped clear to win by 5 1/4-lengths to book her ticket to Royal Ascot where she finished fifth in the Group 2 Norfolk.

Last out, with returning rider Ricardo Santana, Jr. up, Booked broke inward and brushed with a rival before settling in second position through a half-mile in 45.80. Booked made the lead in upper stretch and drove through the wire under steady urging in a final time of 1:05 flat. The winning effort garnered a field-best 77 Beyer.

The Indiana-bred Booked, out of the Competitive Edge mare Fingerprint, is a half-brother to dual stakes-placed Zadorsky.

Pure Bred Funding’s Goodbye to Romance [post 3, Flavien Prat] enters from a stalking 3 1/4-length score in a five-furlong maiden sprint on May 15 at Belmont at the Big A.

Trained by Jena Antonucci, the Complexity bay exited post 5-of-6 under Ricardo Santana, Jr. and traveled wide down the backstretch before tucking in to travel in third position as Uncleshane reached the half-mile in 46.51. Santana, Jr. asked Goodbye to Romance for his run late in the turn, tipping out six-wide and rallying to take command at the eighth-pole to score in a final time of 59.02. The winning try earned a 63 Beyer.

"We were pleased not only to win, but with how he did it,” Antonucci said. “The professionalism of it was nice and he was geared down at the end. There's lots left in the tank for him and we're looking forward to seeing how he continues to mature and grow as these races get longer.”

Goodbye to Romance worked swiftly from the gate heading into his debut, including a bullet half-mile over the Belmont Park dirt training track in 46.21 that ranked best of 59 efforts at the distance.

"It's who he is, so we try to support him and space things out. We let them be who they are and manage accordingly,” Antonucci said.

Goodbye to Romance has worked back four times at Saratoga, including a trio of efforts over the main track. He recently breezed five-eighths in 1:00.05 on June 26 over the Oklahoma training track.

"We train on the main pretty much every day, so he lives it, breathes it and adjusted really well to it. He's enjoying being up here with the cooler weather,” Antonucci said.

Antonucci will be looking to sweep the juvenile stakes on Opening Weekend at the Spa as she sends out the well-regarded Luminous Beauty in Friday’s Listed $200,000 Schuylerville.

She indicated both are talented prospects and that she’s hopeful Goodbye to Romance’s mature demeanor will serve him well this summer.

"I think, mentally, having a horse that's more adaptable from the get-go is so important that you can handle adversity, if you have it, coming out of the gate and that it's not just a run-and-gun type of situation,” Antonucci said. “He's pretty mature mentally and like the filly [Luminous Beauty], he can do whatever you need him to do.”

Goodbye to Romance was purchased for $50,000 at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training where he breezed in 10.2.

"He's a good, strong colt. A bit more of a Maclean's Music look to him, but he's a very strong-bodied colt,” Antonucci said.

Goodbye to Romance is out of the Curlin mare Beckinsale. His second dam is Downthedustyroad, winner of the 2006 Grade 1 La Brea for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

James Politano and Northeast Racing’s New York-bred Ashcroft Lane [post 7, Dylan Davis] romped to a 9 3/4-length score in a 5 1/2-furlong off-the-turf open maiden tilt on May 24 at Belmont at the Big A.

Trained by Robert Falcone, Jr. with returning rider Dylan Davis up, the Keepmeinmind chestnut exited post 5-of-6 and splashed through sharp splits of 22.73 and 46.31 over the sloppy and sealed footing en route to a dominant score in a final time of 1:04.28. The winning effort earned a 71 Beyer.

Falcone, Jr. said Ashcroft Lane had demonstrated talent in the morning, both getting legged up in Ocala and in early works at Keeneland before his final preps at Saratoga.

"He had trained well all winter in Ocala. Sequel did a great job with him. We sent him to Keeneland, and he had a couple of quick workouts over the dirt. He's naturally quicker anyway but had made a good impression from the get-go,” Falcone, Jr. said. “Shipping over to Aqueduct first time out, you never know until they do it in the afternoon. He put it all together quite easily and showed us in the afternoon what he had shown in the morning.

“He's very quick from the gate,” Falcone, Jr. added. “He's a quick, light-footed horse and gets over the ground good. Exactly what you want with a horse on debut like that.”

Ashcroft Lane has worked back three times over the Oklahoma dirt training track, including a bullet half-mile in 48 flat June 27 in company with Cristobal.

“He worked great. He jumped right into the bridle,” Falcone, Jr. said. “I worked him with an older turf horse of mine that's pretty good. They broke off and he was in hand the whole time doing it very easily. He went the first quarter in 24 and change and came home a shade below 24. He came home strong and did it in hand. He's a horse that doesn't have much wasted action, so I was very happy with the work.”

Falcone, Jr. said added distance shouldn’t be a problem for Ashcroft Lane on Saturday or moving forward.

“He should be able to handle more distance in the future. Hopefully, he shows up Saturday and he's got a big shot,” Falcone, Jr. said.

Ashcroft Lane, out of the winning Into Mischief mare Dame Time, was bred by Sequel Stallions New York and co-owner James Politano.

AMO Racing USA’s Regent’s Park [post 8, John Velazquez] was a frontrunning winner of a 4 1/2-furlong maiden sprint on May 25 at Monmouth Park.

Trained by Jorge Delgado, the Bolt d’Oro colt faced just three rivals over sloppy and sealed footing and drew clear to a 3 1/4-length score in a final time of 52.59 – good for a 56 Beyer.

The $1.4 million acquisition from the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale worked sharply into and out of his debut, including a bullet half-mile in 48 flat on June 20 at Monmouth Park.

Regent’s Park, out of the multiple stakes-placed Speightstown mare Sparked, is a half-brother to the Delgado-trained stakes winner Launch.

Also entered are maiden winner Rasasi [post 9, Tyler Gaffalione] for trainer Antonio Sano; restricted maiden winner Vissino [post 5, Jose Ortiz] for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse; and maiden Jack’s Golden Goal [post 6, Joel Rosario, blinkers ON] for trainer Antonio Arriaga.

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