Adam Coglianese Photo

​Multiple G1 winner Bolt d’Oro dashes into Asmussen’s Saratoga barn

by NYRA Press Office

• War Canoe testing deep waters in Saturday’s G1 Diana

• Trainer Phil Gleaves looks to make solid return to Saratoga

• New York-bred Mind Your Biscuits drills seven furlongs for G1 Whitney

• Grade 3 winner Morticia looks to repeat Spa success in $200,000 Caress

• Stakes winner Barry Lee returning to Saratoga for G3 Amsterdam

• Saratoga Race Course Week 2 stakes probables

Bolt d’Oro, who had been trained by owner Mick Ruis, was moved to Asmussen’s stable from Ruis’ farm in Kentucky.

“He arrived this morning. If they told you [that] you were getting Bolt d’Oro, would you drag your feet?” asked Asmussen with a laugh. “He’s here. He’s a gorgeous horse. He looks great.”

Bolt d’Oro started his career 3 for 3 with wins in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on September 4 and the Grade 1 FrontRunner on September 30 at Santa Anita. He capped his 2-year-old campaign with a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on November 4 at Del Mar and came back from a nearly four-month break to capture the Grade 2 San Felipe via the disqualification of McKinzie on March 10 at Santa Anita.

A second-place finish to eventual Triple Crown winner Justify in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 7 was his last on-the-board finish, with the Medaglia d’Oro colt running 12th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 5 at Churchill Downs and 11th in the Grade 1 Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day, June 9.

Ruis said his packed schedule and Asmussen’s talents, which include saddling Horse of the Year winners Curlin, Rachel Alexandra and Gun Runner, made him a good fit to take over training responsibilities. =

“I’m super busy with my company right now and the last six months of my life were only Bolt d’Oro and the Derby trail, so I just said the best thing for him is to have someone like Steve, who has had three Horses of the Year,” Ruis, who co-owns Bolt d’Oro with wife, Wendy, said by phone. “I told him, ‘This is what I know about him, this is what we’ve got out of him, Steve. He’s all yours.’

“He was real excited,” Ruis added. “He had been to my farm four times before he even left and I don’t think Bolt was even there a month. To have him go over there and have Steve be so excited about it, that was really exciting for myself and my wife.”

Asmussen did not say when Bolt d’Oro will run next.

“I’m leaving that up to Steve,” Ruis said. “Even though I trained him and had him since a yearling, broke him and all that, if I’m going to turn the reins over to a Hall of Fame trainer, I don’t think I want to give him any instructions.”

Ruis left open the possibility of Bolt d’Oro running as a 4-year-old, which will be predicated on his health, racing success and the opinion of B. Wayne Hughes, the owner of Spendthrift Farm, who has secured 50 percent of Bolt d’Oro’s breeding rights.

“Mr. Hughes knows how to make money, I know how to make money, in business and working, but there’s no thrill like having a horse at the caliber we think Bolt can be, just the memories he can bring us. That’s my hope,” Ruis said. “I’m under contract next year in January to retire him and I’m sticking with that, but I’m just hoping that Bolt can finish really good and maybe we could consider running him as a 4-year-old.”

Ruis also said that Union Strike, a Grade 1 winner, could make her Saratoga debut in the Grade 1, $500,000 Ketel One Ballerina on Travers Day, August 25. A Breeders’ Cup qualifier for the Filly & Mare Sprint in November at Churchill, the Ballerina will be contested at seven furlongs.

Union Strike, also owned and trained by Ruis, won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in September and has registered a couple of solid efforts in her 3-year-old season, finishing second in the Grade 2 Eight Belles on May 5 at Churchill and third in the Grade 3 Chicago Handicap on June 23 at Arlington in which winner Hotshot Anna set a track record with seven furlongs in 1:20.93.

“It was all speed up front and she was the only one closing, so that was an incredible race that she did for her first race in five months,” Ruis said. “When she last raced as a 3-year-old in the Acorn, she stumbled and lost part of her left front foot so it took all that time to get her back. I’m very patient with my horses since I own them, so we’re really looking forward to a nice race for Union Strike in the Ballerina.”

Another Grade 1 winner trained by Asmussen, Bloom Racing Stable, Madaket Stables and Allen Racing’s Midnight Bisou, will go up against Monomoy Girl for the first time since the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks in Sunday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at the Spa in a race that can potentially determine the leader in the 3-year-old filly division.

The 102nd running of the Coaching Club American Oaks, contested at 1 1/8 miles, will feature Midnight Bisou in her first start since winning the Grade 2 Mother Goose by six lengths on June 30 at Belmont.

Asmussen took over the training duties from Bill Spawr after the Midnight Lute filly ran third in the Kentucky Oaks on May 4 at Churchill, finishing behind Wonder Gadot and Monomoy Girl.

“She exudes confidence and I think that’s continued and we expect her to do well,” Asmussen said. “She’s well aware of who she is. The way she carries herself; everything about her is class.”

Heading into the Kentucky Oaks, Midnight Bisou won the Grade 2 Santa Ynez and the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel before winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks on April 7, with all three wins at Santa Anita.

In the Mother Goose, Midnight Bisou stayed near the pace before extending away in the stretch to defeat Road to Victory, the only horse to get the better of Monomoy Girl in her eight starts. Midnight Bisou’s win earned her a personal-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

“We’re well aware of how good the competition is, but hopefully the weather will be nice. We’d like it for it to be a nice day and not have an off track,” Asmussen said.

Asmussen said Tenfold, who ran fifth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes last out, is on target for the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy on July 28.

Combatant, who was wide out of the first turn and never made a move in finishing 18th in the Kentucky Derby before running fifth in the Grade 3 Matt Winn last out on June 16 at Churchill, could be making a switch to grass.

Asmussen said the Scat Daddy colt could be entered in the Grade 2, $200,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame at 1 1/16 miles on turf on August 3. Combatant put in his second straight work on Saratoga’s turf training track, breezing four furlongs in 49.71 seconds on Friday morning.

War Canoe testing deep waters in Saturday’s G1 Diana

Martin Harrigan’s War Canoe is a decided long shot in Saturday’s $500,000 Diana, the first Grade 1 on the Saratoga stakes calendar, listed at 50-1 on the morning line. Though she owns five wins and has finished in the top three in 17 of 20 career starts, the New York-bred mare has never faced graded company.

Trained by Gary Contessa, War Canoe has mostly faced claiming horses and has but one previous stakes attempt to her credit, finishing third by a half-length at odds of 38-1 in the Mount Vernon against fellow state-breds May 28 at Belmont.

“I was talking to the owner and he said, ‘How about trying the Diana? It’s always a short field.’ I said, ‘Sure, I’ll try it,’ because I know she’s going to try,” Contessa said. “If she runs dead last, I guarantee you she’s going to give me everything she’s got. But, if she can finish second or third, she has just enhanced her pedigree incredibly.

“I know I’m up against it, but [1 1/8 miles] is her distance and she’s a little pit bull. She never doesn’t show up,” he added. “We ran her in a stake and she damn near won it. She was a long shot there, too. We run her claiming, she wins. We run her for an allowance, she’s right there. She never fails to fire. She’s a tiny little thing with a huge heart.”

A bay daughter of Lemon Drop Kid, whose multiple Grade 1 wins included the Belmont Stakes and the Travers at Saratoga in 1999, War Canoe came from off the pace to win a second-level optional claimer June 29 over the Belmont turf in her most recent start. She will break from post-position 4 in a field of seven where each of her rivals have won graded-stakes, three of them Grade 1.

“I’m not embarrassed to be 50-1 in a Grade 1. But, believe me, she’s got heart. She’s 100 percent racehorse,” Contessa said. “If you watch that race tomorrow and watch her body language, she is going to try. She only needs to pass a couple to start getting paid and she only needs to pass four to really enhance her future, so it’s worth it.

“We’re taking a shot, but she’s a neat little filly,” he added. “I can always run her back in the [$150,000 Yaddo August 24] against New York-breds, and that’s plenty of time to recover. But, if she gets lucky tomorrow and somebody falters or a couple get in a speed duel, whatever, she just might clean up. So, we’ve got to take a shot.”

Among other horses Contessa has this year at Saratoga are stakes winner Runaway Lute, sixth in last year’s Grade 1 Hopeful and pointing to the $100,000 John Morrissey for New York-breds on July 26; Red Zinger, third in the Rockville Centre Stakes for 2-year-old state-breds July 14 in his career debut; and 2-year-old New York-bred filly Maiden Beauty, winner of the Lynbrook July 15.

“I think I have a great group of 2-year-olds. I think I’m as good on 2-year-olds as I’ve ever been, and I usually win one or two here every year. When [trainer Todd] Pletcher’s horse stumbles, I win,” Contessa said. “I have a very diverse, very good group of horses. I think I’m well-represented.”

Trainer Phil Gleaves looks to make solid return to Saratoga

It’s been many years since trainer Phil Gleaves made the Saratoga Race Course backside his summer training base, but the next 40 days of racing will be a welcome change for the English-born conditioner who has called Florida home for the last 15 years. 

Should Rythmia draw in from the also-eligible list in Saturday’s sixth race at the Spa, for 2-year-old maidens at 5 ½ furlongs, it will be the first entry Gleaves has saddled at Saratoga since Csaba, who ran fifth in the 2014 Alydar. 

“It’s good to be back on a full-time basis,” Gleaves said. “It’s been like 15 years since I’ve been up here, but I’ve come up sporadically to run a horse here or there, but only stayed a week or so. I feel real blessed to be here.”

Gleaves has saddled 582 winners from 4,070 career starts and recalls his last Saratoga winner Miami Cat, who captured the 2012 Equalize. In the years since his last summer at the Spa, life outside the racetrack forced him to make a decision as to where he would call home. 

“I was a single dad at the time when I was up here before, and when my son Scuyler became school age, I had to make a decision where to have him go to school,” said Gleaves. “I didn’t want to bounce around from state to state, so I had to choose between Miami or New York, and since I can’t handle New York winters I went to Miami, and I spent 15 years there. 

“He’s going to be a sophomore in college, and my wife now and I spoke to him about it [coming to Saratoga] and got his blessing. He said, ‘Dad, go back to Saratoga.’”

In the ensuing decade and a half since he’s been able to spend time in Saratoga, both the town and track have undergone plenty of changes. Gleaves said he has plenty of fond memories, highlighted by winning the 1986 Travers with Wise Times, which followed eight years as Hall of Fame trainer Woody Stephens assistant. 

“It’s like I’ve never left. It’s a new appreciation,” he said. “When you get used to doing something and just do it, I don’t think you appreciate it as much, and of course there’s the old adage of losing something, and when you lose something you really miss it. You really don’t know how much you miss it here, and having not been here for 15 years, it’s just a blessing to be back. No matter how we perform, I just feel great being part of the show. Brings back a lot of great memories: the Travers, I got married here, a lot of good things.

“This town is all about horses, you don’t find another town like this in the world, maybe Newmarket or Chantilly in France, but this town lives and breathes horses,” he added. “I think I missed the respect of the horse that we don’t have in others cities. People love horses in this town. They love horse racing.” 

Gleaves brings a stable of eight 2-year-olds to Saratoga, and is “cautiously optimistic” about their chances. 

“I’m not going over there to play around,” he said. “We’re always hopeful. Everyone’s got their best athletes here, and nobody brings slow horses to Saratoga. God willing we’ll be wintering in Ocala, and summers will be here.”

New York-bred Mind Your Biscuits drills seven furlongs for G1 Whitney

Two-time New York-bred Horse of the Year Mind Your Biscuits moved one step closer Friday morning to the Grade 1, $1.2 million Whitney for older horses at 1 1/8 miles on August 4 with a seven-furlong breeze before galloping out a mile over Saratoga’s main track.

With rider Joel Rosario aboard, the 5-year-old cruised through splits of 12 3/5 seconds, 25 3/5, 38 flat, 50 1/5, 1:01 4/5, finishing the move in 1:26.41. NYRA clockers caught the mile gallop-out in 1:39 4/5.

“We’re happy with it,” trainer Chad Summers said. “I think it was necessary to make sure he can get the two turns. I think that it showed he finished well down the lane and that’s what we wanted to see. More than likely, he’ll work one more time about a half-mile. Let’s see how he comes out of this one.”

This was the second workout for Mind Your Biscuits since being beaten a nose by Bee Jersey in the Grade 1 Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap as part of the Belmont Stakes undercard on June 9.

“I thought it was great,” Summers said about his horse’s performance in the race. “We looked at what the pace breakdown was going to be. We were concerned that Bee Jersey would get loose on the lead. Obviously, we knew we had our work cut out for us and we had to give four pounds.”

Summers believes his multiple Grade 1 winner, including the Dubai Golden Shaheen twice, can handle the longer distance for the Whitney.

“He has had a super week since coming up here to Saratoga,” Summers said. “He came out of the Met Mile well. He is showing all of the signs that he is hitting on a career best race.”

Grade 3 winner Morticia looks to repeat Spa success in $200,000 Caress

G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s Grade 3 winner Morticia, who capped a three-race win streak last year in the Coronation Cup Stakes at Saratoga, will go after her seventh career stakes win and eighth overall in Monday’s $200,000 Caress.

A total of 13 fillies and mares 3-and-up were entered for the Caress, set for 5 ½ furlongs over the Mellon turf course. Trained by Rusty Arnold, who co-bred the filly with Humphrey, Morticia drew post position 2 with regular rider Jose Lezcano.

“I was looking at it this morning. This is going to be some kind of race,” Arnold said. “There just aren’t that many opportunities for these fillies to run for that kind of money, and they’re all here. They all showed up.”

After going six-for-eight in 2017 including a season-ending victory in the Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County in October, Morticia went winless in her first three starts this year before breaking through in the Penn Ladies Dash June 2 at Penn National last out. She was second in the Captiva Island in March at Gulfstream Park to kick off her 4-year-old campaign, then ran behind Caress rival Triple Chelsea in successive stakes.

“It was nice to get her back in the winner’s circle last time because she had finished last year on a winning note,” Arnold said. “We brought her back this year and she got beat, but ran a great race. She ran great again at Keeneland but it was just a tough race. Her and Lady Aurelia hooked up and we probably set it up for [Triple Chelsea]. That filly is really, really good right now. She’s just hard to beat. We got a little relief last time and got a win out of it to hopefully get back on track.”

Always in awe of her raw talent, Arnold has been impressed with the way Morticia has continued to develop into her 4-year-old year. The daughter of Twirling Candy has now won at six different tracks, and a victory Monday would only be the second time over the same surface, having broken her maiden and earned her first stakes victory last winter at Gulfstream.

“I don’t think it matters where she runs,” Arnold said. “She’s matured mentally quite a bit. It’s funny because she won more races last year, but she was harder to deal with. She was harder to saddle. She took a lot more care. This year she’s grown up quite a bit and she has been, knock on wood, a pretty easy filly to run this year. At Penn National she was like a baby in the paddock, and she’s always been a handful.”

Also in the Caress is Lull, looking to improve off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Just A Game on June 9 at Belmont Park for trainer Christopher Clement and owners Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider. The 4-year-old War Front filly kicked off her 2018 campaign with a victory in the Grade 3 Honey Fox on March 31 at Gulfstream Park and will reunite with rider Jose Ortiz as the pair are set to leave from post 4. 

Hall of fame trainer Bob Baffert enters Faypien for the Baoma Corporation. The Ghostzapper filly most recently finished second by a neck in the Grade 3 Intercontinental on June 7 at Belmont. Drawing post 5, Faypien will be ridden by Luis Saez.

Rounding out the field is the undefeated Tillie’s Lily, who most recently won an optional claming race on June 1 at Belmont, Fire Key, Just Talkin, Girls Know Best, Ruby Notion, Chanteline, Brielle’s Appeal, and Bowie.

Stakes winner Barry Lee returning to Saratoga for G3 Amsterdam

Sagamore Farm and Papason Stables’ stakes winner Barry Lee, eighth in last year’s Grade 2 Saratoga Special in his second career start, will breeze Saturday morning at Saratoga ahead of his next scheduled start in the Grade 3, $200,000 Amsterdam July 28.

Trained by Horacio DePaz, the 3-year-old Violence colt will be making his eighth career start in the 6 ½-furlong Amsterdam and third this year. He raced in a pair of optional claiming allowances at Churchill Downs, most recently running third after setting the pace while facing elders June 23.

“He’s a two-other-than so he had to run against older horses. There was a race in Maryland we could have shipped to but we ended up just staying at Churchill and getting him ready for here against 3-year-olds,” DePaz said. “There’s some quality 3-year-olds that are going to be running in there, but finishing third against older horses was a nice effort from him.”

Barry Lee and Mo Diddley rocketed through fractions of 21.73 and 44.72 seconds in last year’s Special before giving way to stalker and eventual winner Copper Bullet. From there, Barry Lee went on to win the Arlington-Washington Futurity and run second in the Grade 3 Futurity at Belmont Park before capping his juvenile season with a third in the James F. Lewis III Stakes at Laurel Park.

“We’ve had kind of an unlucky deal with him,” DePaz said. “He’s always acted like a nice horse. He’s had unfortunate trips and things like that. When we came here for the Special he got into a speed duel and then just bottomed out [but] he got beat by a very nice horse. He’s doing good. He’ll work tomorrow. He’s coming into it well, he looks good and he’s happy, so that’s all we can ask.”

DePaz has recent Churchill maiden winner Chase Greatness entered in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Sanford at Saratoga, where he drew post 6 in a field of eight 2-year-olds. The Sagamore homebred is 8-1 on the morning line.

“I’m probably going to wait with him,” DePaz said. “There’s an allowance race in the book Wednesday that is probably the logical spot for him. The [Sanford] seems to be pretty salty with some of those 2-year-olds. He’s doing well. He ran a good race last time at Churchill. At least he’s battle-tested, because he didn’t give it up in that race. The first time he ran he missed the break and had no shot, but he did make a little run at the end and got tired.”

On Sunday, DePaz will send out Sagamore’s stakes-placed Riley’s Choice in a third-level optional claiming allowance on the inner turf, coming off back-to-back off-the-board finishes at Laurel in her only two races this year. She will break from post 4 in a field of seven fillies and mares.

“When she routes, she goes to the lead or sits close, so we tried sprinting her like we did with Ginger N Rye, but she just doesn’t have the same turn of foot. I think the mile will suit her pretty good,” DePaz said. “It’s a small field, so she should get a piece of it.”

Saratoga Race Course Week 2 stakes probables

Wednesday, July 25: Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss Handicap

Probable: Chalon (Arnaud Delacour); Finley’sluckycharm (Bret Calhoun); Thirteen Songs (Dallas Stewart); Vertical Oak (Steve Asmussen)

Possible: Kirby’s Penny (Wesley Ward)

Thursday, July 26: Grade 1, $175,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial (steeplechase)

Probable: All the Way Jose (Jonathan Sheppard); Diplomat (Kate Dalton); Iranistan (Sheppard); Modem (Elizabeth Voss); Oskar Denarius (Ben Pauling); Overwhelming (Jack Fisher); Personal Start (Richard Valentine); Show Court (Arch Kingsley, Jr.)

Thursday, July 26: The $100,000 John Morrissey (NYB)

Probable: Celtic Chaos (Brad Cox); Gold for the King (Charlie Baker); Jewel Can Disco (Gary Gullo); Long Haul Bay (Chad Brown); Runaway Lute (Gary Contessa); Samadi Sky (Eddie Barker); T Loves a Fight (Michelle Nevin) 

Possible: Eye Luv Lulu (Jason Servis)

Friday, July 27: The $100,000 Curlin

Probable: Bourbon Resolution (Ian Wilkes); Hofburg (Bill Mott); Zing Zang (Steve Asmussen) 

Possible: It’s Good to Be Us (John Servis); Nicodemus (Linda Rice)

Saturday, July 28: Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap

Probable: Done Deal (Wilkes); Imperial Hint (Luis Carvajal, Jr.); Mr. Crow (Ben Colebrook); Switzerland (Asmussen); Warrior’s Club (D. Wayne Lukas) 

Possible: Eye Luv Lulu (Jason Servis); Sweetontheladies (Henry Collazo)

Saturday, July 28: Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy, presented by NYRA Bets

Probable: Core Beliefs (Peter Eurton); Flameaway (Mark Casse); Tenfold (Asmussen); Vino Rosso (Pletcher)

Possible: Lone Sailor (Tom Amoss); Navy Commander (Robert Reid, Jr.)

Saturday, July 28: Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green

Probable:  Bigger Picture (Mike Maker); Hi Happy (Pletcher); Highland Sky (Barclay Tagg); Manitoulin (Jimmy Toner); Money Multiplier (C. Brown); Sadler's Joy (Tom Albertrani); Sarrasin (Richard Freedman)

Saturday, July 28: Grade 3, $200,000 Amsterdam

Probable: Barry Lee (Horacio DePaz); Cove Blue (Dale Romans); Engage (C. Brown); Madison’s Luna (Philip Bauer); Old Time Revival (Kenneth Decker); Sporting Chance (Lukas); Strike Power (Mark Hennig); World of Trouble (Js. Servis)

Possible: New York Central (Asmussen); Seven Trumpets (Romans)

Sunday, July 29: Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee Handicap

Probable: Dreamcall (Asmussen); Farrell (Wayne Catalano); Impasse (Lukas); Ivy Bell (Pletcher); Pacific Wind (C. Brown); Tiger Moth (Brad Cox); Verve’s Tale (Tagg)

Possible: Frost Wise (Michael Dilger); Wow Cat (C. Brown)

Monday, July 30: The $100,000 Coronation Cup

Probable: Classy Dancer (Js. Servis); Closer Still (M. Casse); Factorofwon (Christophe Clement); Jimi Bags (Js. Servis); March X Press (Pletcher); Mominou (Toner); Originator (Wilkes); Tesora (Jonathan Thomas)