Monday, September 1, 2014
Competitive Edge crushes competition in G1 Hopeful
By Jenny Kellner
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Heavily favored Competitive Edge ran his record to 2-for-2 at Saratoga Race Course on Monday, cruising to a 5 ¾-length victory over I Spent It in the 110th Grade 1, $350,000 Hopeful for 2-year-olds, the centerpiece of closing day at the Spa.
With Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez aboard, Competitive Edge was parked three-wide through the early going as Signature Cat zipped through an opening quarter-mile in 22.64 seconds with I Spent It in close pursuit. Poking a head in front of I Spent It midway on the turn, Competitive Edge swung into the stretch with a clear lead and was ridden out to complete the seven furlongs in 1:24.11.
"This one has a great talent," said Velazquez of Competitive Edge, a son of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver. "The only thing about this one - nothing bothers him. This colt, nothing tears his hair out, scares him or anything. He's so laid back, his future can be much better than the other ones. Like everything else, he has to stay sound. A great mind."
It was third Hopeful victory for Todd Pletcher, who also trained Super Saver.
"The thing that's really cool for us is he's a son of Super Saver, and he's our Derby winner," said Pletcher, who has won his 11th Saratoga training title. "To see him [Super Saver] getting off to such a great start at stud, to have a Hopeful winner in his first crop, it's kind of extra special for us having a son of Super Saver do that. I think I Spent It is a very good horse as well, as he showed in the Saratoga Special. I've had a close eye on him, being a son of Super Saver also, and it's kind of cool that Super Savers ran 1-2 in the Hopeful."
Pletcher said the Grade 1 Champagne on TVG Super Saturday, September 27, at Belmont Park was a likely option for Competitive Edge's next start.
The 4-5 favorite, Competitive Edge returned $3.30 for a $2 win bet.
Owned by Nancy Favreau, Kathy Psoinos and Michael B. Tabor, Competitive Edge earned $210,000 for his Hopeful win, enhancing his bankroll to $259,800. The bay colt, who fetched $750,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale in March, made an eye-catching debut on July 26, grabbing the lead at the start and going on to a 10 ¼-length victory.
I Spent It, the Grade 2 Saratoga Special winner, finished nine lengths in front of Sharm as he suffered his first defeat in three starts.
"You could see in the paddock [when he was being saddled] he was a lot different than he was in his two previous races," said trainer Tony Dutrow of I Spent It. "He, obviously, got himself out of sorts today. I knew that wasn't what I wanted to see, but I didn't know how he'd react to it. So, today wasn't his day for a number of reasons. We'll work with him and hope for a better day this fall."
Completing the order of finish were Requite, Dekabrist, Signature Cat and Maratik.
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