by Brisnet.com
Grade 1 hero Wise Dan will arrive at Woodbine on Friday morning ready to run
in the Grade 1, $1-million Woodbine Mile on September 16 over the E.P Taylor
Turf Course.
The bay son of Wiseman’s Ferry, trained by Charles Lopresti for owner-breeder
Morton Fink, arrives for the Mile off a spectacular five-length score in the
Grade 2 Fourstardave at Saratoga.
Wise Dan should have no problems handling the Woodbine turf as he has notched
graded wins on multiple surfaces — Grade 3 Phoenix, Grade 2 Fayette and Grade 3
Ben Ali all at Keeneland on the synthetic Polytrack; Grade 1 Clark over
Churchill Downs’s dirt; Grade 2 Firecracker at Churchill and Fourstardave at
Saratoga, both on the turf.
Lopresti, who won the Woodbine Mile last year with Turallure, has been very
impressed with how Wise Dan has been training heading into the event. The
five-year-old chestnut gelding sizzled four furlongs in :45 4/5 over the
Saratoga training turf on August 24.
“It turned out phenomenal. None of us could believe it, including the
clockers,” Lopresti said. “I told his exercise rider I’d be happy if he goes in
:48 and change. He probably went in :46, but they got him in :45 and change. He
did it really easy. He looked like he was going :48.”
The sharp work is a good sign. The gelding’s final breeze before the
Fourstardave, a five-panel jaunt over the Saratoga training turf, was clocked in
a dazzling :58 2/5 on July 30.
“That was incredible,” Lopresti recalled. “He went :58 and change, they got
three-quarters in 1:10 and out seven furlongs in 1:22. It looked like he had the
hand brake on when he was doing it.”
With the hard training taken care of, Wise Dan breezed an easy six furlongs
over Keeneland’s Polytrack on September 5 in 1:13.
“He was just cruising around there,” Lopresti noted. “He’s so fit. If he’s
not fit enough to run this race, I don’t know what will get him fit!”
Lopresti’s star contender will be partnered in the Mile by regular rider John
Velazquez. The recent Hall of Fame inductee steered Miss Keller to a memorable
win in the Grade 1 E.P Taylor Stakes at Woodbine last October.
“It’s an incredible turf course,” Lopresti added. “I couldn’t believe it the
first time I looked down that stretch. It’s pretty neat. I know Johnny knows it
well, I just hope Wise Dan realizes how long he has to run down the lane and
saves it for the quarter-pole home.”
For more information on the $1-million event, please visit
www.woodbinemile.com.