Saturday, July 28, 2012
Contact: NYRA Press Office
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- It’s Tricky breezes at Greentree; McLaughlin leaning in favor of G1 Personal Ensign over G1 Ballerina
- Jamaican Smoke breezes for G1 Prioress
- Many G1 Whitney contenders scheduled for Sunday breezes
- Ward hoping for sprint success with Politicallycorrect (G2
- Successful Dan declared from Whitney, to be evaluated at Rood & Riddle
“She didn’t go very fast, she didn’t go in company, but she went great,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “The real neat thing is that she galloped out real strongly. She often does not, so that was a real good sign.”
It’s Tricky is under consideration for either the Grade 1, seven-furlong Ballerina on August 24 or the Grade 1, 1 1/8-mile Personal Ensign on August 26. The 4-year-old daughter of Mineshaft is a graded stakes winner at both distances. In her most recent start, she captured the Grade 1, 1 1/16-mile Ogden Phipps Handicap around one turn on May 28 at
“We’ll work her every week until the race, either the [Ballerina on the] 24th or the [Personal Ensign on the] 26th,” said McLaughlin. “Most likely the 26th, but you never know. There’s a chance if there’s a four-horse field in the [Ballerina] we’ll go in that direction, but we’ll most likely go long. We’ll talk with [Godolphin racing manager] Simon Crisford.”
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Glencrest Farm’s Jamaican Smoke, second in the Grade 3 Victory Ride on July 7 at Belmont Park, tuned up for her upcoming engagement in the Grade 1 Prioress on August 4 with a four-furlong breeze on Saturday over Saratoga’s main track.
With exercise rider Niall Terry aboard, Jamaican Smoke went the distance in 49.51 seconds.
In the Victory Ride, Jamaican Smoke put away Agave Kiss after dueling with the odds-on favorite, then yielded to Emma’s Encore in deep stretch. The Victory Ride was Jamaican Smoke’s fourth career start.
“She ran well [in the Victory Ride]. We were very pleased,” said trainer Eddie Kenneally. “She got caught up in a speed duel but didn’t quit in the lane. She was very gallant and kept running to the wire. She’s an inexperienced filly, but that race should help her from an experience standpoint.”
Prior to the Victory Ride, Jamaican Smoke won a Churchill Downs allowance by 4 ¼ lengths in May after having broken her maiden in April at Keeneland. She was third in her debut on March 14 at
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Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey reported Saturday that Grade 1 Whitney Invitational Handicap hopeful Hymn Book is likely to turn in his final serious work for the race on Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course.
“He’ll probably go out after the first break at
Also tentatively slated to work Sunday are Rule and Caixa Eletronica, both from the barn of trainer Todd Pletcher.
“It’s a little bit of a question mark,” Pletcher said. “Probably after the break on the main track, assuming that I like the surface, but subject to change.”
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott is planning to send Flat Out and Ron the Greek out after the first break on the
“I’m playing it close to the vest,” said Mott, who will celebrate his 59th birthday tomorrow with four starters.
Mott traditionally saddles at least one winner at the Spa when his birthday falls on a live racing day. A $2 win bet placed on each of Mott’s starters on July 29 since 2006 would have yielded a profit of $33.70.
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Phipps Stable’s
The 3-year-old Pulpit filly broke her maiden running a mile at Aqueduct Racetrack on April 13 and stretched out to 1 1/16 miles to take a first-level allowance optional claimer a month later at
“The one thing I do know about [
The
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In his young career, Kitten’s Joy has risen to the level of top stallions, particularly with his turf progeny. On Sunday, trainer Wesley Ward will try to expand Kitten’s Joy’s horizons when he sends out Politicallycorrect in the Grade 2, $200,000
The gelding, owned and bred by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey – who raced and stand Kitten’s Joy – is turning back from a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Ohio Derby at 1 1/16 miles.
Politicallycorrect, who was scratched from Friday’s Curlin, won a seven-furlong optional allowance race this past winter at
“Kitten’s Joy gives a router style of a horse, but he gets speed from the mare [Exceedexpectations, by Tale of the Cat],” Ward said. “I’ve tried him on the grass and we’ve worked him on the Polytrack, but I think his best surface is the dirt. He’s tearing the barn down right now, which is a good sign coming into a race. He’s just acting fantastic.”
On Monday, Ward will send out the Ramseys’ Holiday for Kitten in the 5 ½-furlong $100,000 Shakespeare Caress at the Spa.
The 4-year-old
The Kitten’s Joy filly returned to the races on December 24, roaring to a 1 ¾-length victory in a five-furlong sprint December 24 at
“She’s come back fantastic,” Ward said of
“This filly, really, if you look at her form, she prefers a Polytrack surface, but she’s run really big over the grass.”
Also in the Shakespeare Caress are Page Springs (30-1),
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Trainer Charles Lopresti loaded his multiple Graded 2 stakes winner Successful Dan onto a van Saturday morning, bound for
A filling in Successful Dan’s left-front pastern has knocked Successful Dan out of the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap on August 4, but Lopresti is hoping the injury will not be career-ending.
“I’ve been watching it, and it won’t go down, and it’s a place where he had an injury in ’09 as a 3-year-old,” Lopresti said. “He’s not lame or anything; he’s been on the track every day. Even if it’s just a strain, we don’t want to take a chance like that. It’s sad; it’s unfortunate. He’s been plagued with nagging injuries all his life, and we haven’t seen the best of him.”
Successful Dan underwent an ultrasound examination that came up clean, said Lopresti, and he will receive further testing at Rood & Riddle.
“There is no tear,” Lopresti said. “Dr. Bramlage, we sent everything to him. He knows that horse inside out and upside down. He’s got all the records. He knows everything about that horse. If there’s any chance to bring him back, he’ll tell me.
“I jogged [Successful Dan] on the track this morning, and he was full of himself. With a horse of that caliber, you have to be careful. To win a race like the Whitney, you have to be 100 percent. It’s a really sad day for us.”
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