Friday, August 27, 2010

SARATOGA RACE COURSE NOTES: Friday, August 27, 2010

Friday, August 27, 2010

 

Contact: NYRA Press Office

(518) 584-6200, ext. 4237

 

SARATOGA RACE COURSE NOTES

 

  • Zito to run all three in Travers
  • McLaughlin hopes to add Travers to already impressive resume
  • Jerkens feels good about Afleet Express's Travers chances
  • Rightly So expected to be in front in speedy Ballerina
  • Maram could help Brown reach another milestone
  • Benzel optimistic in Ballston Spa with Dynaslew
  • Silver Reunion returns in Ballston Spa
  • Baffert pleased with Rapport
  • Beyondallboundaries relishing change in surface
  • Lisa's Booby Trap ready for Riskaverse
  • Forever Together works for Glens Falls
  • Warrior's Reward, Charitable Man work for possible start in Forego

 

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Ernie Reichard, racing manager for owner Robert LaPenta, confirmed this morning that Miner's Reserve will join stablemates Ice Box and Fly Down in Saturday's 141st running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers Stakes.

 

"He's going to run," Reichard said. "He's in great shape. He ran a great race last time. Personally, I think with post 1, it's an advantage to him, because he'll just go right out and give it his all."

 

Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito had expressed concerns about the 1 ¼-mile distance as well as the presence of other front-runners in the Travers for Miner's Reserve, runner-up to 7-2 morning-line favorite A Little Warm in successive races, including the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga July 31.

 

"Bob [LaPenta] and I were talking about it the other day," Zito said. "We were second in the Jim Dandy, and in the race, two live horses, [Afleet Express] and Friend Or Foe, finished behind him. It's not that he doesn't belong, or that he's embarrassed to be in the race. He has good credentials."

 

Unraced at two, Miner's Reserve, a son of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, ran 10th behind Ice Box in the Grade 1 Florida Derby in only his third career start. Seventh in the Grade 3 Derby Trial, he won an entry-level allowance in May at Belmont Park.

 

"He's a stayer," Reichard said. "We thought he had a lot of promise in Florida. After we broke his maiden, we put him into the Florida Derby, and he was bet more so than Ice Box that day. I guess just coming out of a maiden win was too early for him, but he showed in the Jim Dandy that he's ready to run with these horses. There's only one Travers. We'll see how he fares and go from there after this race. Right now he's doing well, feeling good, and he likes the track here, apparently."

 

Miner's Reserve was the first of Zito's Travers triumvirate to gallop on Friday morning, followed by Ice Box and Richard C. Pell's Fly Down. Ice Box was on the Oklahoma training track when another horse lost his rider and got loose, taking off into the barn area before being caught.

 

"He got a little worked up, but he's fine," Zito said of Ice Box. "He can brush it off, but he's an excitable horse. He's by Pulpit, out of a Tabasco Cat mare, so he's hot. He can't be cold, with that breeding. When I say that, some people look at me like I have five eyes. He's a wonderful horse. I'd like to have 15 of him. But, the moral of the story is, he's a hot horse.

 

"It just goes to show you that anything can happen. You just hope everything goes well tomorrow, that he gets a good paddock and has a good warm-up, and he stays calm. He's not going to be that calm with 40,000 people here, but you want his energy going in the right direction."

 

*          *          *

 

Kiaran McLaughlin has won several of the biggest races in the world, but has yet to win the Travers. Trappe Shot, the 4-1 second choice on the morning line for this year's Travers, could change that tomorrow.

 

"Winning the Travers would be very high on the list," said McLaughlin, who has won the Belmont Stakes with Jazil, the Breeders' Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup with Invasor, and the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf with Lahudood.

 

While McLaughlin would like to fill in that missing spot on his resume, he believes the race would carry extra significance for the colt's owner, Nicholas Brady's Mill House.

 

"Mill House has been involved in racing for 40 years, and winning the Travers would mean a lot to Nicholas Brady," said McLaughlin. "He's a great sportsman. One reason why Trappe Shot is in the Travers instead of the King's Bishop is because he is such a great sportsman."

 

Trappe Shot, who could establish his stallion credentials with a victory in the Travers, galloped 1 ½ miles Friday morning, McLaughlin added.

 

"All is perfect right now," he said. "Winning the race would be great for us, too, because we've been involved in New York racing for a lot of years."

 

*          *          *

 

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens sent Travers contender Afleet Express out for a 1 5/8th-mile gallop Friday.

 

"It was a cool morning and he was tugging the rider around pretty good," Jerkens said. "He's feeling good."

 

Afleet Express emerged as a Travers horse with his Pegasus victory and a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 31 and Jerkens is looking forward to the experience.

 

"It's not like coming in here with a 40-1 shot," he said. "There are people who go and run in the Derby just to run in the Derby, even though they know they're going to get beat 100 lengths. I don't see what you get out of that. To be in here in a race that has gotten as prestigious as this has and to have a horse with a good chance is pretty exciting."

 

*          *          *

 

The name of the game in the Grade 1, $250,000 Ballerina on Saturday is speed. Four of the eight fillies and mares entered have shown the ability to make or press the pace at the seven-furlong distance.

 

Trainer Tony Dutrow's Rightly So will emerge from the inside slot, and Friday morning outside his barn on the Saratoga backstretch, he voiced supreme confidence in who would be out front when the gate opens – his filly.

 

"She's going to be on the lead, and that's that," said Dutrow, who also will send out morning-line favorite A Little Warm in the Travers. "She's going to the lead, whether it's from the 1 hole or the 12 hole. Will she come up empty because of her early pace scenario? Absolutely, that's a possibility. But it doesn't matter which post."

 

Rightly So, owned by Zayat Stables, has won six of 10 lifetime starts and is 2-for-2 at the Ballerina distance. She emerged from New York-bred company in May to just miss in the Grade 2 Vagrancy and then score in the Grade 3 Bed o' Roses.

 

Directly to her right in the starting gate will be Warbling, who threw her head up at the start of the Grade 2 Honorable Miss on August 8 at the Spa and dropped nine lengths off the pace before rallying for third.

 

Prior to that, she had made the pace in back-to-back Grade 1 races and went gate to wire in March winning the Grade 2, seven-furlong Inside Information at Gulfstream.

 

"She was a little unlucky last race," trainer Eddie Kenneally said of Warbling. "She didn't get away from the gate well, but she made up a lot of ground. In her previous races, she broke on top and has in a lot of her races. The number 2 post is not ideal, but that's the way it goes."

 

Reigning sprint champion Informed Decision pressed the pace the entire way in winning the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last fall at Santa Anita and can race on or off the pace. Lightly raced Qualia has never been farther than two lengths back after a quarter-mile, although appears more tractable than the inside pair. In her most recent start, Qualia was just a length off Rightly So's sizzling half-mile of 44 4/5 seconds.

 

Asked about the abundant other speed in the race, Dutrow said, "Maybe they are fast, but she'll be first going down the back side, and everyone knows that. They can do what they want. She needs destiny to evolve to win the race — Warbling breaks bad or what have you. But it's possible in the right scenarios she goes to the front and wins. She's doing superior, and we've got a lot to gain to give it a try."

 

*          *          *

 

Maram gave Chad Brown his first Breeders' Cup victory in the inaugural Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita Park in 2008. Now, the 4-year-old daughter of Sahm is poised to give the 31-year-old trainer another milestone.

 

Owned by Saud bin Khaled and Karen Woods, Maram has bankrolled $899,520 in nine lifetime starts. A victory in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa Handicap would be worth $120,000, pushing her over the $1 million mark in career earnings.

 

"That would be real important for us," Brown said. "It would be the first million-dollar earner that we've made ourselves, from the first dollar she's earned. I think she's well on her way. She seems to be in good form and, knock on wood, she seems to be really sound and has matured quite a bit. I think she has plenty of racing left in her."

 

Maram is the third choice on the morning line at odds of 5-1 in the field of 10 older fillies and mares.

 

"We're going to run her in here and see how we do, and from there I'll probably look for spots that the Grade 1 horses aren't in," Brown said. "I'm not going to be ducking everybody, but, at the same time, I'm going to be smart about it. This filly has a lot of earning potential left, and I'm not going to test her to the max every time I run her anymore. I'm going to try to find spots where she's one of the choices, and get back on track with her confidence."

 

*          *          *

 

A former assistant to Todd Pletcher and Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who together have won or shared 15 Saratoga training titles since 1992, Seth Benzel learned from some of the best in the business.

 

Benzel, 35, is enjoying the best of his three Saratoga meets since going out on his own, with five wins and more than $140,000 in earnings from 17 starters. A victory by Dynaslew in the Saturday's Ballston Spa would make it an extra special summer.

 

"The filly is doing well," Benzel said. "We're going through our last days of preparation. She schooled in the paddock well the last couple of days, and we'll do it again today. We're looking forward to it."

 

In her fourth start since leaving Mott to join Benzel's barn, Dynaslew was fourth, beaten a neck, in the Grade 1 Diana Handicap Saratoga on July 31 at odds of 18-1.

 

"You saw the race she ran against some of the best race mares in the country," Benzel said. "Not to downgrade the field in this one; it's a bunch of nice horses and we're going to have to have a big race in us. But, it doesn't compare to that race, and we almost pulled that one off. I think she's got a real big shot."

           

*          *          *

 

Last seen at Saratoga, Brereton Jones' Silver Reunion was galloping the field for the Riskaverse into the turf with a devastating front-running score. On that September day, the daughter of Harlan's Holiday ran a mile in 1:34 in her first turf start.

 

The future looked limitless, but in her next start, Silver Reunion found exceedingly soft ground in the Grade 3 Valley View at Keeneland and wound up an exhausted eighth as the beaten favorite.

 

Trainer Graham Motion gave her a long rest, and now Silver Reunion returns Saturday in the Ballston Spa.

 

"She's doing great, and this is an ambitious spot to come back off a layoff," Motion said. "I actually had her up here (in Saratoga) for another race, the De La Rose (on August 4), but I felt she needed a couple more weeks. If she's sitting on a big race, I rather her do it in a Grade 2 than an allowance race."

 

*          *          *

 

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is certain that Rapport, morning-line favorite in the Victory Ride, has more than enough speed to be a major player in the six-furlong Grade 3 stake for 3-year-old fillies.

 

"She's very fast," he said of the filly, who was winless in three starts as a juvenile in D. Wayne Lukas' barn.

 

Transferred to Baffert's barn, she broke her maiden by 5 ¼ lengths at Hollywood Park on May 22, covering 6 ½ furlongs in 1:15 4/5. She came back to beat allowance horses by 4 ¾ lengths on June 16, running six furlongs in 1:08 4/5, while in hand late in the race. Her streak ended in the Grade 3 Azalea at Calder on July 10 when, breaking from the rail under jockey Robby Albarado, she opened up an early seven-length lead, but tired to finish fourth on what Baffert said was a deep track.

 

"Her last race was sort of disastrous," Baffert said. "They just screamed away from there. It's a throw-out race. She's really trained well for this race. She's fast and she needs the lead."

 

*          *          *

 

Beyondallboundarys does have some limits, which led to her appearance in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Victory Ride at Saratoga Race Course.

 

Following a sub-par performance on the artificial surface at Arlington Park on May 1, owner Ronnie Lamarque decided to try her on dirt, and transferred her from Louis Roussel to Tom Amoss.

 

One second-place finish and two victories later – all on dirt, including the Dearly Precious at Monmouth on July 23 – Beyondallboundarys is aiming for her first graded win.

 

"He offered me the horse and I gladly accepted," Amoss said. "She's really developed nicely for us. She's a straightforward filly to train and has been easy to gauge in terms of how good she's getting. In her most recent race at Monmouth, and the one before at Churchill, she trained very well for us and performed accordingly. She's done the same thing leading up to this race. We're very excited to be coming to Saratoga for

Saturday's race."

 

*          *          *

 

Undefeated Lisa's Booby Trap, looking to extend her winning streak to five in the $75,000 Riskaverse on Thursday, September 2, continues to do well as she prepares for her turf debut, said owner-trainer Tim Snyder.

 

The 3-year-old filly, who is blind in one eye, completed her serious preparations for the one-mile race on Wednesday, covering a half-mile in 48.49 under Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux.

 

"She's doing great," said Snyder, who purchased the then-unraced filly for $4,500 and sent her out to win three straight at Finger Lakes before coming to Saratoga and winning the $70,000 Loudonville on August 6. "She doesn't care if it rains or whatever happens. She's run at every distance and over everything, except grass. I can't wait to run her on it."

 

*          *          *

 

Forever Together, the champion turf female of 2008, worked five furlongs on the Oklahoma turf course Friday morning in preparation for her next scheduled start in the Grade 3, $100,000 Glens Falls on Closing Day, September 6.

 

Trained by Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard, Forever Together was clocked in 1:02 for five furlongs, ranking 17th of 34 horses at the distance.

 

"She's very good. I'm very happy with her," Sheppard said. "She's been training well, and she came out of her last race well. We probably didn't have the smoothest of trips in that one, to be honest."

 

Attempting to become the first horse to win three consecutive runnings of the Grade 1 Diana Handicap, Forever Together stumbled out of the gate, then ran into traffic trouble nearing the quarter pole before making an inspired late run to finish third, a nose behind Shared Account, who was a head shy of winner Proviso.

 

"The horse she was directly behind swung way out on the turn, and we went up the inside of her," Sheppard said. "As soon as we did that, she came swinging back in and we got bounced around a little bit. Once that situation quieted down, she put her head down and ran hard to the line. I think she was in front a little after the wire."

           

A 6-year-old daughter of Belong to Me, Forever Together had two wins, two seconds and two thirds from six starts in 2009. She is 0-for-3 in 2010, with two seconds and a third, beaten a total of one length.

 

"You know how it goes," Sheppard said. "We've had some good luck and some not so good luck. But, I think she's the same horse probably as she's always been; very honest and a pleasure to be around. She's quite a character and we all love her in the stable."

 

*          *          *

 

Charitable Man and Warrior's Reward, both candidates for next Saturday's Grade 1 Forego, turned in workouts over the Saratoga main track yesterday.

 

Trained by Tony Dutrow, Charitable Man breezed four furlongs in 49.09, ranked 22nd among 48 horses who worked out at the distance.

 

"We've had him in Saratoga for a while, and he's been doing fantastic," said Dutrow of the Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren colorbearer. "We believe he's at his very best."

 

Dutrow is unsure whether Charitable Man will compete in the Forego and will continue to evaluate the 2009 Grade 2 Peter Pan winner.

 

The Forego would be Charitable Man's second start following a fourth-place finish in last year's Travers when he raced for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. In his comeback bid, Charitable Man was second in a six-furlong optional claimer at Delaware Park on August 2.

 

"I was surprised and disappointed by the race," said Dutrow. "I was expecting him to win by 10 lengths. I'm led to believe a supreme improvement awaits him in his next start."

 

Warrior's Reward, in comparison, is probable for the race and breezed five furlongs in 1:05.55, fourth best among 22 workers.

 

Second in last year's Grade 2 Jim Dandy, Warrior's Reward will remain in one-turn races for the duration of the year.

 

"Any distance he wins at is ideal," said Wilkes of Warrior's Reward, who won the Grade 1, seven-furlong Carter Handicap in April and was sixth in the Grade 1, one-mile Metropolitan Handicap on Memorial Day last time out. "I do like the one-turn races for him, like those at six furlongs, seven furlongs, and maybe a mile."

 

Wilkes revealed that Warrior's Reward, owned by A. Stevens Miles, Jr., could have one more workout prior to Sunday's race, a seven-furlong event on the main track.

 

"We'll watch him," he said. "He'll tell me. We still have eight days before we run."

 

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