SARATOGA DAILY NOTEBOOK
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2005
by Dick Powell
There’s an old horse racing saying that goes, “horses don’t set track records
– tracks set track records.” The logic being is that a track that is optimized
for blazing-fast running times will yield blazing-fast running times. After
today’s 136th running of the Travers S. (G1), the old saying might be changed
to, “horses don’t determine the outcome of races – tracks determine the outcome
of races.”
If you liked a horse with a come-from-behind running style in today’s
“Mid-Summer Derby,” you had no shot. Nada, zilch, fuhgaddaboutit! Speed was king
today at Saratoga and despite sunny, dry weather, there was so much moisture put
down on the track by the track super that it looked wet-fast. Roman Ruler
(Fusaichi Pegasus), Andromeda’s Hero (Fusaichi Pegasus), Chekhov (Pulpit), Don’t
Get Mad (Stephen Got Even) and Reverberate (Thunder Gulch) were all up against a
severe bias that left them spinning their wheels trying to make up ground.
As expected, Javier Castellano sent Bellamy Road (Concerto) to the front. The
winner of the Wood Memorial (G1) was coming off an 112-day layoff and looked hot
going to the post on a spectacular day before a disappointing crowd of 42,841.
He resisted Castellano’s efforts to settle down going by the stands the first
time but once he got away from some of the crowd noise on the clubhouse turn he
succumbed to his rider’s efforts.
Johnny Velazquez got FLOWER ALLEY (Distorted Humor) away from the gate in
good order and kept him off the rail going into the first turn in an effort to
get him to relax. Velazquez was willing to lose some ground instead of saving
ground on the rail and run the risk that someone would come up next to him and
pin him down. Jerry Bailey had Roman Ruler back in third and, while the
flighty son of the equally flighty Fusaichi Pegasus behaved himself before the
race, he showed up today with fiberglass patches underneath his front heels.
This is usually a sign of running down on his ankles and not what we were looking for.
Castellano opened up a clear lead down the backstretch and with the wind at
his back, Bellamy Road ran the first half mile in :47.43. Velazquez was content
to stalk and with no one putting any pressure on him he was able to time his
move when he wanted instead of having to respond to a move from behind him.
Roman Ruler was running along in the same spot but it looked like Bailey was
urging him to maintain his position instead of doing it on his own like he did
last out in the Haskell Invitational (G1).
As they headed into the far turn, Bellamy Road was still about three lengths
in front and Velazquez began to get closer with Flower Alley. Bailey was now
begging Roman Ruler for a response but he was giving it grudgingly and inching
closer. At the top of the stretch, Bellamy Road’s lead was a half-length and
Velazquez was all over Flower Alley. Bellamy Road was as courageous as could be
but the long layoff and energy he used early took its toll and Flower Alley
seized command with 100 yards to go.
At the wire, it was Flower Alley in front by a widening 2 1/2 lengths over
Bellamy Road. Roman Ruler never left his third-place running position and was 2
3/4 lengths farther back in third. Don’t Get Mad looked like a threat on the far
turn but flattened out and was only able to pass Andromeda’s Hero for fourth.
Reverberate and Chekhov ran sixth and seventh for much of the race and
maintained those positions at the wire.
For trainer Todd Pletcher and Velazquez, it was their first Travers victory
after dominating the Jim Dandy (G2) for the past three runnings. After the race,
an elated Pletcher (I know, it’s hard to tell) told a national TV audience, “It
unfolded the way we thought it would and the way we hoped it would. It seemed
clear cut on paper: Bellamy Road would be on the lead, we would be second and
Roman Ruler would be stalking us. The key, I thought, was that Johnny made the
right decisions all the way around. At the three-eighths pole pole, he put on a
little pressure and that was the difference in my opinion. This was a home run. The
Jim Dandy was the kind of performance that propelled Flower Alley to the next
level. Who knows, maybe he can step it up in the Breeders’ Cup?”
Velazquez’s decision to keep Bellamy Road honest was risky, especially after
he used similar tactics that got Spun Sugar (Awesome Again) beat by Sweet
Symphony (A.P. Indy) in the Alabama (G1).
“This is great,” Velazquez said. “It is very special to me. From the start, I
wasn’t going to let Bellamy Road go. I got after him at the three-eighths pole
and then I asked him and he took off and I still had a lot left. He was very
good today. It’s really special because it is for Todd and the Melnyks.”
For Bellamy Road, the defeat was bitter only because of how hard he tried.
“Bellamy Road ran his heart out,” said recent Hall of Fame inductee, Nick
Zito. “I’ve said it before, he’s a terrific horse. We were right there with the
winner, but he was a little better than us. We’ll try to beat him next time.
What can I say? I’ve very proud of my horses. Bellamy Road hasn’t run in four
months. He came here and fought all the way. I think the horse will be OK. This
was great stuff. He hasn’t run in four months – like I said, I’m very proud of
him.”
In today’s racing world, it will be interesting to see where these horses go
next. The Breeders’ Cup is nine weeks away and yet, we will probably only see
these horses race once. Two races would be the most as the training world
continues to want to train instead of race their horses.
Flower Alley’s win today was also a victory for “old school” training
tactics. Old time horsemen up here will still tell you that a race over the
track is critical. Pletcher ran in the Jim Dandy here instead of the Haskell at
Monmouth and the dividends came in today.
With Bellamy Road going in the Travers, Lost in the Fog (Lost Soldier) looked
like he would have things his own way in the King’s Bishop (G1). Despite
training in a bar shoe and running over a track that was deeper than most tracks
he has competed over, it was no contest as the undefeated sophomore sprint
sensation extended his win skein to nine with a dominant 4 3/4-length win over
the late-closing Social Probation (Jules).
The King’s Bishop was was over at the start when Russell Baze, in his first
ride ever at the Spa, gunned Lost in the Fog to the front and no one went with
him. His first quarter of :22.09 was easy for him and he turned up the heat with
a :22.52 second quarter. The barrel-chested colt leveled off in the stretch and
his run through the lane was awe inspiring. The final margin was 4 3/4 lengths
but it could have been as wide as Baze wanted.
Trainer Greg Gilchrist said that this was their Kentucky Derby and he was
brilliant. Speed-favoring track or not, Lost in the Fog was great and Gilchrist
indicated after the race that they will spend the $90,000 and supplement him to
the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) after a prep in Southern California.
If you were able to watch the ESPN coverage of the Saratoga races, you got to
see an insulting, idiotic interview with Lost in the Fog’s owner Harry Aleo
before the race. The talking head from the all-sports network asked Aleo how
much his colt is worth, why he doesn’t sell him and how does him running in the
King’s Bishop today compare to his soldier’s experience in the “Battle of the
Bulge.” I thought the 86-year-old Aleo was going to strangle the guy. Luckily
for the interviewer, Aleo wasn’t channeling George S. Patton or it could have
gotten ugly. It was the stupidest series of questions ever heard since some
dopey reporter asked the doctor that performed the liver transplant operation on
Mickey Mantle how the donor was doing. Aleo seemed hard of hearing, and thank
goodness for the reporter, who would have been slapped silly back in the day. Go
Harry!
Isn’t it great that ESPN is doing more horse racing?
The Hopeful (G1) looked like a two-horse race between Henny Hughes (Hennessy)
and FIRST SAMURAI (Giant’s Causeway). And it was. Newly-acquired Too Much Bling
(Rubiano) gunned to the front for Bob Baffert and Javier Castellano. First
Samurai and Bailey took up chase and Henny Hughes was farther back in third with
Gary Stevens.
Too Much Bling gunned through the first half in :44.81 and was justifying his
private purchase by Stonerside Stable around the far turn. Bailey began to turn
up the pressure and Henny Hughes was being used hard by Stevens
to make up any ground.
Just like in his allowance win here last out, First Samurai poured it on in
the stretch and drew off to an easy 4 1/4-length win with Henny Hughes back in
second. It was another length back to Too Much Bling, who held on gamely as the
early pacesetter.
It was Bailey’s sixth Hopeful win and Brothers’ first. After the race, an
impressed Bailey said that we might not have seen the best of First Samurai.
“He shook loose at the top of the stretch, but that was the second time he
lugged in,” the jockey said. “But he’s young, and we hope it’s just a learning
process. He has shown he has a lot of room for improvement, especially if he
cuts out the two-year-old stuff.”
Henny Hughes had been undefeated in three starts before today and he picked a
bad time to be a couple of lengths behind down the backstretch. He tried hard
but you have to suspect that his sprint pedigree will catch up to him as the
races get longer. It would be interesting to see if Darley Stable will try the
Lost in the Fog route and keep him sprinting.
Horses to Watch
5TH – WOOD BE WILLING (Pulpit) was victimized by a dawdling pace as the top
two speed horses went gate to wire. With his pedigree he’ll get better with
distance.
6TH – POLITICAL FORCE (Unbridled’s Song) should have been scratched at the
gate after melting down and then had a nightmare trip.
Sunday Preview
5TH – Jimmy Toner sends out first-time starter SARAH SUPREME (Golden Missile)
in a two-turn turf event for juvenile fillies. Her dam has produced stakes
horses in Ireland, her workouts are terrific and Edgar Prado rides.
9TH – Forest Music (Unbridled’s Song) had things her own way last out but six
furlongs seems to be her best distance. BANK AUDIT (Wild Rush) was an even third
last out against the favorite and should handle the stretch out to seven
furlongs from a better post with Ramon Dominguez.