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Siena Farm and WinStar Farm hold a trio of chances in G1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial

by Nick D'Amore

The partnership of Siena Farm and WinStar Farm will send out a trio of colts in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomores, at Saratoga Race Course.

Making up the trio are World Record [post 1, Luis Saez, 122 pounds] for conditioner Rodolphe Brisset; Timberlake [post 6, Florent Geroux, 122 pounds] for dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox; and Speak Easy [post 2, Irad Oritz Jr., 118 pounds] for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

Each of the colts has taken a different path to get to the Jerkens, each is by a different sire, and each is trained by a different conditioner. All that being said, President and CEO of WinStar Farm Elliott Walden said he believes this is the right spot for all three horses.

“It is a little bit of a different feeling having three horses in a single race. I think the way that we have always approached things is to do what is right for each horse. I believe that all three are deserving of the opportunity to try and win it. All three have a chance, it is going to be a very tough race, but I like the way all of them are coming into it,” Walden said.

World Record, the 6 3/4-length winner of the July 26 Grade 2 Amsterdam here over 6 1/2-furlongs, leads the trio in terms of success at sprint distances. The Brisset trainee boasts a perfect in the money record of 4-2-0-2 with $205,750 in earnings. He broke his maiden at second asking traveling seven-furlongs at Churchill Downs where he led gate to wire, winning by 6 1/4-lengths and earning an 89 Beyer Speed Figure. He followed with a third in the Listed Maxfield before his dominant Amsterdam win which produced a lifetime best 101 Beyer.

The son of Gun Runner has done nothing but improve in each of his starts. When third first out at Keeneland, he earned a 75 Beyer and with each start has improved the figure.

In his final breeze for Saturday’s test, he worked in company to the inside of Grade 1 Forego entrant Mullikin completing a half-mile move in 47.60 seconds, the second fastest of 46 works at the distance at their home base of Keeneland.

“Mullikin broke off a half-length behind at the hip of World Record. They were very good together on the bridle. They both looked very good for their last work,” Brisset said.

Brisset said he has no qualms about sending the lightly-raced colt to post on Saturday.

“I am pretty confident in my horse. It’s a tough race but that is what Saturday racing is all about,” Brisset said.

Grade 1-winner Timberlake broke his maiden at second asking as a juvenile by 9 1/4-lengths at Ellis Park traveling the Jerkens distance, and has competed in Grade 1 or 2 company since.

His third start was a tough second to Nutella Fella in the Grade 1 Hopeful in September over the same course and distance, and he followed with an annexing of the one-mile Grade 1 Champagne in October over a sloppy track at Belmont at the Big A, defeating subsequent Champion 2-Year-Old Colt and Grade 1 DraftKings Travers entrant Fierceness. To cap off his juvenile campaign, the son of Into Mischief finished fourth to Fierceness in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in his first effort around two turns.

After receiving a freshening, he took his talents to Oaklawn Park to kick off his sophomore campaign and proved the bettors right as the favorite in the February 24 Grade 2 Rebel winning by two-lengths. He continued down the Road to the Kentucky Derby in the March 30 Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at the Hot Springs oval where he was headstrong early and fell flat to finish fourth to the victorious Muth.

Timberlake reappeared in the July 20 Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell at Monmouth Park where he broke sharp and sat first or second until the top of the stretch. He was swallowed up by Mindframe and the victorious Dornoch, landing third defeated 6 1/4-lengths by the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets winner.

Since that try he has worked three times over the Oklahoma training track, most recently working a solo five-furlongs under the cover of darkness on August 17. He completed the move in 1:01.21.

“It was a very good move, kept him off the fence a little bit. Just let him cruise down the lane and he cooled out great,” Cox said.

Cox said the cut back in distance for the first time since the Champagne is likely what the colt wants to do.

“He probably doesn't want a mile and an eighth. I think we figured that out in his last two starts. He's a very good horse and he ran big up here last year in the Hopeful - he was unlucky not to win,” Cox said. “I think cutting him back to one turn is really what he wants to do.”

Out of the winning Lookin At Lucky mare Pin Up, Timberlake carries an 8-3-1-1 record with $1,273,100 in earnings into the Grade 1 event.

Completing the trio for Siena Farm and WinStar Farm is Speak Easy for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. The son of Constitution is the lightest raced contender in the field with two career starts.

The undefeated colt broke his maiden first out in a salty race on the January 27 Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup undercard at Gulfstream Park, winning a seven-furlong sprint that included Grade 1 DraftKings Travers entrants Batten Down and Corporate Power by 1 3/4-lengths to earn a dazzling 100 Beyer. He entered the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth but got loose in the post parade and had to scratch. Speak Easy reappeared in a July 27 allowance race here traveling six-furlongs against older horses, prevailing by 2 1/4-lengths and regressing in figure to a 97 Beyer.

Pletcher acknowledged his colt’s lack of experience but believes that there is a scenario where the race could set up for him.

“I think we are playing catch up a little bit from an experience standpoint. But I think, if the race unfolds the way it could on paper and there’s a really hot pace, then I think it sets up good for our horse,” Pletcher said.

Since the most recent win, Speak Easy has worked twice over the Saratoga main track and recently completed a half mile move on August 17 in 50.95 seconds.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out Klaravich Stables’ Kentucky homebred Domestic Product [post 3, Flavien Prat, 120 pounds].

The son of Practical Joke, who Brown and Klaravich campaigned together to a win in the 2017 Jerkens, enters off a dominant score in the July 6 one-mile Grade 3 Dwyer at Belmont at the Big A. There, he broke alertly to sit a stalking trip before overpowering his rivals at the top of stretch and drawing off by 7 1/2-lengths, stopping the clock in 1:33.54 and earning a new lifetime best 101 Beyer.

The Dwyer marked the first time the colt had gone around one turn since his debut where he finished a troubled fifth in a race that included subsequent Grade 1 winner Locked. After the six-furlong try, he stretched way out to 1 1/8-miles on October 27 at Belmont at the Big A, winning by 4 1/2-lengths to break his maiden. He stepped into stakes company from there, attempting the Grade 2 Remsen and finishing off the board to conclude his juvenile campaign.

As a sophomore, he ran a strong second in the Grade 3 Holy Bull defeating Fierceness and then taking down the March 9 Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby to earn a spot in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby starting gate. In the Derby, he ran mid-pack to finish 13th. Brown opted to step off the Triple Crown trail with Domestic Product and next tried the June 15 Listed NYRA Bets Pegasus at Monmouth Park where he ran second to Tuscan Sky before his Dwyer romp.

“It's taken me some time to dial him all the way back to seven [furlongs]. The one-turn mile was a great race for him to do that even though it was on short rest,” Brown said. “Now, I've had a breather to further dial him back an eighth and the way he is right now - so sharp and doing it the right way - this race is coming up really competitive, but he's one of the ones in there that can potentially win.”

Hall of Famer Bob Baffert will saddle SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Robert E. Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, and Tom J. Ryan’s Grade 1-winner Price of Monaco [post 5, John Velazquez, 122 pounds].

The $950,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale purchase, by Speightstown, put together a masterful juvenile campaign that saw him win the Grade 3 Best Pal and Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, both at the San Diego oval. He completed his near perfect juvenile season in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with an off-the-board finish.

Baffert said the colt has always shown talent.

"We always early on knew he was a good horse. He showed it in the mornings and then he showed it in the afternoon. He has a lot of speed, and he has a good mind, so you can put him where you want him,” Baffert said.

Making his seasonal debut last out in the June 8 Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun here with Flavien Prat up, the colt suffered a poor trip that saw him get bumped and pinched at the start. Showing his class, he overcame the trouble early to rally from 16 lengths off the pace and fall just a half-length shy of the win to potential returning rival Book’em Danno.

"It was disappointing that he ran so well but didn't win. He didn't get away from the gate, but Prat rode him with patience, and he just came up short. Hopefully he'll run that race back with a better break,” Baffert said.

Following the Woody Stephens, Prince of Monaco shipped back West and has been training steadily at Del Mar. He most recently worked five-furlongs out of the gate in 1:00.80 on August 16.

"I just wanted to sharpen him up a little bit because he broke away slowly there [in the Stephens], but he's doing well,” Baffert said.

Prince of Monaco has a 5-3-1-0 record with $487,000 in earnings.

This year’s Grade 1 Woody Stephens winner Book’em Danno [post 8, Javier Castellano, 124 pounds] is cross-entered in the August 23 Listed Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town also going seven-furlongs.

The Atlantic Six Racing-owned gelded son of Bucchero drew post 2 of 10 at Charles Town with Jose Oritz in the saddle. Trainer Derek Ryan said Sunday he wanted to wait and see both fields before he made a decision.

Rounding out the talented field are the pair from the Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott barn in Grade 2-placed Jefferson Street [post 10, Junior Alavardo, 118 pounds] and recent maiden winner Reynolds Channel [post 9, Joel Rosario, 118 pounds]; New York-bred Vettriano [post 4, Manny Franco, 118 pounds] for trainer Brad Cox; Otto the Conqueror [post 7, Tyler Gaffalione, 118 pounds] for Hall of Fame conditioner Steve Assmussen; and recent private purchase Little Ni [post 11, Jose Ortiz, 118 pounds] for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.

The H. Allen Jerkens Memorial is slated as Race 12 on Saturday’s 14-race card that features the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers [Race 13]; the Grade 1, $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer [Race 9]; the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina Handicap [Race 10]; and the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego [Race 11]. First post is 11:20 a.m. Eastern.

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