Francesca Le Donne Photo

Saratoga Race Course Notes 7.23.17

by NYRA Press Office

• Gun Runner blazes through five-furlong work for G1 Whitney
• Brown lauds Lady Eli's heroic G1 Diana win; Paid Up Subscriber on point for G3 Shuvee
• G1-placed Libby's Tail begins comeback in Monday allowance
• Pletcher exploring options for impressive maiden winner Mr. Crow
• Sadler's Joy getting comfortable at Spa before G2 Bowling Green
• Monday's Hay, Oats and Spaghetti fundraiser to benefit Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimney's Gun Runner turned in his penultimate work Sunday morning for the Grade 1, $1.2 million Whitney on August 5, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.01 over the main track at Saratoga Race Course.

With regular jockey Florent Geroux aboard, Gun Runner was the fastest of 16 at the distance. NYRA clockers caught the 4-year-old Candy Ride colt in company through a quarter-mile in 24 1/5 seconds, three-eighths in 36 1/5, and a half in 48. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:12 3/5 and out seven in 1:26 1/5.

"He looked very good working this morning," said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. "He's trained brilliantly all year long and it looked like more of the same to me. Florent had him nice and relaxed off [his workmate] early and he took over around the turn and finished through the wire really well."

The move was the fourth local breeze for Gun Runner, who arrived at the Spa following his seven-length victory in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 17 at Churchill Downs, his first race since finishing second to Arrogate in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in March.

As a 3-year-old, the chestnut colt was a noticeable contender on the 2016 Triple Crown trail, tallying back-to-back Grade 2 wins in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds before finishing third to Nyquist in the Kentucky Derby. Gun Runner hasn't finished worse than third in seven starts following his troubled fifth-place effort in last year's Grade 1 Haskell, including his first Grade 1 victory in the Clark Handicap last November, where he bested a field of older horses with a 2 ¾-length victory to close out his sophomore campaign.

"He was a very nice horse as a 3-year-old and reached a different level this year and hopefully it'll continue," said Asmussen. "Obviously, we have very big plans for him and we were very happy to see him win the Foster for his first race off the layoff.

"We've always been extremely high on him," he added. "Derby week, we thought we had a pretty good chance of winning the Derby. Horses of that quality are very special to begin with and I thought he ran some solid races last year. He did achieve his first Grade 1 win in the Clark last year, and I do think that with a little break and some spacing this year, he's just a little faster horse."

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With three wins on Saturday's card, including Lady Eli's triumphant return to the Saratoga winner's circle with her game victory in the Grade 1 Diana, trainer Chad Brown was in good spirits at his barn Sunday morning.

Lady Eli's victory, her first at the Spa since her maiden-breaking debut in August of 2014, was not without its tense moments, as Lady Eli and fellow Brown traineeAntonoe broke through the starting gate prematurely, delaying the race for a few anxious minutes before being cleared to run and finish first and third, respectively.

"It's not what you want to see in any race," said Brown. "You've got horses leaving the gate [early], that's nothing a trainer wants to see, but fortunately, both horses overcame it and ran terrific."

Reporting that both runners exited the race in good shape, Brown wasn't hesitant to say yesterday's win may have been Lady Eli's best race to date.

"She really dug down deep and put her nose on the wire first," said Brown. "Ran down a horse that's giving eight pounds to her that was on the lead and on the fence the whole way saving ground. In light of the gate [incident], weight, going wide and still overcoming, it's probably her best performance."

Multiple graded stakes winner Paid Up Subscriber, who last out ran a game second to Songbird in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 17 at Belmont Park, visited the main track this morning with a bullet-earning half-mile breeze. The 5-year-old daughter of Candy Ride covered the distance in 47.89 seconds, her final preparation for the Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee on Sunday, July 30.

"She worked terrific," said Brown. "Her final work was this morning and she's on target for the Shuvee."

Lastly, Brown reported that multiple graded stakes turf runner Wake Forest was given a freshening following his last workout at Belmont on July 16 with the hopes of returning in the fall.

"He's been in constant training for quite a while now," said Brown. "He's been a really good horse to us, so we are going to take care of him and give him a couple months' rest at the farm and let him work on a couple minor things we found. Hopefully, he comes back and can continue his career, later in the year or next year."

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Libby's Tail, beaten a head in the Grade 1 Frizette last fall at Belmont Park, will end her 7 ½-month break between races in Monday's third race, an $85,000 entry-level allowance set for seven furlongs on the main track.

The 3-year-old daughter of Tiz Wonderful drew the rail in a field of six that includes her Rudy Rodriguez-trained stablemate, Michael J. Ryan's Colorful Charades, who finished third in the Frizette.

Libby's Tail was fourth in the Grade 2 Adirondack at Saratoga last summer in her second career start that preceded the Frizette, where she led from the gate to deep stretch before falling a head short of Yellow Agate at the wire. Fourth in the Grade 2 Demoiselle after pressing the pace, she opened 2017 finishing second as the favorite in the 1-mile, 70-yard Busanda over Aqueduct's inner track.

"She hasn't run for a while. I'm just hoping for her. I'm not sure if she'll bring the form from last year to this year," Rodriguez said. "She didn't grow much and she looks about the same. I'm just hoping for the best from her. She's training very good, but I would like to see a little bit more from her.

"It's seven furlongs, but we just want to get her started and see where we are," he added. "It took me a long time to get her back. Her weight is good and her color is good. Hopefully she runs well in the race and it wakes her up a little bit."

Rodriguez got his Saratoga summer off to a fast start, running first and second in the first race of the meet with Indycott and River Date, respectively. The 45-year-old trainer, two wins shy of 900 for his career, has been among the meet leaders each of the past two years, ranking fourth with 12 wins in 2016 and fifth with 15 in 2015, with combined purse earnings of nearly $2 million.

"I hope it's not the last winner," Rodriguez said. "The horses belonged in that spot. I am grateful to train for owners that just want to win races and let you put the horses where they can be competitive. Plus, they want to win at Saratoga. To win the first race at Saratoga is a relief. You can relax a little bit. But, it's a very, very difficult place to win a race. You've got horses from all over the country and everyone wants to come and win at Saratoga. It's very, very tough."

Rodriguez will be well-represented in Spa stakes over the next several days with Eye Luv Lulu in Thursday's $100,000 John Morrissey for state-breds, Everybodyluvsrudy in Friday's $100,000 Curlin and Toga Challenger in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam.

He said Bonita Bianca, winner of Saturday's New York Oaks at Finger Lakes, would likely run back at Saratoga in the $200,000 Fleet Indian for 3-year-old state-bred fillies at 1 1/8 miles August 25.

"She's nice. We were kind of disappointed the way she ran at Monmouth Park but that's a speed-favoring track and she's always way behind," Rodriguez said. "We put on blinkers to get her a little closer in her last couple races and it looked like it worked. I think she's looking for a mile and an eighth and this track is a little more fair for everybody. It's deeper and they come from the back and they run on the front. A mile and an eighth, not too many horses want to go two turns so against New York-breds I think we'll be very competitive."

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Twelve-time Saratoga training champion Todd Pletcher earned his first victory of the summer meet in impressive fashion Saturday when KRA Stud Farm's Mr. Crow went gate-to-wire to break his maiden by 11 ½ lengths.

It was the second start for the bay Tapizar colt, beaten a neck in his unveiling June 24 at Belmont Park, a race where he broke poorly from his outside post and came with a late rally but fell a neck short at odds of 11-1.

He had no such trouble second time out, drawing the rail and breaking alertly to set splits of 22.97, 45.90 and 57.84 seconds before hitting the wire in 1:09.64 for six furlongs over a fast main track.

"I wasn't sure if he'd be on the lead yesterday. We were thinking he'd have an improved break, which compromised his chances first time out," Pletcher said. "He seemed to break much sharper yesterday and didn't have to be used hard to do that. He's a pretty naturally fast horse."

Pletcher said he has yet to settle on the next start for Mr. Crow, a $150,000 purchase at Ocala's 2-year-old in training sale in March.

"We'll just see how he comes out of it and how he trains and decide," he said. "He's still got a lot of allowance conditions left, so we'll look around."

Pletcher said he was pleased with the way Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming exited his five-furlong work in 1:01.71 over the Oklahoma training track Saturday morning, his final breeze before the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy July 29.

"Excellent," he said. "Everything's gone according to plan. He's had a couple of good breezes up here, so I think we're all set."

Among Pletcher's workers Sunday were stakes winner Syndergaard and multiple graded stakes-placed Neolithic, who breezed five furlongs together in 1:00.10 on the Oklahoma, the fastest of eight horses at the distance.

Pletcher is undecided on the next spots for both horses. Syndergaard, winner of the Funny Cide last summer at Saratoga and second in the Grade 1 Champagne, is 0-for-2 this year, most recently finishing second in the May 29 Mike Lee at Finger Lakes against fellow New York-breds.

Neolithic has had four breezes since late June at Saratoga for his return. He finished third to Arrogate in his only two starts this year, the Grade 1, $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational January 28 at Gulfstream Park and the Group 1, $10 million Dubai World Cup March 28 at Meydan - banking $1 million in purse earnings for each race.

"I thought they both looked good this morning," Pletcher said. "They've been up here for a little while. Neolithic went to WinStar for a little freshening after he came back from Dubai, and once he came into full training he came here and is doing well."

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Sadler's Joy has been adjusting well to Saratoga after shipping from Belmont Park, trainer Tom Albertrani said Sunday morning. The 4-year-old son of Kitten's Joy is expected to run in the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green at 1 3/8 miles on the turf on Saturday.

"He came out great and is doing really well; he's here and is settling in great," Albertrani said from his barn. "He's been galloping great. I'll probably squeeze another work in before the race but he'll maintain galloping into Saturday."

Sadler's Joy put in his last breeze at Belmont on Wednesday, going five furlongs in 1:03.61 on the main track. Owned by Woodslane Farm, Sadler's Joy has been consistent since moving up to graded stakes company in January, hitting the board in all four starts, including a win by a head over Designed for War in the Grade 2 Pan American on April 1 at Gulfstream Park.

Back-to-back strong performances at Belmont will propel Sadler's Joy into a Bowling Green field that is expected to include Ascend, Closing Bell, Bigger Picture, Frank Conversation and St. Louie, among others.  

Last out, Sadler's Joy rallied from seventh in the stretch to finish third in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Manhattan on Belmont Stakes Day, June 10. He also finished third in the Grade 1 Man o' War on May 13.

"He runs hard every time he goes out there, so we're looking forward to stretching him out a little more," Albertrani said.

Albertrani said Hemsworth is likely for the $100,000 Curlin at 1 1/8 miles on the main track on Friday. Hemsworth capped his 2-year-old campaign with a win in the 2016 Grade 2 Nashua at Aqueduct Racetrack and will be returning to stakes competition after a third-place effort against allowance company on April 28 at Belmont.

"We'll take a look at that race. I didn't have a definite plan for him but he's been training well," he said. "We'll see what shows up with the field and take a shot in there, probably."

Ready for Rye could make his return to stakes company in either the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap on Saturday or the $250,000 Troy Handicap on August 6, Albertrani said.

"He's doing really well and he's ready to go, it's just a matter of which race we decide on," he said.

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On Monday, The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation will host its fifth annual Hay, Oats and Spaghetti fundraising dinner at Bravo! restaurant in Saratoga Springs.

Catered by Lauren and Giuseppe Grisio, the owners of Mama Mia's Restaurant, the event celebrates the beginning of the track season, welcoming the horse industry to Saratoga to celebrate 34 years of saving racehorses. The event will include prizes including a silent auction and a photo booth.

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $85 each with all proceeds going to the TRF. For more information, visit the TRF website athttp://www.trfinc.org/event/hayoats2017/.