** For video of Lisa's Booby Trap working on the turf Wednesday morning, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulN4NbrUCgo **
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Contact: NYRA Communications
518-584-6200 ext. 4237
- Lisa's Booby Trap works on turf; Riskaverse next
- Blind Luck arrives in
- Terranova barn looking ahead
- Mine That Bird breezes in blinkers
- Friend Or Foe to work Saturday for Travers; field taking shape
- Wine Police breezes; Three Chimneys Hopeful next
- Baffert's string at the Spa expands by three
- Friday's Yaddo draws full field
- Dual Oaks winners duel in
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After Lisa's Booby Trap zipped through a three-furlong breeze on the grass this morning, trainer Tim Snyder said he has settled on the $70,000 Riskaverse on the turf at Saratoga Race Course on September 2 for the undefeated filly's next start.
With Hall of Fame rider Kent Desormeaux aboard, the strapping bay filly was caught by NYRA clockers in :35 around the dogs over
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Snyder's daughter, Sierra, and his sister, Cheryl Hall, are among the many friends and family who will be traveling to
"She was very level, had good action," he said. "Just off today, I'd run her on the grass. She'll go back to the turf to train on Friday."
Lisa's Booby Trap, who will be the subject of an upcoming one-hour "Dateline NBC" special, was purchased by Snyder for $4,500 and named in part after his late wife, Lisa, and in part after a gentlemen's club in
"Five in a row would be nice," said Snyder. "I think she can handle it."
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Four-time Grade 1 winner Blind Luck, victorious in the Grade 2 Delaware Oaks in her most recent start, arrived at Saratoga Race Course Tuesday afternoon in advance of an expected start in the Grade 1 Betfair TVG Alabama on Saturday August 21.
Bedded down in the barn of Hall of Fame trainer H. Allen Jerkens, Blind Luck appeared to be taking to her surroundings Wednesday morning, diving enthusiastically into her feed tub and pausing occasionally to peer out the rear window in her stall.
"Shipping doesn't seem to bother Blind Luck," trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Tuesday on the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Weekly Teleconference. "We've shipped her several times and she's done well each time."
The 3-year-old daughter of Pollard's Vision has won graded races over five different racetracks and boasts a career record of 8-2-2 from 12 starts to date.
Hollendorfer is expected to arrive in
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Although the retirement of Grade 1 Prioress winner Franny Freud has left an empty spot in John Terranova's barn, the trainer is looking ahead with another talented 3-year-old filly, Sovereign Stable's Negligee.
Winner of the Grade 1 Alcibiades last fall at Keeneland in just the third start of her career, the daughter of Northern Afleet was briefly sidelined this spring with a chip in one of her front ankles, which was discovered after her third-place finish in the Grade 2 Sands Point run on the grass at
"She ran well in the Sands Point, but she switched leads a few times down the stretch and Johnny [Velazquez, jockey] said she seemed kind of uncomfortable that day," Terranova said. "She was never lame or unsound, but we went looking, took X-rays, and discovered the chip in her ankle, which was just a tiny little thing. Dr. Patty Hogan removed it and said there was no damage otherwise, that her ligaments were pristine. She didn't miss much time and she's come back beautifully."
Negligee worked four furlongs over the Oklahoma Training Track in 48.45 on Friday, August 13. To date she has competed exclusively on synthetic tracks and turf, compiling a 2-2-1 record from seven starts.
"It was her first work back," Terranova said. "We're going to go forward and hope to see her back on the racetrack in September – I'm not sure where she'll run yet. She's doing great though and we're looking forward to having her back."
Terranova added that Grade 3 Toboggan winner Wall Street Wonder is also nearing a return to the races, but said he did not yet have a specific spot picked out for the colt.
A new addition to the barn is Four Roses Thoroughbreds' Anak Nakal, who finished in a dead heat for third with Ready's Echo in the 2008 Belmont Stakes won by Da' Tara. The son of Victory Gallop has not run since a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on November 27, 2009, and he joined the Terranova barn about seven weeks ago.
"What a classy horse," Terranova said of Anak Nakal, who breezed three furlongs over the Oklahoma Track in 38.45 on Tuesday morning. "If everything goes well, look for him in the fall."
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On Monday, Mine That Bird worked for the first time since his fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap. With the new addition of blinkers, last year's Kentucky Derby winner handled five furlongs in 1:00.40, handily.
"We put a set of blinkers on him to get him more focused," said Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. "We want to get him in the races a little quicker. He can't drop way out of it and make a run at the end because these horses don't come back. They stay out there.
"Blinkers on a horse usually make them think more forwardly," he added. "It usually makes a horse a little more aggressive. He should get into his races a little quicker. I thought the work was good being that he came home in 23 seconds flat."
Lukas said that the 4-year-old gelding is still being pointed for the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward for older horses going 1 1/8th miles on September 4.
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Friend Or Foe is scheduled to have his final timed workout this Saturday in advance of an expected start in the Grade 1, $1 million Travers on Saturday, August 28. Trainer John Kimmel said Wednesday that the son of
Friend Or Foe was unbeaten in three starts before finishing fourth to A Little Warm in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 31.
Along with Friend Or Foe, the field for the 1 ¼ mile race is expected to include Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, Jim Dandy winner A Little Warm, Preakness runner-up First Dude, Afleet Express, one or more of Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito's trio of Fly Down, Ice Box, and Miner's Reserve, as well as Trickmeister, and Admiral Alex. According to NYRA stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes, also possible for the Travers are Pleasant Prince, Steinbeck, and Afleet Again, with the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Trappe Shot going in either the Travers or the Grade 1 King's Bishop on the undercard.
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Steve Asmussen, who won Monday's Grade 2 Saratoga Special with Kantharos, will try to win another graded stakes for 2-year-olds later in the meet with Wine Police, who breezed four furlongs in 1:01.70 yesterday in the seventh-quickest of 20 moves over the main track.
Wine Police, a 7 ¾-length winner on debut July 24, is training towards a start in the Grade 1 Three Chimneys Hopeful on September 6, Asmussen confirmed.
"To this point Wine Police has been very impressive in a maiden race, but he is still trying to prove himself," said Asmussen. "Kantharos, meanwhile, has already won two graded stakes."
Asmussen added that Kantharos has been "super" following his Saratoga Special victory and that "all options are on the table" for the juvenile's next start.
* * *
A trio of horses joined Bob Baffert's string in
Baffert said Capital Account and Rapport are respectively likely for the Grade 1 King's Bishop and the Grade 3 Victory Ride on August 28. Capital Account, unbeaten in two starts in
The third horse, Blazing Along, is a 2-year-old filly who has raced once to date, a third-place effort at
Those three have been reunited with stablemates Alienation, second in the Grade 2 Adirondack on Sunday, and Bulldogger, an easy winner of an allowance on Saturday. Alienation is scheduled to make her next start in the Grade 1 Spinaway on September 5, but plans remain undetermined for Bulldogger.
"Bulldogger looks great," said Baffert. "He came out of the race well. We're going to make a decision in a couple of weeks."
* * *
Friday's 31st running of the $100,000 Yaddo for New York-bred fillies and mares going 1 1/8th –miles on the Inner Turf has drawn 12 entrants headed by E EL R Stable's Chestoria, the 3-1 morning-line favorite.
The 6-year-old mare has enjoyed a strong year so far, finishing third in the Grade 3 Beaugay in her first start of 2010, then going on to win the
Third-choice in the Yaddo is Meriwether Jessica, who streaks into the race off back-to-back wins for new trainer Rick Violette. Since joining the trainer's barn this spring, the 5-year-old daughter of Freud has taken a pair of optional claiming events on the turf at
Woolly Bear, a recent allowance winner; Ambidaxtrous, third in allowance company here on August 5; Our Golden Dream and My Magic Moment, sixth and fourth in the William B. Fasig stakes; Great Gracie Dane, winner of an optional claimer on July 29; My Dinah, winner of the Fleet Indian Stakes on July 30 and Paraiba, third in an optional claimer at Belmont on July 14, complete the field. Big Brownie may run if this race is moved to the main track.
* * *
Trainer Michael Bell described Thursday's Group 1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks (
Last year's winner of the Epsom and Irish Oaks seems set to face another stern test. This year's dual Oaks heroine Snow Fairy, as well as Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Midday, appear to be the chief opposition, but
"It seems a while since Epsom now and this is the beginning of the second half of Sariska's campaign. She's in good form and is certainly fit enough to do herself justice. She's obviously not right at her peak, and we've left a bit of room for improvement, but I wouldn't be running her if I didn't think she was fit enough to run well," said the
"It's a great race at York and very much one for the purists. There are two dual Oaks winners taking each other on, plus a Breeders' Cup winner and a very good supporting cast as well."
Midday has given jockey Tom Queally some of the biggest moments of his career to date, with two successes in Goodwood's Group 1 Nassau Stakes and a memorable triumph in last year's Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. While the jockey respects Snow Fairy, he sees Sariska as the biggest threat at
"Snow Fairy has done absolutely everything right so far and her form is impeccable," Queally said. "But I see Sariska as the bigger danger. We obviously take her on for the fourth time and she's beaten us every time so the size of the task in hand is obvious.
"Both fillies haven't had the most straightforward of seasons. Midday was a little jarred up after
Snow Fairy's trainer, Ed Dunlop, is under no illusions about the task at hand. The daughter of Intikhab has won the English and Irish equivalents and Dunlop feels she deserves to take her chance against the likes of Sariska and Midday.
"We know that Snow Fairy faces a tough task against the older fillies, but the weather forecast is favorable so we are going to give it a shot," said the trainer.
Meeznah has been beaten by Snow Fairy at Epsom and the Curragh and trainer David Lanigan said: "It's one of the races of the year and Sariska and Midday are an exceptional couple of 4-year-old fillies.
"Some people said Meeznah was disappointing in the Irish Oaks but I was actually delighted with her as we wouldn't have beaten the winner anyway.
"She's in good form and Kieren (Fallon) has been down to sit on her a couple of times and has been very happy with her. She's got to improve again against these fillies but she's well in herself and may as well take her chance."
Saeed bin Suroor saddles Hibaayeb and Flying Cloud for Godolphin, with Frankie Dettori opting to ride the former, despite her below-par run in
"Hibaayeb was a little disappointing in
"Flying Cloud is a tough filly, who always tries her best in her races. She didn't stay the trip at Goodwood and the return to a mile and a half will suit her. She goes to
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