Saratoga Race Course Notes 7.30.17

by NYRA Press Office

• G2 Jim Dandy winner Good Samaritan in fine fettle
• Always Dreaming exits Jim Dandy in good order for 'proud' Pletcher
• 'Happy horse' Hunter O'Riley exits G2 Bowling Green score in good order; Time and Motion targets G2 Ballston Spa
• Jim Dandy runner-up Giuseppe the Great on to G1 Travers
• Gun Runner puts in final breeze for G1 Whitney
• Travers remains a possibility for allowance winner Fayeq
• Clement readies upcoming stakes contender assignments
• Carina Mia headlines Wednesday's Shine Again

Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy winner Good Samaritan came out of the race in good shape, according to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, and is headed to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 26. The Harlan's Holiday colt's first start on dirt after six career starts on turf worked out well, and now has changed plans for the versatile runner's future.

"He confirmed our belief that he is a very good horse, probably the best 2-year-old grass horse in the country last year," Mott said. "We went into this year thinking maybe he was the best grass 3-year-old, now, I guess, his future for the present times will be on the dirt. I was uncertain what was going to happen. I had to wait and see... I don't think anyone knows for sure what was going to happen. You know, if that was the case, he would not have been 8-1. I thought he might be a bigger price than that. He ran well."

Plans were made to try Good Samaritan on the dirt sooner, but they were abandoned only because of a little bad racing luck.

"If we would have had the opportunity, we would have tried the dirt last fall, but he got banged up in the Breeders' Cup. We didn't get the chance," Mott said. "I was thinking about bringing him back in the Remsen last fall after the Breeders' Cup so we could find out. Then he got banged up and we had to give him time and he wasn't ready to go."

Good Samaritan came from far back to win by 4 ¾ lengths, but the pace of the race was not what the trainer expected.

"I thought there would be more pace. I thought the Preakness winner [Cloud Computing] would be latched on the Derby winner [Always Dreaming]. I thought the horse making his second start [Pavel] would be forcing them, it did not set up exactly the way I thought it would. Once he made the front, I was pretty confident."

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Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming showed no ill effects after setting the pace and fading to third as the favorite in Saturday's Jim Dandy, trainer Todd Pletcher reported Sunday morning.

"He was very sound and seemed to be in good order," Pletcher said of the son of Bodemeister, who was making his first start since finishing eighth in the Grade 1 Preakness May 20 at Pimlico Race Course.

It was the second straight defeat for Always Dreaming after reeling off four straight victories including the Grade 1 Florida Derby April 1 at Gulfstream Park in his stakes debut. Under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, he raced through sensible fractions of 24.13 and 48.53 seconds and 1:13.27 and took a short lead into the stretch before giving way, beaten 5 ¼ lengths by Good Samaritan.

"He broke brilliantly and actually was like half a length in front immediately and kind of took the lead from there. Johnny said even though the fractions were pretty reasonable he felt like he was just a little bit keen," Pletcher said. "He hadn't run in over two months and I think that was probably part of it. The racetrack is playing pretty demanding right now, especially in two-turn races, so I think that might have contributed a little bit.

"I was proud of him from the quarter pole to the wire, he kept digging in and kept fighting and he actually galloped out pretty well back in front after the wire," he added. "We'll see how he trains and take it from there."

Always Dreaming remains among one of several Pletcher-trained horses under consideration for the Grade 1 Travers August 26 along with Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit, who is training up to the race; Patch, third in the Belmont and running next in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby August 5; and Outplay, impressive winner of the 1 1/8-mile Curlin July 28 at Saratoga.

"We have some decisions to make and plenty of time to figure it out and see how they're training," Pletcher said. "Hopefully we have the same problem four weeks from now."

The Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on the Travers Day undercard is possible for the undefeated Coal Front, a front-running 1 ½-length winner of the Grade 2 Amsterdam on Saturday in just his third career start and stakes debut.

"We've always been impressed by the horse. He's always trained very well," Pletcher said. "His first two starts we thought were pretty impressive so we were happy to see his performance but I can't say we were surprised by it.

"The Allen Jerkens would certainly be a consideration but we've also talked about possibly stretching him out at some point," he added. "We'll monitor how he's training after this race and see what makes the most sense for his next start."

Pletcher said Keen Ice remains on target for the Grade 1, $1.2 million Whitney August 5. An upset winner of the Grade 2 Suburban July 8 at Belmont Park in his last start, the 5-year-old son of Hall of Famer Curlin worked a half-mile in 49.09 seconds over Saratoga's main track Saturday morning.

"He came out the work excellent," he said. "He's ready to go." 

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Hunter O'Riley came out of his impressive win in the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green in good order, trainer Jimmy Toner said Sunday morning outside his barn.

"He came back very good, he's very happy I'm very proud of him," Toner said. 

The 4-year-old son of Tiz Wonderful rallied from last to beat Bigger Picture by a neck, notching his first stakes win. Ridden by jockey Florent Geroux, Hunter O'Riley registered a personal-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

"I saw him making his move and I thought he could get a piece of it, but as he came on, I was trying to figure out if he could get second or third," Toner said. "All of a sudden, he won. I just watched him pass one by one. For him to get up and win like that, it was very exciting."

Hunter O'Riley was actually cutting back to the Bowling Green distance of 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf after previously running at two miles in a fifth-place effort in the Grade 3 Belmont Gold Cup on June 9.

"He tries hard every time he runs and gives you everything," Toner said. "The problem with two-mile races is the [competition]. Last time there were four European horses in front of him. They're used to that type of racing and slow it down. They're kicking, but they kick off in front of him, so it's hard to catch them. Yesterday, there was enough legitimate pace where he was able to make his run."

Toner said Hunter O'Riley has relished training at Saratoga. That comfort with the track was evident with the late surge that Toner said he had in 22 4/5 seconds to help him capture his first stakes victory.

"You come up with 22-and-4, that's a pretty good move," Toner said. "He's done well since he's come up here. He loves the track and had been training good. He's a neat horse to be around. He's just a happy horse. He's always so giving and willing; he's a lunch-pail kind of a guy. He loves to do his job and loves his training."

Time and Motion breezed Saturday in preparation for the Grade 2, $400,000 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa on Travers Day, August 26. The Phillips Racing Partnership homebred was clocked going four furlongs in 49.45 seconds on the Oklahoma turf track in her first breeze since finishing third in the Grade 3 Modesty Handicap on July 8 at Arlington.

"She breezed really nice yesterday; she looks good and came out of her last race in Chicago in good order," Toner said. "We want to try something different. We know the Ballston Spa is a mile-and-a-sixteenth [on the turf], but we want to run and it looks like the ideal place to go."

Time and Motion won her last start at the Spa, capturing the 2016 Grade 2 Lake Placid for her first graded stakes victory. The 4-year-old daughter of Tapit has finished on the board in eight of her last 10 starts, including a win in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October 2016.

Violet Blue, a 3-year-old filly who made her stakes debut with a ninth-place finish in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 8, will gain class relief in running against allowance company on Wednesday in Race 8.

"She's training well and had a nice workout the other day, so we expect a good effort out of her," Toner said.

*         *         *

Mossarosa's Giuseppe the Great was a little tired but in his usual playful, biting mood on Sunday morning following his closing second-place finish in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy. Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito was also in a good mood, but had mixed emotions following morning training.

"This is like a bitter thing," Zito said. "I asked God to forgive me this morning because you've got to be elated to have a wonderful horse like this, and have the chance to go forward. Then I looked it over, and I said well how many times can you beat a Derby winner a Preakness winner, some horse from California and not win the race with a five-horse field. It shows you that racing is unbelievable. You have to beat them home, right or wrong?"

The colt by Lookin At Lucky ran in his third graded race, finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Dwyer after his second-place finish in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens. Now he has the chance to run in the famed Mid-Summer Derby on August 26.

"You know, he ran second, but I think if Always Dreaming won or Cloud Computing? That's what shows me my theory is right. If you don't run you can't lose, if you're not in it you can't win it," Zito said. "The only thing I was a little concerned with is that I removed the blinkers, but it didn't matter. He was consistent, and the reason I did that was he was keen leaving the gate. [Jockey] Luis [Saez] did a great job. He left the gate he was keen. Then he put him behind horses, but he could've went up forward, so I was happy. One thing is he's a fighter. He will run. He will get the distance. He'll get the mile and a quarter. If he has a couple of great weeks, he's in the Travers. Period.

"He's a very intriguing horse," he added. "[He's run] six, six and a half, seven eights, a mile, now a mile and an eighth. He's just improving with everything you do. He's very consistent. If you say you're going to be second in the Travers, where do we sign, right?"

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Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap winner Gun Runner breezed a half-mile in 49.33 seconds Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course, wrapping up his major preparations for next Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney.

Hitting the Oklahoma training track at 6 a.m., the 4-year-old chestnut colt by Candy Ride worked four furlongs, covering the first eighth of a mile in 12 4/5 seconds and the quarter in 25 1/5, according to NYRA clockers. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:03 1/5.

"I thought he worked good; he always works well," said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. "He's a nice horse and [it was] more of the same. He's a very generous workhorse. The weather's been ideal, I think we've been lucky with it so far. Obviously, there's a pretty good chance of rain for the Whitney but that's out of our hands. We'll see how he handles everything."

Gun Runner is exiting a seven-length victory in the Foster on June 17 at Churchill Downs, his first race back since finishing second to Arrogate in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in March. 

Winner of the Grade 2 Risen Star and Louisiana Derby on the 2016 Triple Crown trail, he finished third in the Kentucky Derby that May and ultimately closed out his sophomore campaign with his first Grade 1 victory in the Clark Handicap last fall following a runner-up finish in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. Gun Runner kicked off his year with a front running 5 ¾-length score in the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn in February.

One of five stakes on tap for August 5, including the Grade 1, $500,000 Test for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs, the Whitney is also expected to attract Keen Ice, the recent three-length winner of the Grade 2 Suburban on July 8 at Belmont Park; Breaking Lucky, third in the Foster last time out; and a Loooch Racing Stables-owned pair in Cautious Giant, last-out winner of a six-furlong optional claimer at Thistledown, and Grade 2 Brooklyn winner War Story.

*         *         *

Good Samaritan's upset of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners in Saturday's Jim Dandy gave the connections of impressive recent allowance winner Fayeq even more reason to look at the Travers.

The 1 ¼-mile Mid-Summer Derby would mark the stakes debut for Shadwell Stable's Fayeq, a bay Malibu Moon colt who broke his maiden June 11 at Belmont Park before coming from off the pace for a 3 ½-length triumph July 26 at Saratoga in 1:51.19 for 1 1/8 miles.

"We are going to look at it," trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said of the half-brother to Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra Sunday morning. "We haven't gotten the OK from the boss, but we're sure going to look at it strong."

Making his first start on dirt after opening his career with six straight on the turf, Good Samaritan passed Derby winner Always Dreaming and Preakness winner Cloud Computing in his last-to-first move down the stretch to win by 4 ¾ lengths. Behind him, his four rivals were separated by less than a length combined.

"The winner was impressive, first time dirt. And the other four were within a half a length of each other, so it gives hope to everybody," McLaughlin said. "The Travers might have gone from a nine-horse field to a 14-horse field."

Shadwell's multiple graded stakes winner Mohaymen remains at Belmont Park where he breezed a half-mile over the training track July 28 in 50.85 seconds. It was his first breeze after running sixth in an optional claiming allowance July 14 at Belmont, his turf debut.

The connections are still discussing options for the Tapit colt, a $2.2 million yearling, including staying on turf, returning to dirt or going off to a stud career.

"We're not sure what we're doing with him," McLaughlin said, "but he's still in training."

McLaughlin is searching for a spot for Zilla Racing Stables' Celtic Chaos, upset winner of the 6 ½-furlong John Morrissey for New York-breds July 27 by a neck, his third consecutive victory and second straight in state-bred stakes company.

"It was a nice win," he said. "He's doing great. We don't really have a good spot back for him. The next New York-bred sprint is October 21. We have to find something else, and we will. We're working on it."

*         *         *

With jockey Kendrick Carmouche aboard, multiple graded stakes winner Pure Sensation visited the Oklahoma training track Sunday morning, breezing three furlongs in 36.12 seconds for his first workout since winning the Grade 3 Parx Dash by 5 ¾ lengths on July 8. 

Trainer Christophe Clement reported that Patricia Generazio's homebred 6-year-old Zensational gelding is on target for next Sunday's $250,000 Troy Handicap.

Generazio's graded stakes winner Disco Partner worked in company with Grade 2 Penn Mile hero Frostmourne, going five furlongs in 1:01.55 over the Oklahoma turf course. 

A 5-year-old New York-bred by Disco Rico, Disco Partner successfully stretched out to a mile in the Forbidden Apple on July 15 at Belmont, following his impressive Grade 3 Jaipur Invitational victory in world record time for six furlongs on the turf. Disco Partner remains on target for the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap on August 12, while Frostmourne is under consideration for either the Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington Park on August 12 or the Grade 3, $300,000 Saranac at the Spa on September 2.

Lastly, Clement said multiple graded stakes-placed Governor Malibu, who last out finished fourth in the Grade 2 Brooklyn Invitational, is under consideration to run in the $100,000 Alydar on Sunday, August 6.

*         *         *

Three Chimneys Farm's Carina Mia will look to capitalize on some class relief in her first start for trainer Chad Brown as part of a field of 10 fillies and mares 4-years-old and up in Wednesday's $100,000 Shine Again at seven furlongs on Saratoga Race Course's main track.

Carina Mia enters having run in seven consecutive Grade 1 races while under the care of Hall of Famer Bill Mott, including a win in the 2016 Acorn. The 4-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 10, Belmont Stakes Day, and has registered 90-or-better Beyers in seven of her last right races.

In the third race following a freshening after the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint that capped her 2016 campaign, Carina Mia will break from post 3 with Javier Castellano aboard.

Fellow Brown trainee Going for Broke will make her first appearance at the races since a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Comely on November 26 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The 4-year-old will be running at the Spa for the first time since a runner-up effort in the Grade 1 Alabama on August 20.

Going for Broke, 3-2-1 from seven starts, will be cutting back to the Shine Again distance after his last four starts coming in routes of greater than a mile. Irad Ortiz, Jr. will leave from the rail.

Indulgent will also drop down in class for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. After a troubled trip in the Grade 3 Bed o' Roses, the 4-year-old daughter of Bernardini will look to recapture the form that led to a runner-up performance in the Grade 3 Distaff Handicap on April 7 at Aqueduct. Luis Saez will be in the irons from post 2.

Graded stakes veteran Birdatthewire, for trainer Tom Proctor, will be seeking his first win since the 2015 Grade 1 La Brea. Her last start at Saratoga saw her overcome a sluggish start to finish fourth in the Grade 1 Ballerina on August 27. Jockey Jose Ortiz has the call from post 6.

Zito will saddle Wheatfield, who had made five straight graded stakes starts, getting a piece of the purse in running second to Distina in the Grade 2 Inside Information on March 18 at Gulfstream Park. Exiting the outside post, the 5-year-old will have the services of jockey Tyler Gaffalione.

Rounding out the field is Repole Stable's Clipthecouponannie, a Pletcher trainee who will break from post 7 with Hall of Famer John Velazquez; Discreet Senorita, for trainer David Jacobson, from post 4 with Ricardo Santana, Jr. aboard, Momameamaria, a 5-year-old Quality Road mare for trainer David Cannizzo from post 8; Absatootly, fresh off a second-place output in the Dancin Renee, out of post 5 for trainer Charlie Baker; and Pawleys Express, making her takes debut for trainer Ralph Nicks out of post 9.