Saturday, October 2, 2010
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- Pletcher pointing four to Frizette; Stay Thirsty may join Uncle Mo in Champagne
- Delaware maiden winner Joyful Victory confirmed for Frizette
- Ice Box to try turf in Jamaica
- McLaughlin looking at Pebbles for Neon Light
- Admiral Alex returns in Jamaica
- Fields coming together for next weekend's stakes
Heading the group is E. Paul Robsham Stables' R Heat Lightning, already a Grade 1 winner with her four-length victory in the Spinaway at Saratoga Race Course on September 5. The Trippi filly will be making her fourth start in the one-mile Frizette, having broken her maiden in July at
"She seems to have been handling the gradual progression of stretching out nicely," said Pletcher, who will also saddle Tap for Luck,
Tap for Luck, a Tapit filly owned by Summit West Racing, will be making her second start in the Frizette, coming off a 2 ¼-length win in a five-furlong maiden event at
"It's a big jump up going from a five-furlong maiden win, but she is bred to stretch out and we're optimistic she'll handle that," said Pletcher.
Maple Forest, front-running winner of her maiden effort at Saratoga on August 5 and most recently the beaten favorite in the Sorority at Monmouth on September 6, looks to be the speed of the group, while the late-running Valiant Passion, a 9 ¼-length maiden winner at Saratoga on August 12, was subsequently purchased by Team Valor International and finished third in the Spinaway for her new connections.
"I think she ran a credible race in the Spinaway," said Pletcher of the Lion Heart filly. "Because of the negotiations, she'd had only one work between her first race and the Spinaway, and since then she's had a steady series of works."
Pletcher, who will saddle Repole Stable's sensational maiden winner
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Joyful Victory, a debut winner over a route of ground at Delaware Park on September 11, will make her first start against winners in next Saturday's Grade 1 Frizette, trainer Tony Dutrow confirmed Saturday morning.
"We think she is a Grade 1 filly," said Dutrow of the decision to have Joyful Victory compete in the one-mile event. "I think we have a horse that can tackle such a feat."
Owned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farm, Joyful Victory will look to live up to the potential she has been showing in the mornings.
"She has been promising for the previous two months that she is a special filly," said Dutrow. "Our expectations have been high."
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Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito said this afternoon that Florida Derby winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Ice Box will make his next start on the grass in the Grade 1, $250,000 Jamaica Handicap on October 9.
The 3-year-old son of Pulpit, who finished ninth as the favorite in the Belmont Stakes and was subsequently sixth in the Haskell Invitational and eighth in the Travers, has worked twice over the grass at Saratoga Race Course, going a half-mile in 51.50 on September 10 and again in 49.20 on September 24.
"Bob [Robert LaPenta, owner of Ice Box] and I talked about it, and we decided we have to make a change," said Zito. "The Triple Crown, obviously is so tough on horses and you have to try something. So Bob thought, being that [dam
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Neon Light, most recently seventh in the Grade 2 Lake George on July 28 in her American debut for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, will return in next Monday's $100,000 Pebbles for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on the turf.
The German-bred daughter of Refuse to
"The
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Trainer Dale Romans has the Pebbles under consideration for Musical Rain, who was fourth in her American debut in an optional claimer at
"The Pebbles would be a good spot for her, even though we'd like to get a little more distance" said Romans. "She's here, and she ran well for her first time in the country."
The Irish-bred filly was 1-2-1 in four previous starts this year in
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Most recently last in a field of 11 in the Grade 1 Travers, Admiral Alex will be making his turf debut in next Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Jamaica Handicap for 3-year-olds. Owner and trainer Leon Blusiewicz plans to send the half-brother to Grade 3 Lexington and
"His whole pedigree is loaded with turf," Blusiewicz said. "She [Madam Lagonza] comes from one of the powerful families in
Admiral Alex, who entered the Travers off a 1 1/8-mile maiden win at
"He had a lot of things going against him in the Travers," Blusiewicz said. "He was bothered a bit early in that race. After the race, I gave him two weeks off. He's been working well since then."
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Three Grade 1 stakes will be on offer at
In addition to the
Expected to head the field in the
In the Frizette, restricted to fillies, trainer Todd Pletcher is expected to have four starters, with Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes winner R Heat Lightning and third-place finisher Valiant Passion heading a group that also includes
