Francesca Le Donne Photo

Saratoga Race Course Notes 8.18.17

by NYRA Press Office

• Pletcher triumvirate beats the rain in final G1 Travers preps
• Gunnevera drills five furlongs for Travers
• 'No excuses' for Mind Your Biscuits, on to G1 Forego
• Giuseppe the Great puts in final breeze for Travers
• Beasley back in action with Thursday allowance win
• Mott still contemplating final breeze for Good Samaritan
• 'Versatile' Verve's Tale looks to rebound in Summer Colony
• Week 6 stakes probables

Trainer Todd Pletcher saw three of his potential starters in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers breeze early Friday morning, with Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming going four furlongs in 49.60 seconds on the Oklahoma training track in company with Outplay and Belmont Stakes-winner Tapwrit also working a half-mile on the same track in 50.24 seconds.

Always Dreaming, ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, breezed for the third time on the training tack since finishing third in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 29. Outplay, the winner of the Curlin July 28 at the Spa, was officially clocked in 49.99 seconds.

“We were just looking for a good, positive work,” Pletcher said. “They both ran Jim Dandy weekend and breezed well last week, so we just wanted a good indication that they are maintaining form and doing well. I thought they both finished up extremely well and galloped out strongly; all the things you were hoping to see.”

The set worked right before heavy rain fell, with Always Dreaming starting behind Outplay and closed strongly to catch his workmate at the wire.

“He started off about a length and a half behind. Johnny was able to bide his time and move up to him. I had him the last quarter in 23 and 2/5, finishing up strongly and galloping out well,” Pletcher said.

Always Dreaming finished 5 ¼ lengths behind Jim Dandy-winner Good Samaritan last out going 1 1/8 miles. The Travers, presented by NYRA Bets, is contested at 1 ¼ miles. Pletcher said the main track could play faster for the Mid-Summer Derby.

“I would expect an improved performance because he’s now had a mile and eighth race under his belt,” Pletcher said. “Right now, if the track continues to play the way it is currently, it’s definitely tighter than it was Jim Dandy weekend. I would say it’s playing at least a second to a second and a half faster at a mile and an eighth than it did at that time. In retrospect, [with] the freshening we gave Always Dreaming between the Preakness and the Jim Dandy, we were expecting the more traditional, livelier Saratoga track.”

Always Dreaming is 4-1-2 in eight career starts and has raced just once since finishing eighth in the Preakness on May 20.

“I think we’re coming into the [Travers] with a fresh, fit horse who has given every indication that he’s in good form,” Pletcher said. “I think the time has agreed with him and we’ve gotten enough out of his training, hopefully ready to fire his best race.”

Outplay, owned by Repole Stable, would be making his graded stakes debut after posting a 5 ¾-length score in the Curlin, which followed a third-place finish in his first stakes start in the Easy Goer on June 10 at Belmont Park.

“I’ll talk to Mr. [Mike] Repole and, first of all, determine if we’re going to run Outplay here or in the Pennsylvania Derby,” Pletcher said. “I think Outplay has really progressed. The Curlin was a big win for him; the way he did it was great and the way he’s training since then has been even better.”

Tapwrit worked in company with Lucy N Ethel, marking his fifth work at Saratoga since winning the Belmont by two lengths. The Tapit colt also was able to finish his set before the rain came in.

“I thought he looked good, Pletcher said. “The track was playing fair, it wasn’t super fast but it was in good shape. We got lucky that we missed most of the rain and this track can handle moisture very well.”

Pletcher has two career Travers wins to his credit, saddling Flower Alley in 2005 and Stay Thirsty in 2011.

*         *         *

Salomon del Valle’s multiple graded stakes winner Gunnevera wrapped up his major preparations for next weekend’s Travers with a five-furlong breeze at Gulfstream Park West for trainer Antonio Sano.

Gunnevera covered five furlongs in 1:00 under jockey Edgard Zayas, the fastest of four at the distance. It was the first breeze for the 3-year-old Dialed In colt since making his successful comeback in the Tangelo, in which he geared down to win by five lengths with Zayas aboard on August 6.

“He was very relaxed, just an easy work,” said Sano. “He doesn’t need much, just maintenance. He’s ready. We only want to keep him happy.

“He’s really, really good and we’re very happy with him,” he added. “He looks the way he looked before he won the Fountain of Youth.”

In his only previous start at the Spa, Gunnevera won the Grade 2 Saratoga Special as a 2-year-old, eventually closing out his season with a win in the Grade 3 Delta Jackpot.

At 3, the chestnut colt was an early contender on the Triple Crown trail, opening his sophomore campaign with a runner-up finish to Irish War Cry in the Grade 2 Holy Bull in February before posting a 5 ¾-length victory in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on March 4. Gunnevera was third as the even-money favorite in the Grade 1 Florida Derby the following month before finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby and fifth in the Preakness.

Gunnevera will van up from Florida on Friday evening and is expected to settle in at Saratoga on Sunday.

*         *         *

Mind Your Biscuits is officially on track for the Grade 1, $600,000 Forego on Travers Day following his half-mile breeze over the Oklahoma training track Friday morning. Trained by Chad Summers, the multiple graded stakes winner wore blinkers for the move, going in 49.70 seconds under regular rider Joel Rosario.

“I thought he looked great,” said Summers. “It was the work we needed to go forward to the Forego. He galloped out [five furlongs] 1:02 and [six furlongs] in 1:14, which is really good, especially on that Oklahoma track. He really got over it well.

“Joel is happy and I’m happy,” he added. “It was kind of a ‘no excuses’ work. I wanted to make sure that he’d be into the bit and like Bill Belichick says, ‘no excuses.’”

Awarded the 2016 New York-bred Horse of the Year by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, the son of Posse began his 2017 season with a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes before going on to win the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse and the Grade 2 Belmont Sprint Championship last out on July 8.

Mind Your Biscuits earned his first graded stakes victory last summer at Saratoga Race Course in the Grade 2 Amsterdam.

*         *         *

Mossarosa’s Giuseppe the Great is primed for next Saturday’s Grade 1 Travers, according to Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito. The Lookin At Lucky colt worked four furlongs in 48.80 seconds over the Oklahoma training track labeled as fast on Friday morning in between raindrops thanks to some luck and planning by Zito.

“I was lucky; I was going to wait until tomorrow,” said Zito. “I scheduled the work today or tomorrow with the weather, and there was a deluge at 6:30 and then all of a sudden it stops.”

Zito said Friday’s breeze reinforced his confidence in Giuseppe the Great, who finished second-place in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 29, to take the colt to the 148th Travers, a race he won in 2004 with Birdstone.

“It was great, he does everything,” he said. “When they say ‘professional,’ that’s all he wants to do. He just does what he has to do, and that’s why he’s so consistent. There are plenty of non-believers. I’m a believer in him. I’m not even hoping for hope, I’m pretty confident in what I’ve got because he runs good all the time, he tries all the time, and I tell you he really passed the test last time.”

The only off-the-board finish through seven starts came in the Grade 3 Dwyer when he faded late and settled for fourth. Previously, Giuseppe the Great ran a strong second to American Anthem in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens on the Belmont Stakes Day undercard.

*         *         *

Lee Lewis and Mark Grier’s talented Beasley ended his five-month absence from the races with a game victory against older horses in Thursday’s sixth race, a six-furlong allowance, for trainer Mark Hennig.

The race was the first for Beasley, a promising 3-year-old colt by Shackleford, since finishing fifth in his stakes debut in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 11, his only off-the-board finish in five career starts. He won his unveiling at Aqueduct Racetrack in December of his juvenile year and started his 2017 campaign with a pair of runner-up finishes against allowance company, including a second-place effort to the well-regarded Battalion Runner prior to the Tampa Bay Derby on February 3.

Hennig said Beasley emerged from the Tampa Bay Derby with a small chip in his ankle he had to have removed, knocking him off of the Triple Crown trail this spring.

“Sometimes it’s a blessing to get one off of the Derby trail, even if it hurts at the time,” said Hennig. “We felt like he was a talented horse, but he definitely wasn’t quite right coming out of the Tampa race and I assume that hampered his effort that day. He’s had time to mature and he seems to have come back really strong, so hopefully he can make up for some lost time through the rest of the year and next year.”

In Thursday’s race, Beasley bobbled at the break and settled towards the back of the field and rallied five-wide into the stretch to catch the favorite Hard Scramble by a nose.

“I really thought the race was a little short for him and with the trip that he got and the way the track was playing, I thought he ran super,” he said. “He overcame a little bit of a bias and had to go pretty wide, so we were really happy with it. He had been training very well and we were definitely expecting a big effort. He’s always been a horse with a lot of presence and ability. He was just one of those young horses you look forward to.”

Plans for Beasley’s next start are undecided, said Hennig, who added that the colt will likely stretch out in distance.

“He’s got some allowance conditions we can use, but we weren’t planning ahead,” he said. “One race at a time.”

*         *         *

Grade 2 Jim Dandy winner Good Samaritan is still on schedule to work towards the Grade 1 Travers this weekend, according to trainer Bill Mott, but the time and day depends on whether the weather cooperates.

“Tomorrow or Sunday,” Mott said. “But, it has to do with the weather of course.”

The Harlan’s Holiday colt kicked off his 2-year-old campaign with a win at first asking routing over the turf at Saratoga, then returned to win the Grade 2 Summer Stakes at Woodbine.

After his third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf to end the year, Good Samaritan returned with a late running second place finish in the Grade 2 American Turf at Churchill Downs to start his 3-year-old season. His second-place finish in the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge and a fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby led him to the Jim Dandy where he beat four others including Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming, and Preakness winner Cloud Computing in his first try on dirt.

Good Samaritan’s 4 ¾-length victory in the Jim Dandy put Mott’s runner on the map as far as 3-year-old champion of the year, but the Hall of Fame conditioner won’t give a definitive answer on which horse he would pick for the spot.

“I think if you had to pick the champion 3-year-old right now, who would you pick? It’s a big question. I mean we knocked off the Derby winner and the Preakness winner, but the year is only half over.”

*         *         *

Charles E. Fipke’s Verve’s Tale leads a field of seven in the $100,000 Summer Colony at 1 ⅛ miles for fillies and mares on Sunday at Saratoga Race Course, looking to capitalize on some class relief after making five straight starts against graded stakes company for trainer Barclay Tagg.

Winner of the Grade 3 Comely last fall, the 4-year-old daughter of Tale of Ekati finished fifth last time out in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on Belmont Stakes day and is looking for a win on the main track this weekend.

On Wednesday, she put in her fourth local breeze, working a half mile in company in 49.78 seconds.

“We worked her with another horse, and we thought she worked really well,” said Tagg. “She seems to like the track here. She trains well on it.”

“She needs to win some races,” he added. “She’s fairly versatile. I think she sat in the middle somewhere [in the Ogden Phipps], but I think she can be a little further back and make her run but we will see. You never know what they are going to do.”

Jose Ortiz has the mount and will break from the rail.

The winner of the 2016 Summer Colony, Rachel’s Temper, will look to repeat in this year’s edition, making her second start following a nine-month break.

“She needed her last race off the layoff,” said trainer David Cannizzo. “Since then, she’s trained very aggressive, and forward. She should run big. She loves this surface, and loves this track. She’s doing great.”

Joel Rosario will be in the saddle, leaving from post 6.

Merriebelle Stable’s Argentinian-bred filly Blue Prize will run in her first stakes at Saratoga with jockey James Graham aboard from post 5. A Group 1 winner in South America, the Ignacio Correas IV-trained chestnut filly by Pure Prize has two wins and four seconds in six starts.

Waterford Stable’s Going for Broke, who was the runner up in the Shine Again on August 2, will break from post 2 with jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard for trainer Chad Brown.

Rounding out the field is Fuhriously Kissed, for trainer Ian Wilkes with jockey Julien Leparoux aboard who breaks from post 3; Romantic Vision for trainer Rusty Arnold with Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano breaking from post 4; and Annie Rocks will leave from post 7 with Angel Arroyo aboard for trainer Carlos Martin.

*         *         *

The $100,000 John’s Call – Wednesday, August 23

Probable: Infinite Wisdom (Brian Lynch); Mr Singh (Elizabeth Voss); Nessy (Ian Wilkes); Renown (E. Voss); Risky Sour (Leslie Young)
Possible: Montclair (George Weaver); St. Louie (Michael Maker)

Thursday, August 24:
Grade 1, $150,000 New York Turf Writers Cup
Probable: Alcazar De Maram (Jonathan Sheppard); All The Way Jose (J. Sheppard); Casino Markets (Emma Lavelle); Choral Society (Jack Fisher); Colla Pier (David Dune); Diplomat (Kate Dalton); Modem (Voss); Mr. Hot Stuff (J. Fisher); Portrade (E. Voss); Show Court (Archibald Kingsley Jr.); Swansea Mile (Richard Hendriks); Three Kingdoms (Weaver)
Possible: Charminster (Cyril Murphy)

The $100,000 Riskaverse
Probable: Cherry Lodge (Todd Pletcher); Chubby Star (Horacio DePaz); Defiant Honor (James Toner); Fizzy Friday (Ignacio Corrcas, IV); Jordan’s Henny (Michael Tomlinson); Let It Ride Mom (Mark Casse); Lido (Kiaran McLaughlin); No More Babies (Philip Bauer); Scheme (H. James Bond); Talaaqy (K. McLaughlin)


“New York Showcase Day” - Friday, August 25:
The $250,000 Albany
Probable: Broken Engagement (Rudy Rodriguez); Can You Diggit (James Jerkens); D’yer Mak’er (Nicholas Zito); Dynamax Prime (G. Weaver); Pat On The Back (Kenneth McPeek); Twisted Tom (Chad Brown)

The $200,000 Fleet Indian
Probable: Bonita Bianca (Rodriguez); Cozzy Spring (Charlton Baker); Danielle’s Pride (Richard Metivier); Five Each Way (Graham Motion); Somekindasexy (Chad Summers); Sunset Ridge (Brown)

The $200,000 Funny Cide
Probable: Alien Invasion (Maker); Analyze The Odds (Pletcher); Aveenu Malcainu (Jeremiah Englehart); Inalienable Rights (Mark Hennig); Morning Breez (Carlos Martin); Mr. Pete (James Ryerson); Smokin Platinum (Bart Hone)

The $200,000 Seeking The Ante
Probable: I Still Miss you (J. Englehart); Miss Mystique (Leah Gyarmati); Newport Breeze (Peter Eurton); One Last Call (Pletcher); Trouble For Skylar (Danny Gargan)
Possible: Cause We Are Loyal (Doug O’Neill)

The $150,000 Yaddo
Probable: Ack Naughty (Brown); Bar Of Gold (John Kimmel); Feeling Bossy (J. Jerkens); First Chamber (R. Metivier); Flipcup (Bill Mott); Freudie Anne (Thomas Morley); Jet Majesty (David Jacobson)
Possible: Barrel Of Dreams (Baker)

The $150,000 West Point
Probable: All Is Number (Thomas Bush); Changewilldoyagood (Bruce Levine); Fox Rules (David Cannizzo); Get Jets (Anthony Dutrow); Kharafa (Timothy Hills); King Kreesa (Linda Rice); Macagone (Mott); Offering Plan (Brown)
Possible: Cloontia (J. Jerkens)


Travers Day - Saturday, August 26:
Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers presented by NYRA Bets
Probable: Always Dreaming (Pletcher); Cloud Computing (Brown); Fayeq (McLaughlin); Girvin (Joe Sharp); Giuseppe The Great (Zito); Good Samaritan (Mott); Gunnevera (Antonio Sano); Irap (O’Neill); Lookin At Lee (Steven Assmussen); McCraken (Wilkes); Outplay (Pletcher); Tapwrit (Pletcher); West Coast (Bob Baffert)

Grade 1, $1 million Sword Dancer
“Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Turf Division
Probable: Bigger Picture (Maker); Erupt (Francis – Henri Graffard); Frank Conversation (O’Neil); Hunter O’Reily (Toner); Idaho (Aidan O’Brien); Money Multiplier (Brown); Talismanic (Andre Fabre)

Grade 1, $600,000 Forego
“Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Sprint Division
Probable: Awesome Slew (Mark Casse); Divining Rod (Arnaud Delacour); Drefong (Bob Baffert); Mind Your Biscuits (C. Summers); Ross (Peter Schiergen); Tale Of S’avall (Barclay Tagg); Tom’s Ready (Dallas Stewart); Tommy Macho (T. Pletcher)
Possible: Limousine Liberal (Ben Colebrook); Stallwalkin’ Dude (Jacobson)

Grade 1, $700,000 Personal Ensign
“Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Distaff Division
Probable: Forever Unbridled (Stewart); Songbird (Jerry Hollendorfer)
Possible: Eskenformoney (Pletcher); Flora Dora (Marialice Coffey); Smile Big (Rodriguez)

Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial
(Previously run as the King’s Bishop)
Probable: American Anthem (B. Baffert); Ann Arbor Eddie (O’Neill); Coal Front (Pletcher); No Dozing (Delacour); Phi Beta Express (Gargan); Practical Joke (Brown); Takaful (McLaughlin); Tale Of Silence (Tagg); Wild Shot (Rusty Arnold)

Grade 1, $500,000 Ketel One Ballerina
“Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Division
Probable: By The Moon (Michelle Nevin); Carina Mia (Brown); Curlin’s Approval (Happy Alter); Dearest (Gilberto Zerpa); Distinta (Pletcher); Highway Star (Rodrigo Ubillo); Paulassilverlining (Brown)

Grade 2, $400,000 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa
Probable: Antonoe (Brown); Dickinson (McLaughlin); Roca Rojo (Brown); Time and Motion (Toner)
Possible: Celestine (Christophe Clement)


The $100,000 Smart N Fancy – Sunday, August 27
Probable: Ava’s Kitten (C. Brown); Carolina Shag (Susan Cooney); Fair Point (Shug McGaughey); Ginger N Rye (H. Depaz); Miss Ella (G. Motion); Paquita Coqueta (C. Summers); Pretty Perfection (Kelly Breen); Rocky Policy (Dale Capuano); Ultimate Holiday (Nevin)

The $100,000 Better Talk Now – Monday, August 28
Probable: Blind Ambition (Pletcher); Funtastic (Brown); Snap Decision (Shug McGaughey)