https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UicH0Fil3uA&list=UUxRmRUB3kX-X-_9YsNFhq3g
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**For video of Wicked Strong's breeze, please visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MPzr-Y5NhY&list=UUxRmRUB3kX-X-_9YsNFhq3g
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Saturday, August 16, 2014
Contact: NYRA Press Office
(718) 659-2351
Saratoga Race Course Notes
- Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist preps for G1 Travers
- G2 Jim Dandy winner Wicked Strong works six furlongs for G1 Travers
- McPeek has C J's Awesome under consideration for G1 Travers
- Commanding Curve, Coltimus Prime, Charge Now breeze for G1 Travers
- Wise Dan works five-eighths; return still undetermined
- Wildcat Red has first breeze at Spa for G1 Ketel One King's Bishop
- G1 Ketel One King's Bishop candidates Fast Anna, C. Zee, Captain Serious turn in Saturday works
- Palace Malice, wearing blinkers, breezes in company with My Miss Aurelia; Princess of Sylmar, Close Hatches breeze for G1 Personal Ensign
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Christophe Clement proclaimed Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist ready for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers after the colt breezed five furlongs in 1:01.88 over the Oklahoma training track on Saturday.
The Travers will be the third stakes showdown between Tonalist and Wicked Strong. Wicked Strong, who dead-heated for fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont, defeated Tonalist by 2 ¼ lengths in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 26.
Tonalist, under exercise rider Alvaro Hernandez, began his breeze at the half-mile pole, three lengths ahead of Life in Shambles, who had drawn within a length by the quarter pole. Life in Shambles came off the rail to engage Tonalist, who remained in front down the stretch and finished approximately 2 ½ lengths in front of his stablemate.
In his only other breeze between the Jim Dandy and Travers, Tonalist went five furlongs in 1:03.36 on August 9 over the Oklahoma training track.
"It was a nice work," said Clement, who trains the son of Tapit for Robert S. Evans. "We'll have to see how he comes out of it. A touch more aggressive, maybe, than last week. To me, the horse is very, very fit. The plan is not to do any more fast work. Keep him happy, keep him sound, and run him next Saturday. He had a race [and] two breezes. He looks great, he's fit."
Clement said there are multiple reasons why he wouldn't trade positions with anybody going into the Travers, among them the opportunity to stretch out Tonalist another furlong to 1 ¼ miles and the pace presence of Grade 1 Haskell Invitational winner Bayern.
"I'm looking forward to the Travers, I'm looking forward to a mile and a quarter, I'm looking forward to the pace scenario," said Clement. "I'm excited. Let's go."
* * *
Both trainer Jimmy Jerkens and Centennial Farms owner Donald Little, Jr. expressed satisfaction Saturday morning after their Grade 2 Jim Dandy winner Wicked Strong breezed six furlongs over the main track in preparation for Saturday's Grade 1 Travers.
Wicked Strong, who is expected to vie for favoritism in the Travers with Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist, went out shortly after 9 a.m. and covered the distance in 1:13.15 under regular exercise rider Kelvin Pahal.
"I thought he worked like he usually does," said Jerkens. "It looked like the track was very, very fast, so I knew he would skip right along. Kelvin looked up at me at the quarter pole. I didn't wave him on any. I didn't want him to go too fast because he's already a little more on the bridle with the blinkers on."
Little said he was impressed not only with the move, but with how the Hard Spun colt has blossomed at Saratoga.
"Looking at him now, I think he's even put on 15, 20 pounds," said Little. "He's handled it really well. This morning's breeze, it just looked like he was galloping along nice and easy. That's what good horses do: they make it look easy."
Wicked Strong, who won the Grade 1 TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial in April at Aqueduct Racetrack prior to fourth-place finishes in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, likely will have a short blowout on Thursday before the race, said Little.
* * *
Carl Gessler Jr. and Sarah Lyn Stables' C J's Awesome remains under consideration for the Grade 1 Travers, trainer Ken McPeek said Saturday morning.
The bay son of Awesome Again worked five furlongs in a bullet 1:01.55 over the Oklahoma training track on Friday, the fastest of 13 horses.
"Carl Gessler and I have discussed the details on it the last several days," McPeek said. "We're going to watch him train the rest of the weekend and into Tuesday and make the call."
McPeek was pleased with the most recent work for C J's Awesome, his fourth at Saratoga since mid-July. Nominated to the Triple Crown, he didn't make his race debut until February at Gulfstream Park.
"He's been a horse that's been a little bit quirky," McPeek said. "He had some real issues at the starting gate when he was young and we had a real hard time getting a gate card on him. He was balky leaving there, and we were forced to run him in full-cup blinkers, which I think caused him not to understand what he was supposed to do. He'd get rank in a race and wouldn't relax."
C J's Awesome has raced without blinkers in his two most recent races, a maiden victory going the Travers' 1 ¼-mile distance on June 27 at Churchill Downs, and a third by a half-length in an entry-level allowance on July 26 at Saratoga.
"The last couple of races we've been able to get the blinkers off and put him in a position where he learned how to rate and relax and finish," McPeek said. "Talent's not the issue. Its' been more of a mental issue as opposed to anything. The last race was a good race. It was the first time he rated and the first time he'd been real professional. He got extremely tired in that race being a heavier racetrack, and fitness-wise I think he needed it."
In 2012, McPeek sent out 33-1 long shot Golden Ticket to a dead-heat victory with Alpha in the Travers. Like C J's Awesome, Golden Ticket had only a maiden win to his credit heading into the race, though he had some graded stakes experience including a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby.
"I think [C J's Awesome] is coming into it right, and we're kind of sneaky. We've done this before," McPeek said. "He's a horse that's got a lot of talent. He's going to have to find seven lengths improvement and we feel like we might be able to do that. If I compared him and Golden Ticket at the same time [in their careers], he might be a bigger, stronger horse than Golden Ticket. But, the race is tough and it's not going to be easily done."
* * *
With an eye on the Grade 1 Travers, trainer Dallas Stewart gave Kentucky Derby runner-up Commanding Curve a five-furlong work over the main track on Saturday.
Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, the 3-year-old son of Master Command breezed in 1:01.58 on the main track, the eighth-fastest of 37 horses at the distance.
"He went very well," Stewart said. "It was a good workout. He drank a lot of water and finished up good. It will tighten him up really good. He's not a superior work horse, but he put a lot of effort in today."
Commanding Curve broke his maiden at Churchill Downs to end his 2-year-old season and is winless in five starts at 3, all in graded stakes. He was third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby prior to the Kentucky Derby, where he came from next-to-last to run second, 1 ¾ lengths behind California Chrome.
Ninth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, Commanding Curve wound up fourth behind fellow Travers contenders Wicked Strong, Tonalist and Kid Cruz in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 26.
"We've been pushing him. We're going to see what happens," Stewart said. "He's got to pick his game up. He's got to improve six, eight, 10 lengths to win. He's been strong and consistent. Throw out the Belmont and he's been knocking at the door, so we'll see what happens."
Canadian classic winner Coltimus Prime got acquainted with Saratoga's main track on Saturday, working five furlongs in 1:05 for trainer Justin Nixon. It was the first breeze for the Milwaukee Brew colt since winning the second leg of Canada's Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes, at Fort Erie on July 29.
Another Travers contender, Curlin Stakes runner-up Charge Now, went five furlongs on the Oklahoma training track in a bullet 1:01.45, fastest of 18 horses at the distance. He is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott for WinStar Farms.
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Trainer Charles LoPresti was still smiling late Saturday morning, several hours after two-time reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan turned in a solid five-furlong work on the main track, covering the distance in 1:01.64.
"I think he looked like the old Wise Dan," said LoPresti. "I think he's coming the right way now; that's why I didn't run him in the Fourstardave [on August 9]. He was a couple of breezes short of running in that race."
LoPresti said the 7-year-old gelding is ready for a return to the races, three months after undergoing colic surgery, but neither he nor owner Morton Fink have decided when and where that comeback will be.
"He's ready now; I'm just trying to fight in my head where to run him and what's the right thing to do," said LoPresti. "Do I run him here [in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch on August 30]? Do I run him in Canada [in the Woodbine Mile on September 14]? I have to talk to Mr. Fink. My heart says ... I don't know what my heart says."
Although nominated to the Grade 1 Woodward on August 30, LoPresti said that was an unlikely spot for his return.
"I don't think Mr. Fink would want to run him in a Grade 1 on the dirt in his comeback," said LoPresti. "There's no doubt he could run in the Bernard Baruch if that's what Mr. Fink wants to do. We could [possibly] run in the Bernard Baruch, skip the Woodbine Mile, and go to the Shadwell Turf Mile [on October 4 at Keeneland Race Course]. We have another work next week. But we are going to have to figure something out before long."
* * *
Multiple graded stakes winner Wildcat Red, working toward the Grade 1, $500,000 Ketel One King's Bishop on August 23, had his first breeze over Saratoga's main track on Saturday morning.
Going out at 6:30 a.m. under jockey Luis Saez, who left later in the morning to ride at Arlington Park near Chicago, Wildcat Red went a half-mile in 49.17 seconds for trainer Jose Garoffalo.
"He was very good. He worked very easily. He floats on the track," Garoffalo said. "He went nice and easy, exactly what we needed. [Saez] was very happy with the workout when he came back, and everything seems good for the race. He doesn't need much. He's a very fit horse."
Garoffalo arrived from his Gulfstream Park base on Friday. A native of Venezuela who graduated from both law school and the trainer's academy in his home country, Garoffalo has never had a starter at Saratoga.
"There is always a concern when you move from track to track, but my first concern is if the horse is going to like the track," he said. "He's very versatile and he gets adapted very well to any track. I had a little concern about this track because this is a deeper track than Gulfstream. It's slower, and I thought it could be an issue, but he obviously doesn't pay too much attention to that. He's galloping very good and he worked very good today, so I think he's ready for the race."
A Florida-bred son of Grade 1-winning sprinter D'wildcat, Wildcat Red made the first seven starts of his career at Gulfstream, including wins in the Grade 3 Hutcheson - run at the King's Bishop distance of seven furlongs, as well as the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.
Most recently, Wildcat Red stumbled at the start but pressed winner Bayern into deep stretch before winding up third in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on July 27. Garoffalo also nominated the Honors Stable Corp.-owned colt to the Grade 1 Travers.
"I think the King's Bishop is the best spot to put him. The Travers is going to be tough, and I want to refresh him a little bit," Garoffalo said. "The mile and a quarter is too long for him now. In this race, if we run good we still have a chance to go to Pennsylvania or somewhere else. It all depends on the result and how the horse comes back."
The King's Bishop would be the first Grade 1 win for both the horse and trainer. Garoffalo, 50, has won 343 races from 2,496 starters since moving to the United States full-time in 1999.
"I think he deserves to have a Grade 1 title, because he's been trying very hard in all his races," Garoffalo said. "He deserves to have the privilege of being a Grade 1 horse. I think the distance is good for him; actually, I think it's going to be better for him."
* * *
Unbeaten but lightly raced Fast Anna breezed five furlongs in a bullet 58.61 seconds on the main track Saturday morning in preparation for his stakes debut in the Grade 1 Ketel One King's Bishop.
Trainer Kathy Ritvo sent the 3-year-old Medaglia d'Oro colt out just after the renovation break under regular exercise rider Nick Petro. It was Fast Anna's second work at Saratoga since arriving from South Florida, having gone seven furlongs in 1:28.56 on August 9.
"He worked great today," Ritvo said. "He worked good last week for his first work over the track. We were happy with him today. We just kind of let him do his own thing. He works quick most of the time, which is fine. You've got to get something out of it. He's a good, sound horse, a strong horse, and he needs to work."
Unraced at 2, Fast Anna won his debut going six furlongs in 1:09.92 on April 12. Owned by Frank Calabrese, he followed up with a 13-length romp in a 6 ½-furlong allowance on July 6, both races coming at Gulfstream Park.
Each of Fast Anna's wins have come in front-running fashion, but Ritvo isn't convinced the horse needs to have the lead.
"I don't think it matters," Ritvo said. "When we've worked him, we've worked him in front of horses and behind horses, and he's just a runner. I'm very satisfied with the way he's coming into the race. He can't be doing any better."
Other possible King's Bishop horses on Saturday's work tab were Grade 2 Amsterdam runner-up C. Zee, clocked in a bullet half-mile of 46.58 seconds for Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, the fastest of 103 horses; and Mike Lee Stakes winner Captain Serious, second in the Grade 3 Dwyer and third in the Amsterdam, who went five furlongs in 1:01.57 for trainer Mike Hushion.
* * *
Belmont Stakes and Metropolitan Handicap winner Palace Malice logged his first workout since a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Whitney on Saturday morning over the Saratoga main track, going four furlongs in 48.90 in company with 2011 Champion Two-Year-Old Filly My Miss Aurelia.
Palace Malice, trained by Todd Pletcher for Dogwood Stable, was equipped with blinkers for the first time since the 2013 Kentucky Derby, in which he sped off at the start and set a scorching pace over the sloppy surface.
"I galloped him in blinkers one day this week and we just wanted to see what kind of reaction we got," said the trainer. "He worked well, like he always does; I didn't see any difference with them.
"To me, the situation in the Derby where he got rank with the blinkers didn't have that much to do with the blinkers. I think the sloppy track, the big crowd, and the way he was ridden from the gate were more the cause. I'm not ruling [blinkers] out, I'm not committing to them, but I liked the reaction we got with them."
Palace Malice will work again next week, when Pletcher will reevaluate his status for the Grade 1, $600,000 Woodward on August 30.
Pletcher also was pleased with My Miss Aurelia's work. The 5-year-old mare has raced only once since March 16, 2013, a third-place finish in the Shine Again Stakes on July 21 at Saratoga.
"She went very well," said Pletcher. "I thought she worked super and she came out of it well. Everything's on schedule for the [Grade 1] Ballerina [on August 23]."
Also breezing for Pletcher was multiple Grade 1 winner Princess of Sylmar, who went four furlongs in 49.03 over the Saratoga main track.
As a 3-year-old in 2013, Princess of Sylmar won four Grade 1's: the Kentucky Oaks, the Coaching Club American Oaks, the Alabama and the Beldame Invitational, but has not recaptured her best form in 2014.
After beginning the year with a victory in the Cat Cay Stakes on April 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack, the chestnut filly finished second in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps and was most recently runner-up in the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap on July 12.
"She went great, too, and everything is on schedule for the [Grade 1] Personal Ensign [on August 22]," said Pletcher. "We were a little disappointed with her second [in the Delaware Handicap], but I think she's training the best she's ever trained. We're excited."
Close Hatches, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott for Juddmonte Farms, joined Princess of Sylmar on the worktab in preparation for the Personal Ensign. The 4-year-old, who defeated Princess of Sylmar by a head in the Ogden Phipps, on Saturday went four furlongs in 47.72 seconds, the fastest of 30 works at the distance on the Oklahoma training track.
"She couldn't have done it any easier," said Mott. "She was doing it all within herself. She wasn't asked for anything, and she looked good afterward."
The Personal Ensign will be the first start at Saratoga for Close Hatches, who is unbeaten in three starts this year, including a score in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap in April at Oaklawn Park.
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