Saratoga Race Course Notes 8.19.17

by NYRA Press Office

• Cloud Computing 'nice and comfortable' in five-furlong breeze
• Haskell winner Girvin posts bullet work ahead of G1 Travers
• Hunter O'Riley turns in 'maintenance breeze' for G1 Sword Dancer
• Good Samaritan to work Sunday for Travers
• Travers-bound Lookin At Lee scheduled for Monday breeze
• Dawn the Destroyer sharp in G2 Prioress drill; Fayeq gallops to Travers

The decision on whether Klaravich Stable's Cloud Computing will run in Saturday's Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers presented by NYRA Bets will have to wait until Monday, according to trainer Chad Brown. 

The colt by Maclean's Music breezed five furlongs on Saratoga Race Course's main track Saturday morning, shortly before 9 with Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano in the irons. The pair stopped the timer in 1:01.65 over the track labelled fast. 

"It went good, Brown said. "I won't make any decision yet until I talk to the owners. I'll be sure about what I'm doing Monday, I'm going to give myself until Monday, I want to see how the horse comes out of the work, take time to talk to the owners, and think about it. He couldn't have worked any better. I was very happy with the work, and Javier was pleased."

Castellano, a five-time winner of the Travers who rode Cloud Computing to an upset victory in the Grade 1 Preakness and a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 29, said the objective was to keep the horse happy and fresh.

"He felt great," Castellano said. "I'm happy with the way he did it, the right way. [It was a] nice and easy work. We weren't looking for anything more because we know he's a good work horse. It was just something to maintain before he goes to the race.

"[He was] nice and comfortable, relaxed," he added. "He just sat steady and galloped out beautiful. I didn't overdo it because today the goal was just to maintain."

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Brad Grady's Grade 1 Haskell Invitational winner Girvin left trainer Joe Sharp's barn Saturday morning for his final serious work before next weekend's Travers. On the Oklahoma training track at 5:30 a.m., the son of Tale of Ekati breezed five furlongs with jockey Robby Albarado in the saddle in 59.98 seconds. 

Working in company with Barry and Joni Butzow's stakes winner Line Judge, a last-out seventh in the Grade 3 Iowa Derby on July 7, the three-time graded stakes winner earned the bullet of 11 works at the distance. Sharp, aboard Line Judge and keeping a watchful eye on his stable star, was pleased with the move.

"He worked unbelievable today," Sharp said. "He went in 59 and four and he out-worked Line Judge, who is no slouch and a stakes winner in his own right. He's doing very well right now and was really moving out there." 

In seven lifetime starts, the dark bay colt has finished in the exacta all but once - when he was a troubled 13th of 20 in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 6. He returned seven weeks later to run second by a nose in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby to multiple graded stakes winner Irap. Last out, the fate of the nose photo fell his way with a victory in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on July 30. Such was the first time Albarado, who has the return call in the 10-furlong Travers, was aboard the earner of $1,574,400. The $130,000 Fasig-Tipton yearling purchase enters in arguably the best form of his career.

"I think it's just maturity with him," Sharp continued. "He knows he's good and he's confident. He's always been a talented horse and his feet are great right now. I'm really happy with how he's coming up to the race."

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Hunter O'Riley logged his final breeze before the Grade 1, $1 million Sword Dancer on Saturday and came out of it in good order, trainer Jimmy Toner said. The 4-year-old son of Tiz Wonderful put in his second work since winning the Grade 2 Bowling Green on July 29, going four furlongs in 50.77 seconds on the Oklahoma turf track.

"Everything went well; he went nice and comfortable," Toner said. "It was just a maintenance breeze. He's doing very well."

Hunter O'Riley rallied from seventh to win his first career graded stakes start in the 1 3/8-mile Bowling Green, edging Bigger Picture by a neck after going five-wide. He will face Grade 1 competition for the first time, running in the 1 1/2-mile Sword Dancer on the Travers undercard August 26.

"He's getting stronger and more confident in himself," Toner said. "He's just a neat horse."

The Sword Dancer will award the winner automatic entry to the Grade 1, $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf on November 4 at Del Mar. Toner said Florent Geroux, who piloted Hunter O'Riley to the winner's circle in the Bowling Green, will have the return call.

Toner's other expected Travers Day entry, Time and Motion, also breezed on the turf training course Saturday, going four furlongs in 50.49 seconds in her last work before the Grade 2, $400,000 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.

"She went off easy, going at 25-and-4, and finished up really well," Toner said. "It's exactly what we were looking for."

Time and Motion has produced back-to-back third-place efforts in Grade 3 races, finishing on the board in the Beaugay on May 13 at Belmont Park before finishing just 2 ¾-lengths behind Dona Bruja in the Modesty Handicap carrying the highweight of 123 pounds on July 8 at Arlington. Those efforts proved to be a nice bounce-back in her 4-year-old campaign following a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on April 15 at Keeneland.

"She's doing really well and likes it here," Toner said. "The Jenny Wiley was halfway my fault, I kind of got ahead of myself and I should have waited. That being said, she still ran well and her two races after that were really good. I think she's coming around now and we're looking forward to her regaining the form she had last year."

Time and Motion, a daughter of Tapit for Phillips Racing Partnership, won her last race at the Spa with the 2016 Grade 2 Lake Placid. That win set up her victory in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in the penultimate race of her 3-year-old season. 

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will be in the irons for the Ballston Spa. 

Toner also said the Friday rain didn't seem to have a significant impact on the turf course.

"It seemed to be fine. There was a little give in it, but there was no kick-back," Toner said. "They looked real good going over the ground and I was happy with both breezes."

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Grade 2 Jim Dandy hero Good Samaritan galloped Saturday morning in anticipation of putting in his final breeze before next Saturday's Travers on Sunday morning, in the hopes that the extra day of sun should remove any lingering moisture in the track.

"He'll breeze tomorrow, that's our plan," said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. "We should have great weather the way it looks."

The Harlan's Holiday colt last worked on August 11, breezing four furlongs in 48.84 seconds over the Oklahoma training track.

His 4 ¾-length victory in the Jim Dandy was his first try on dirt after six starts on the grass, beginning with his victory by a head in his career debut here at Saratoga last summer. The late-charging colt will make his eighth career start in the Travers, and look to become the first Travers winner for Mott, and second for majority owner WinStar Farm, who campaigned Colonel John to victory in the 2008 'Mid-Summer Derby.'

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L and N Racing LLC's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby runner-up Lookin At Leecontinues to please his connections. The consistent Steve Asmussen trainee, third last out in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby on August 5, will have his final breeze for the Travers on Monday around 6 a.m.

"He's good right now," said Scott Blasi, longtime top assistant to Asmussen. "He's here at Saratoga and will breeze Monday in the second set, right after Gun Runner."

In 13 lifetime starts, the deep-closing son of champion Lookin At Lucky has a mere pair of victories, but has finished fourth or better in five Grade 1 events, including the Preakness Stakes and Breeders' Cup Juvenile. His last breeze on Monday, August 14, was an easy half-mile over the Oklahoma training track in 51.40 seconds. 

Stable star Gun Runner, a rousing victor in the Grade 1 Whitney on August 5 last out for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm, remains on target for a probable run in the Grade 1 Woodward on September 2.

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Stonestreet Stable's Dawn the Destroyer has her sights locked on the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs on Saratoga's closing weekend, firing a bullet over the Oklahoma training track Saturday morning for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

The 3-year-old daughter of Speightstown breezed a half-mile in 47.22 seconds, the fastest of 42, her second work since posting a three-length victory in a seven-furlong allowance on July 24.

"She worked very well, maybe a little too fast, but she's on target for the Prioress," said the trainer.

McLaughlin's Travers contender Fayeq returned to the track Saturday for the first time following his four-furlong breeze in 48.89 seconds Thursday morning.

"He's doing well, we're just going to gallop up to the race," said McLaughlin. "We're all set."

By Malibu Moon, Shadwell Stable's 3-year-old half-brother to Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra will take a big step up in the Travers after beating a talented group of 3-year-olds by 3 ½ lengths in a 1 1/8-mile allowance on July 26, despite a continued reluctance to switch leads in the race. That win was the second straight for Fayeq, who broke his maiden by 2 ¾ lengths in his third try on June 11 at Belmont Park.

"We just hope he switches leads, that's the biggest concern now when we're going into such a strong group," McLaughlin said. "But, he's improving all the time and he's well-bred, beautiful horse. [Switching leads] haven't cost him, since he's won his last two, but he'll find more if we can get him to do it in the race."

On Travers Day, the barn will also be represented by Godolphin Racing's Grade 1 Jenny Wiley winner Dickinson in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa. The 5-year-old Medaglia d'Oro mare is looking to rebound from a dull fifth-place effort in the Grade 1 Diana on July 22.

"It was disappointing for us; she just didn't fire her race, but we'll give her an 'off' day," said McLaughlin. "We're just going to draw a line through it. She's been training great since, so we're planning on running."

Shadwell Stable's Grade 2-placed Takaful will rejoin the stakes competition in the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial for sophomores at seven furlongs. Last time out, the Bernardini colt returned from a four-month layoff with a front-running, 5 ¼-length score in a six-furlong allowance on July 21, where he earned a personal-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure.

On Thursday, Takaful breezed a half-mile in 50.88 seconds over Belmont Park's main track and "might have a little blowout on Wednesday," said McLaughlin, before he ships to Saratoga later in the week.

Godolphin Racing's Zennor, a one-length winner of the Fasig-Tipton Lure on August 5, will be pointed to the Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap on September 4, the closing day of the summer meet.