Francesca Le Donne Photo

Saratoga Race Course Notes 8.25.17

by NYRA Press Office

• Baffert hopes for another banner day in New York

• Sadler's Joy looking for good trip in G1 Sword Dancer

• Songbird's connections sing her praises

• Travers Day can complete strong meet for McLaughlin

• 'Grown up' Gunnevera gunning for G1 Travers upset

• On Leave facing tough task in G2 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa

• Wilkes 'just going to let McCraken run his race' in Travers

• Girvin gets acquainted with main track, paddock

• Toner looking for another workman-like effort from Hunter O'Riley

• Lookin At Lee rock-solid for Travers try

• Impressive maiden winner Lady Ivanka possible for G1 Spinaway

• Small Bear heads back to turf in Monday's Better Talk Now

Bob Baffert ships in to Saratoga every season, but he doesn't send any empty wagons.

On Travers Day, the Hall of Fame trainer will be represented in a trio of Grade 1 affairs on the card with West Coast in the $1.25 million Travers presented by NYRA Bets, Drefong in the $600,000 Forego, and American Anthem in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial.

West Coast, who was unraced as a juvenile and has won four of six 2017 starts and three straight races while shooting up the class ladder, now jumps to the top rung and tries Grade 1 company for the first time. His 11 Travers competitors include Kentucky Derby hero Always Dreaming, Preakness winner Cloud Computing, Belmont Stakes victor Tapwrit, Grade 1 Haskell winner Girvin and Grade 2 Jim Dandy winner Good Samaritan.

"We're going to find out how good West Coast is," said Baffert, who brought Arrogate last year and saw the colt break a 37-year-old stakes and track record (1:59.36) while crushing the field by 13 ½ lengths under Mike Smith. "West Coast isn't like Arrogate. But he's doing really well and and I think he deserves his chance to run in there and show us, and to run at a mile and a quarter."

Baffert took his time bringing Gary and Mary West's son of Flatter to this point, and Smith, who will be in the irons for the Travers, also showed patience when West Coast was 3 ¼ lengths the best in the Easy Goer on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

"He's got to be ridden a certain way and I think Mike will play the break and see what happens," Baffert said by phone from Del Mar, noting that West Coast does not care to be rushed in his races. "We just hope when turning for home, he's in the hunt."

Reigning champion Sprinter and 2016 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Drefong returns to Saratoga, where he won last year's Grade 1 King's Bishop, renamed the Allen Jerkens, going away under Smith. Now the one with the bullseye on his back, Drefong needs to make amends for his last effort in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby when he ducked into the gap out of the gate and dumped Smith.

"If Drefong wins this race it will be the best thing that happens to him. It's a big race and it's a tough race. Hopefully, we'll see the real Drefong," said Baffert, who is not making the trip and will watch his charges from Del Mar.

As for the 3-year-old American Anthem, who comes in fresh from a star-spangled victory under Smith in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens at Belmont last out, Baffert said, "He's got to beat [undefeated] Coal Front. That's going to be a good race, but that's what Travers Day is all about. It's good race after good race after good race."

A succession of very good races is what Baffert and Smith experienced on Belmont Stakes Day, when they teamed to go an amazing four-for-four on the card. In addition to victories by West Coast and American Anthem, Mor Spirit won the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and Abel Tasman won the Grade 1 Acorn.

"I just hope for a great day. But all of the races at Saratoga are tough. We've just got to hope that Mike Smith has [three] wins in him again," said Baffert, who also won the Travers in 2001 with Point Given.

With all of their serious training and schooling completed, American Anthem, Drefong and West Coast went out onto the main track, where each galloped between 1 ¼ miles and 1 3/8 miles. The normal routine in the Baffert barn is for them to walk the shedrow on the morning of race day.

*         *         *

Woodslane Farm's Sadler's Joy could be sitting on a big effort in Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Sword Dancer, trainer Tom Albertrani said Friday morning. The 3-year-old son of Kitten's Joy has finished in the money in his last eight starts, including third last out in the Grade 2 Bowling Green on July 29 at the Spa.

Drawing post 3 in the seven-horse field, Sadler's Joy will again have the services of jockey Julien Leparoux.

"I think we're in a good spot; hopefully we just get a good trip, that's the main thing," Albertrani said. "The horse is doing well. It doesn't look like there's a lot of pace in there, which would have set up a little better for us, but I think he'll run a big race as long as we get a good trip."

The Sword Dancer, contested at 1 ½ miles on the inner turf, is one of six Grade 1 races Saturday and is a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf on November 4 at Del Mar.

Sadler's Joy was coming off a nearly six-week break between a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Manhattan on Belmont Stakes Day and the Bowling Green. The shorter turnaround entering the Sword Dancer can play into his favor, according to his trainer.

European shippers Erupt and Idaho, the top two morning-line choices, will break from posts 6 and 7, respectively. Idaho, the 2-1 favorite for trainer Aidan O'Brien, and 3-1 choice Erupt, for Francis-Henri Graffard, will bring an international flair to the 43rd running of the Sword Dancer.

"I don't think they are going to come out with a lot of speed up front," Albertrani said. "I think everyone is in the same position. It's just a question of who is going to save the ground. He's run well over this course before. Last time, he was coming off a bit of a layoff. But just looking at this horse coming into this race, he looks good and tight and ready to go."

Ready for Rye breezed four furlongs in 48.87 seconds Thursday on Saratoga's main track, staying on target for the $100,000 Lucky Coin on September 1.

After finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at six furlongs on the dirt July 29, Ready for Rye will now look to go 5 ½ furlongs on the turf in the last listed stakes of the Saratoga meet.

"'Rye' is doing fantastic. We breezed him on the main track because he always works well," Albertrani said. "The first week we had him here, I don't think he cared too much for that deep track we had earlier in the season. But he ran well on the turf here, too, last year, and we think he might want to go in that direction."

The 5-year-old son of City Zip has made five of his 20 career starts on turf, going 2-0-1, including a win at the Lucky Coin distance in the 2015 Quick Call at Saratoga.

"He would probably prefer to go longer anyway, but he did manage to win here going 5 ½. You don't have a lot of options distance-wise on the turf here," Albertrani said.

*         *         *

From the get-go, Fox Hill Farm's Songbird has hit all the right notes, and how sweet they are.

"Tom McGreevey bought this horse [for $425,000 at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga August yearling sale] for Mr. Porter and sent her to Florida, where Gene Recio broke her," said Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. "Then when they were deciding where to send the horses, she got on to my list and that's how I got to train her."

The 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro is worth her weight in gold. With a bankroll of $4,562,000 heading into Saturday's Grade 1, $700,000 Personal Ensign as the prohibitive early favorite, she's earned more than 10 times her purchase price and won 13 of 14 races and nine Grade 1 affairs while competing on seven different racetracks.

But no one involved with this exceptional filly is surprised.

"Right from the beginning, when we got to working her a couple of times she showed that she was a pretty special horse. She's never done anything to disappoint us. Never," said Hollendorfer as he sat outside her stall Friday morning keeping a watchful eye. "Her record speaks for itself and she always gives her very best. She's done everything we could ask of any horse we've ever trained."

Friday morning, before schooling in the paddock prior to the third race, she went out on the main track for a routine gallop and was practically pulling regular exercise rider Freddy Rodriguez, who accompanied her on the plane ride from Southern California, out of the irons.

"She was feeling pretty good again this morning. We think we've been prepared for all of our races. We think she's very ready for this race," said Hollendorfer.

No one has ever ridden Songbird but Hall of Famer Mike Smith, and the two have another date for the Personal Ensign.

Smith, who also rides all three of Bob Baffert's charges in Grade 1 races on the card - West Coast in the Travers, American Anthem in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, and Drefong in the Forego - has pledged one percent of his earnings from Travers Day mounts to the Grayson-Jockey Club Foundation, which funds research into equine health issues.

*         *         *

Without the star power from previous years, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has quietly enjoyed a strong summer at Saratoga. With 10 days remaining in the 40-day meet, he had 11 wins and purse earnings approaching $700,000 from 50 starts.

He has five horses entered on Saturday's Travers Day program led by late-developing Fayeq in the 'Mid-Summer Derby,' where he is an outsider both at 30-1 on the morning line and breaking from the far outside in a field of 12.

Fayeq, a half-brother to Hall of Fame mare Rachel Alexandra, galloped 1 3/8 miles over the main track Friday morning. His connections enter the centerpiece of the Saratoga summer with guarded optimism.

"Everything is great - with him," McLaughlin said. "We'd like him to be able to do well because he's got such a nice pedigree but it's a tough race. It's a big step up. He's a graded stakes horse at some point, but tomorrow is a tough place to get started."

The Travers attracted a competitive field with no clear-cut division leader, a factor that McLaughlin feels could change pending the outcome of Saturday's race.

"Yes, if the horse that wins it is one of the ones that won in the Triple Crown races," he said. "I think after the race I think we'll be able to look and say, 'Oh yeah, I could see that horse winning' easy enough. To me there's eight to 10 horses that can win it. We're happy to be in there with a chance.

"We've had a good meet," he added. "It would be nice to win a race like that. We'd take any of them."

Also on Saturday, McLaughlin will send out Takaful in the Grade 1 Forego and Dickinson in the Grade 2, $400,000 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa. He will also saddle graded stakes winner Sticksstatelydude in a third-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up going 6 ½ furlongs, the 4-year-old's first start since taking the Grade 3 Discovery November 12 at Aqueduct.

Sticksstatelydude is based at Churchill Downs with trainer Greg Burchell, McLaughlin's friend since childhood.

"He flew in a few days ago and he's here now. He looks great. I've been in touch with Greg. We talk every other day," McLaughlin said. "He's been working real well at Churchill and it just suits his issues better training there. He's had some things that have kept him away but he's doing great now."

*         *         *

Margoth's multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Gunnevera galloped 1 ½ miles over the main track Friday morning on the eve of his return to Grade 1 competition in Saturday's Travers.

South Florida-based trainer Antonio Sano continues to be thrilled with the condition and attitude of the chestnut Dialed In colt, who arrived in Saratoga Tuesday morning.

"I feel very happy," Sano said. "The horse looked very good on the track today. I'm so happy with how he's doing.

"Physically, he's a different horse," he added. "The time since the Preakness was very good for my horse. It changed him. He's grown up and filled out. The last race was very good for him."

Gunnevera has two wins from six starts this year, taking the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth March 4 and the Tangelo on August 6, both at 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park, in nearly identical time (1:44.25, 1:44.30). He was also third in the Grade 1 Florida Derby and second in the Grade 2 Holy Bull.

The Tangelo was Gunnevera's first race since the Triple Crown, where he closed to be seventh in the Kentucky Derby, contested at the Travers' 1 ¼ miles, and fifth in the Preakness May 20.

"His last race was very easy, but it was very important. The time in the Fountain of Youth was the same as the Tangelo; the difference was the last race he did it just galloping," Sano said. "The next race is very important."

In the Travers, Gunnevera will meet up again with fellow Triple Crown veterans Always Dreaming, Cloud Computing and Tapwrit - winners of each of the Triple Crown races - as well as Girvin, Irap, Lookin At Lee and McCraken.

Gunnevera is one of just three of the 12 Travers horses with a win over the track, springing a 9-1 upset in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special last summer in his first race outside of Florida.

"For me, the Travers is very important. For the horse, he was all year among the best 3-year-olds," Sano said. "These are all very important horses. We hope the horse runs well and comes back well. He's ready. We're excited."

*         *         *

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey had been targeting Saturday's Grade 2 Ballston Spa all summer with Stuart Janney, III homebred On Leave, a Grade 2-winning filly with more than $600,000 in purse earnings and only one finish worse than third from 10 career starts.

Despite her credentials, On Leave has the longest odds at 12-1 in a field of six that drew five Grade 1 winners, including multi-millionaire Lady Eli.

"She's been training really well. I've been looking forward to running her," McGaughey said. "Obviously, there's six horses in there and five of them are Grade 1 winners; that's Saratoga. But, I do think that she's doing awfully well and she'll make a good account of herself. It's not like she hasn't been tried before."

On Leave will break from post 4 under meet-leading rider Jose Ortiz, who has been aboard for all of the War Front filly's races. Last time out she chased three wide on the turns and came five wide down the stretch to be second by a neck as the favorite in the one-mile Fasig-Tipton De La Rose August 5.

"I was a little bit disappointed in her last race, but she seemed to come out of it well," McGaughey said. "Hopefully, I can blame it a little bit on the turf. It had a little bit of give in it and I think she likes it really hard. She'll get that tomorrow."

The Ballston Spa will be just the fourth start this year for On Leave, who won the one-mile Perfect Sting July 1 at Belmont Park and was also second in the Grade 3 Gallorette May 20 at Pimlico Race Course, contested at the Ballston Spa's 1 1/16 miles, in her season debut.

"We just gave her time. There wasn't anything the matter with her," McGaughey said. "She did really good between her 2- and 3-year-old year by giving her time, and this year she's done well but it's taken a little while to knock the cobwebs off, to tell you the truth. This would be a great time to knock them off."

McGaughey doesn't have a starter in Saturday's Travers but is one of just eight trainers with three or more wins in the race - Easy Goer (1989), Rhythm (1990) and Coronado's Quest (1998).

"I think it's a great race," he said. "You've got a good field and I wouldn't be surprised if the two Kentucky horses weren't the two best ones in there. That's why they line them up, so we'll see. I'm looking forward to it."

*         *         *

With a stated philosophy of "trust the horse" and McCraken's major training done, trainer Ian Wilkes is taking a more hands-off approach as the Whitham Thoroughbred colt readies for his bid in Saturday's Travers.

The cool, calm and collected Australian native doesn't plan to concern himself with the minute details of race strategy, he said, preferring instead to leave most of the decisions up to his jockey, Brian Hernandez, Jr., who has ridden the Ghostzapper colt in all of his eight career starts, and to McCraken himself.

"I'm just going to let the horse run his race," said Wilkes. "Brian knows him, he knows his strengths and he knows his weaknesses, and he just has to ride.

"I just got to a point where I got mad at myself this year with trying to read the race and read the pace and I took my horse out of his element and it cost him a race," he continued. "I've gone back to letting my horse do it. He has gotten me here. If he's good enough, he'll make it."

McCraken was undefeated in three starts as a 2-year-old, including a 1 ¼-length win in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club. He carried his win streak into his 3-year-old seasonal debut in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs in February before a minor injury pushed his next start back nearly two months.

When he made his return in the Grade 2 Blue Grass on April 8, the late-running dark bay colt raced much closer to the pace early on than usual and made a wide bid in the stretch to finish third behind Irap and Practical Joke. McCraken finished a troubled eighth in the 'Run for the Roses,' emerging from the race with a laceration on his hind leg.

Given time to recover, he missed the remaining Triple Crown series and came back with a 2 ¼-length victory in the Grade 3 Matt Winn in June at Churchill Downs before finishing second to Girvin by a nose in the Haskell on July 30.

Wilkes added that he's happy with the energy level of his trainee, who galloped 1 ½ miles around the main track Friday morning, and said McCraken won't go to the track on Saturday, but will likely do more than just walk the shedrow on race day.

"I'll probably ride him [in the] shed a little bit, just to get his adrenaline pumping, get him a little excited and then let him rest and get him ready for the afternoon," he said.

Installed at 12-1 on the morning line, McCraken will break from post 9.

*         *         *

Grade 1 Haskell Invitational winner Girvin continued to impress in the mornings for trainer Joe Sharp and owner Brad Grady. A three-time graded stakes winner from seven lifetime starts, the son of Tale of Ekati galloped a lap on Saratoga's main track on Friday to acquaint himself with the surface over which he will run Saturday's Travers. The dark bay colt has been trained over the last month at the Oklahoma training track.

Five hours later, the earner of more than $1.5 million in purses schooled in the paddock and appeared calm and collected throughout the process. Occasionally prancing on his toes, he was mostly fluid through the process and failed to turn a proverbial hair.

"He's ready," Sharp said. "I mean, if you look at him [schooling], nothing's bothering him. I was going to put cotton in his ears, but I didn't think he needed it. He's the kind of horse you love to have in a race like this because he's all business. You don't worry about him acting up, you just have to get him ready to run.

"He's really feeling good. You can see it," he continued. "He's really grown and come into himself. You can see that he knows the race is coming and he's getting a little pumped up."

Win, lose or draw in the Travers, the $130,000 Fasig-Tipton October 2015 purchase has earned a "Win and You're In" automatic berth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic, thanks to his Haskell victory at Monmouth Park. Sharp indicated that he hopes to take advantage of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series opportunity.

"That's hopefully in the cards," Sharp said. "I also think he'll be a really good 4-year-old next year."

*         *         *

Time and Motion, coming off back-to-back third-place finishes in graded stakes starts, should be up to the challenge of facing 4-5 favorite Lady Eli and the rest of a talented six-horse field in the Ballston Spa on Travers Day, trainer Jimmy Toner said.

Time and Motion drew post 3 and is 10-1 on the morning line. She will be in a field that will feature Lady Eli's last start at the Spa. Lady Eli will be offered at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, just days after an expected start at the Breeders' Cup.

"We have our work cut out with Lady Eli," Toner said. "We'll see what we can go over there and try to get a piece of it. It's not easy. You have to work for what you get."

Hunter O'Riley will look to win a second straight graded stakes against an international field in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer. Drawing post 4, the winner of the Bowling Green last out is 6-1 on the morning line and was described by his trainer as a horse with a blue-collar sensibility.

"Anytime you see Aidan O'Brien's horse come in [2-1 favorite Idaho], you know it's no easy task," Toner said. "But 'Hunter' always tries. It doesn't matter who he runs against, he always shows up. Sometimes you get lucky enough, and like last time he got the job done. Regardless, he's very consistent. He's a lunch pail kind of a guy. He comes to do his job."

Toner said Defiant Honor is in fine fettle after her victory in Thursday's Riskaverse. The half-length win in the one-mile turf race could set up the 3-year-old Speightstown filly for a return to graded stakes company, though Toner said he hasn't decided on a spot yet.

Defiant Honor was making her first start since undergoing a myectomy to address the displacement of the soft palate. Toner said before the surgery, Defiant Honor's wind was effected, but the procedure, which required just a week of recovery time, didn't force her to miss any training.

"She's fine and came out good and cooled out well," Toner said. "She scoped good, which is the most important thing. It sounds simple but if you can breathe better, you have a chance to go a little farther."

*         *         *

L and N Racing's Lookin At Lee galloped a mile on the Oklahoma training track at 6:00 a.m. Friday morning, one day before the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby runner-up contests the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga.

The son of Lookin At Lucky, whose connections hail from the actual state of Oklahoma, schooled with no issue on Thursday afternoon during the races and all systems are 'go' for the millionaire 3-year-old. Trainer Steve Asmussen was pleased with his state of affairs and with his post position in the 12-colt field.

"He's doing very well," Asmussen said. "[Post 8] is a great spot going a mile and a quarter at Saratoga."

Asmussen, a multiple Breeders' Cup winner who also owns Preakness and Belmont Stakes trophies, has won some of the top races in the country, but the Mid-Summer Derby is one of the few to elude him.

In good spirits when asked what a win by hard-trying closer would mean, Asmussen quipped, "We would build a statue of Lee in Tulsa."

*         *         *

Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables and Michael Imperio's Lady Ivanka could be headed to the Grade 1, $350,000 Spinaway on September 2 off her impressive maiden victory August 9.

The 2-year-old daughter of Tiz Wonderful romped by eight lengths in 1:05.77 for 5 ½ furlongs under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. over a fast main track in her career debut.

"We're thinking of running in the Spinaway," trainer Rudy Rodriguez said Friday morning. "She ran a very good race; maybe too good to run her back too quick. We'll see."

Lady Ivanka had her first work since the race August 20, breezing a half-mile in 50 seconds over the main track. Rodriguez wants to work her again before making a decision.

"She may work over the next couple days so we'll see how she does and how she comes out of it. She's doing good," he said. "She looks like she's doing everything good. She was knocked out a little bit from the race but she looks like she's settled and she's been training good. We hope that she works good next week and we'll hope for the best."

*         *         *

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart is hoping a switch to turf will help his talented 3-year-old colt Small Bear get his first stakes victory in the $100,000 Better Talk Now on Monday at Saratoga Race Course. The son of Macho Uno finished second by 5 ¾ lengths in the Curlin at Saratoga on July 28, after briefly dueling in the stretch with eventual winner Outplay.

A gray or roan colt out of an El Prado mare, Small Bear finished third in the Paradise Creek at Belmont Park on May 27, a seven-furlong turf sprint, and Englehart said moving back to the turf was the best option to get another race at Saratoga.

"There wasn't really a race I had in mind for him back on the dirt, timing-wise up here," he said. "I know he has had a race over the turf before and I thought a race a little further [on turf] going two turns would be okay for him, and get an idea of how he would handle the turf. I think he will be fine over it. [He] just needs a little bit more distance probably."

Small Bear is owned by legendary NFL coach Bill Parcell's August Dawn Farm. Following the Curlin, he moved from the barn of Gary Sciacca to Englehart, who said the horse came to him in great condition.

"Coach called me and asked me if I would be interested in training for him," Englehart said. "It's one of those deals where the horses all came in looking really well. They have already been at the best of their game and right now we are just trying to keep things going, status quo, where they were from before and then kind of go from there."

Small Bear will break from post 6 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the saddle.

Phipps Stable's Snap Decision cuts back in distance off a strong fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on August 4 at Saratoga. The Hard Spun colt was 2 ½ lengths behind the undefeated Bricks and Mortar and less than two lengths back of stakes winners Yoshida and Big Handsome. McGaughey sends Snap Decision from post 2 with leading rider Jose Ortiz aboard.

Gainesway Stable's Blind Ambition is stretching out in the race, coming off a win in the 5 ½-furlong Quick Call at Saratoga Race Course on August 9. The Tapit colt has three wins in six starts for trainer Todd Pletcher, and draws the rail with Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano in the irons.

Pletcher is also entering Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Hieroglyphics, who enters off an allowance win on July 29 at Saratoga going a mile on the turf. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione has the mount and breaks from post 3.

Rounding out the field is Kiaran McLaughlin trainee Adonis Creed, who breaks from post 5 with Jose Lezcano aboard, and Holiday Stone, who breaks from the outside post with Luis Saez in the saddle for trainer George Weaver. Aquamarine is entered for the main track only.