SARATOGA DAILY NOTEBOOK
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2005
by Dick Powell
Entertainer David Cassidy, the keynote speaker at this year’s National Museum
of Racing’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, won the 2ND race today – a maiden
special weight event for juvenile fillies going five furlongs – with SLEEPING
(Forest Camp). A first-time starter that had been training well in the mornings
for Gary Contessa, Sleeping broke a bit slow, rushed up to take the lead and
held on to win by a length in :58.77.
Unbridled Tale (Tale of the Cat), the 2-1 favorite, broke on top for Gary
Stevens but then couldn’t keep up when Eibar Coa sent Sleeping up on the rail to
challenge. She dropped back and then came on again a bit in the stretch.
Sometimes a good start helps a horse win, but today it hurt Unbridled Tale since
she probably will do better from off the pace.
Ramon Dominguez won a race for the sixth consecutive day when he guided SMOKE
EM AGAIN (Two Punch) to a sharp score in the 3RD race – a juvenile, two-turn
turf event. With two turf races under his belt at Colonial Downs for Graham
Motion, the bay colt was sent to the front by Dominguez, dared anyone to challenge him. With
a first half in :47.85, his rivals declined the offer and Smoke Em Again opened up
a big lead heading into the far turn.
Dominguez had a ton of horse underneath him and cruised to a 3 3/4-length win
in the fast time of 1:43.57. Para Rider (Exploit) rallied from far back to get
second in his career debut. North East Storm (Fusaichi Pegasus) unseated Gary
Stevens before they loaded, ran off and was scratched. The half-brother to
multiple graded stakes turf winner North East Bound (D’Accord) was at 7-2 in the
betting at the time and Stevens took off his mounts the rest of the day.
Nick Zito entered Bellamy Road (Concerto) in Saturday’s 136th running of the
$1 million Travers S. (G1) at 1 1/4 miles. He drew post 1 and was installed as
the 2-1 morning-line favorite.
In deciding between the Travers or the seven-furlong King’s Bishop (G1)
against undefeated sprint sensation Lost In The Fog (Lost Soldier), Zito said
“Seven furlongs is a great distance to come back, but you’ve got to run against
Lost in the Fog. On the other hand, the mile-and-a-quarter Travers, I don’t
think the competition is as good as Lost in the Fog, but that mile and a quarter
– he hasn’t run in four months. He’s an amazing horse. He’s developed; he’s
gotten taller and longer. He’s got a lot of ability. Hopefully, if he can
duplicate his Wood Memorial (G1), you’ll see what kind of horse he is.”
With Sweet Symphony’s (A.P. Indy) win in the Alabama (G1) last Saturday,
owner George M. Steinbrenner’s Kinsman Stable will try to join seven other
owners that won the Alabama and the Travers in the same year.
Lost In The Fog’s trainer Greg Gilchrist announced that his undefeated
sprinter will not wear the bar shoe that he has been training in recently. “I
could leave the bar shoe on, but the foot looks really good,” Gilchrist said.
“It doesn’t concern me.”
He will only have six rivals in the King’s Bishop and assuming he earns his
first Grade 1 victory on Saturday, Gilchrist has some decisions to make. Get
another race or two or train right up to the Breeders’ Cup? Plus, his owner
Harry Aleo would have to put up a $90,000 supplement to run in the Breeders’ Cup
Sprint (G1) since he is not nominated.
“If he wins this race, I’ll have to sit down with Mr. Aleo and make a
decision about the Breeders’ Cup,” Gilchrist said. “We would have to decide if
we want to train him up to the race or find something in between. He’s not
Breeders’ Cup nominated. I get unlucky that way. In 1994, I had Soviet Problem
(who just missed to Cherokee Run) and we had to supplement her.”
NAUGHTY NEW YORKER (Quiet American) was a highly regarded juvenile colt last
season. He broke his maiden by 14 lengths and then came back to crush New York-breds in the Damon Runyan S. in December.
Fox Ridge Farm and their trainer Pat Kelly got ambitious running against
open-company stakes horses and he just missed behind Scrappy T (Fit to Fight) in
the Count Fleet S. Scrappy T came back to run a big second in the Preakness (G1)
and it looked like Naughty New Yorker would be a force this year against state-breds and open company.
He won the Mike Lee S. going seven furlongs in June with his patented late
rally but was up the track in the New York Derby at Finger Lakes in July. Thus,
he was not eligible for the $250,000 Big Apple Triple bonus going into today’s
$150,000 Albany S. But his one-dimensional running style figured to do well on
the tiring main track.
Racing well behind a strong early pace of :47.32 for the half and 1:11.53 for
the first six furlongs, Jean-Luc Samyn began to get him motivated on the far
turn. Samyn had not had a winner here in the first four weeks of the meet but
this race was setting up perfectly. Blue Sunday (A.P Jet) began to back up in
his first try going two turns and the main danger was Carminooch (Tomorrow’s
Cat), who is owned by the Three Amigos Stable of Tony Sirico (“Paulie Walnuts”
of Sopranos fame).
They battled through the last furlong with Naughty New Yorker prevailing by a
half-length despite switching back to his left lead in the shadow of the wire.
The time of 1:50.88 was very good on a track that played faster than normal. But
unlike last year, any plans for an ambitious schedule have been delayed.
“He’s a nice horse,” said Kelly, who was also winning his first race of the
meet. “He tries hard. We’re going to stick with the New York-bred races. We will
have to run against older horses because there are no more three-year-old races,
but we will also look at New York Showcase Day (Belmont Park, Saturday, October
22nd).”
Horses To Watch
3RD – PARA RIDER (Exploit) rallied from far back to get second in his career
debut going two turns on the turf behind a front-end winner.
7TH – BROADWAY GOLD (Seeking the Gold) made a strong middle move down on the
rail before weakening in the drive.
Thursday Preview
4TH – CHANGING WEATHER (Storm Boot) is bred to get five furlongs first time
out for Eoin Harty. He’s training up a storm here and should come out running
with Edgar Prado.
5TH – SHREDDED (Diesis [GB]) is a one-dimensional closer that should be
flying late with Dominguez. Mellon Turf Course races going 1 3/16 miles
usually favor his running style and Dominguez excels on the turf.