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​Wit headlines $135K Better Talk Now

by David Blicksilver

Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable and Gainesway Stable’s multiple-graded stakes winner Wit headlines a talented field of 9 in Sunday’s $135,000 Better Talk Now, a one-mile inner turf test for sophomores that have never won a sweepstake other than state-bred at a mile or over, at Saratoga Race Course. 

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, last year’s Grade 3 Sanford winner made his turf debut on August 5 at the Spa with a closing second to Ready to Purrform in the one-mile Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame. 

“He seemed to take to the grass the first time and ran well,” said Pletcher. “Hoping maybe he gets a little better early position. He closed well [last time], he just got shuffled back a little bit and had a lot to do turning for home. He was finishing best of all, but just ran out of time.”

 Wit, who breezed a half-mile over the Oklahoma training turf in 49.26 seconds August 19, is a winner at all three NYRA tracks. He graduated on debut last June at Belmont Park before his eight-length Sanford score here. The two wins preceded Grade 1-placings in the most prestigious race for 2-year-olds at the Spa and Belmont, where he was second in the Hopeful and third in the Champagne, respectively.

 He posted a game score in the seven-furlong Grade 3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct Racetrack in his seasonal debut in April where he got his nose down on the wire to best Highly Respected. 

His lone off-the-board finish was a fourth in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun on the Belmont Stakes undercard June 11 behind runaway multiple Grade 1-winner Jack Christopher, who entered back in Saturday’s Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial here. 

A $575,000 purchase from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Wit has banked $426,000 in earnings through 7 starts, going 3-2-1. 

Jose Ortiz returns to ride from post 4.

Arnmore Thoroughbreds’ Riot House returns to the races after being away for more than four months since taking a first-level allowance turf mile on April 17 at Gulfstream Park.

The gelded son of Violence is in search of his third straight win after going winless in two tries as a juvenile. He was transferred to the barn of Danny Gargan for this campaign and will now make his stakes debut.

 “I expect big things from that horse this year,” said Gargan. “I think he’s really talented. He hasn’t run since Gulfstream. We wanted to freshen him up.”  

Riot House has breezed weekly on the Oklahoma training turf this summer to prepare for his return as he looks to provide Arnmore Thoroughbreds, managed by Megan Jones, with their second stakes win at the meet following Poppy Flower’s score in the Galway. 

“He’s training really well. He’s won two in a row. That owner won a stake already at the meet, too,” said Gargan. “Riot House is a homebred of hers. She’s got a really good breeding program.”

Riot House was bred in Kentucky and has accumulated $74,400 in earnings in 4 starts, going 2-0-1 in that span. He will break from post 8 under the meet’s leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Wertheimer and Frere’s Serifos will try to give trainer H. Graham Motion a win in the race named for the horse he conditioned for most of the races throughout the multi-millionaire’s seven-year career, including Grade 1 wins in the 2004 Sword Dancer at the Spa, the 2007 Manhattan at Belmont Park and notably the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Lone Star Park. 

Serifos enters from an off-the-turf allowance score at Delaware Park earlier this month that saw him earn a career high 79 Beyer Speed Figure. Serifos finished off-the-board in a trio of turf efforts to start his career and was subsequently gelded in February. He has since posted a record of 5-2-2-1 ahead of his return to turf. 

By Into Mischief and out of the Maria’s Mon mare Soldata, Serifos is a half-sibling to the graded-stakes placed Alda, who finished second in the 2020 Grade 1 Natalma on the Woodbine turf for Motion.

 “I think his turnaround in form is more because we gelded him,” said Motion. “I’ve always kind of been anxious to get him back on the grass.”

Motion said it would be special to win a race named for Better Talk Now.

“It’s a race I always like to have a runner in,” said Motion. “He was the most important horse in my career, apart from Animal Kingdom, so he was the horse that really got me on the map so it’s very significant. I’m glad he has a race named after him.”

 A son of Into Mischief, Serifos has banked $78,720 lifetime and boasts a record of 8-2-2-1.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez has the call from post 2. 

Curragh Stables’ Fluid Situation will make his turf debut for trainer John Terranova. The son of Warrior’s Reward finished third in the Grade 3 Dwyer at Belmont in July behind 23 length-winner Charge It and second-place finisher Runninsonofagun. He enters from an off-the-board effort in a seven-furlong allowance sprint on August 6 contested over a good and sealed Spa track.

“Honestly, if Charge It’s not in there he probably wins the Dwyer because he’d be out there cruising on his own in hand,” said Terranova. “Last time we had an off track here so that was even harder for him to get through.” 

Fluid Situation worked a bullet half-mile August 19 over the Oklahoma training turf, going 48.11 seconds, the best of 53 recorded times that day. 

“We know he’s a talented horse, he just hasn’t quite put it together,” said Terranova. “After seeing the way he’s run on dirt in some of these deeper tracks, we’ve seen flashes of good stuff from him, but hasn’t quite put it all together. So, it made sense to go to grass.”

The son of Warrior’s Reward was purchased for $200,000 out of the April Ocala Breeders’ Sale for 2-year-olds.

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, aboard for the turf breeze, rides from post 3.

Peter Brant’s Napoleonic War will cut back to the mile distance for the first time since his debut at Tampa Bay Downs, where he was half of a dead-heat in his graduation victory.

The son of War Front was second two starts back in the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge on June 4 at Belmont and was last seen finishing off-the-board on July 9 in the Grade 1 Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational.

Conditioned by the meet’s leading trainer Chad Brown, Napoleonic War is a respectable 5-2-1-0 with $120,225 in earnings. 

Flavien Prat rides from post 7.

Rounding out the field is the George Weaver-trained duo of Ohtwoohthreefive [post 9, Eric Cancel] and Legends Can’t Die [post 1, Manny Franco]; and the Mike Maker-trained-trio of Camp David [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche] and Emboite [post 5, Tyler Gaffalione] with Seal Beach [Luis Saez] entered for the main track only. 

The Better Talk Now is slated as Race 8 on Sunday’s 10-race program, which also features the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina in Race 9, which offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. 

Saratoga Live will present daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule. 

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.