Flavien Prat didn’t win the riding title for the Saratoga meet that ended Monday, an honor that instead went to Irad Ortiz Jr. However, Prat finished well clear of Ortiz in money won for the eight-week stand. He earned every penny of his first-place prize in Monday’s closing-day feature, the $300,000 Hopeful (G1) for two-year-olds.
Prat and his mount, 4-1 second choice Chancer McPatrick, encountered the kind of trouble at the start that would have snuffed out the chances of most horses, especially a relatively immature juvenile. Chancer McPatrick hit the gate leaving it and soundly bumped rival Mentee, who also received a simultaneous blow from his left, courtesy of Innovator. This collision resulted in Prat temporarily losing his left iron.
“It was pretty bad.” Prat said. “I was basically trying to give him a good race and see if he would make a run.”
Once horse and rider got their bearings, they found themselves more than nine lengths adrift of pacesetter Smoken Wicked. Mentee recovered from his own poor start to keep Smoken Wicked honest, while odds-on favorite Ferocious, ridden by Ortiz, was in the catbird seat in third.
To Chancer McPatrick’s benefit, the pace was swift on the fast going. Smoken Wicked, a 31-1 chance, reeled off fractions of :22.76 and :45.70. That was enough to finish off Mentee turning for home and, seemingly, Ferocious, as Smoken Wicked extended his advantage to one length in midstretch.
Smoken Wicked began to peter out inside the furlong, however, as Incentive Pay rallied inside and Chancer McPatrick stormed home on the outside, soon joined by a resurgent Ferocious. Chancer McPatrick ultimately got the nod by a half-length over Ferocious, who reportedly lost a shoe. Incentive Pay was 1 3/4 lengths behind in third and Smoken Wicked a length farther back in fourth.
“I got to the three-eighths pole and I found I had horse underneath me — I was like, ‘Wow, I’ll have him a chance,’ and he responded right away,” Prat said.
Owned by Sean Flanagan and trained by Chad Brown, Chancer McPatrick paid $10.80 after completing seven furlongs in 1:23.44.
The remainder of the Hopeful field after Smoken Wicked were well beaten. The order of finish was rounded out by Innovator, Mentee, Studlydoright, Tough Catch, and first-time starter Mr. Mendelslew.
Chancer McPatrick is now 2-for-2, having taken his 6 1/2-furlong debut at Saratoga on July 27 by one length with a similarly impressive rally from the back of the pack.
“Since the day he came into the barn, he’s been such a pleasure to train. He’s a remarkable talent,” said Brown, who trained five winners on Monday’s Saratoga card. “I told Sean a couple of weeks ago that I think we’ve got something special here.”
Brown said the Champagne (G1) at Aqueduct or the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland would be considered for Chancer McPatrick in advance of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). Incentive Pay will also be considered for one of the two.
Bred in Kentucky by Rigney Racing and most recently sold for $725,000 as an OBS April juvenile, Chance McPatrick is from the first crop of McKinzie and out of Bernadreamy, a daughter of Bernardini and Alcibiades (G1) winner Dream Empress.
Big Invasion snapped a five-race losing streak dating to last October when rallying to edge Our Shot by a head in the $150,000 Harvey Pack S., a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for older horses.
Sent off as the third choice in the field of nine, Big Invasion found himself in front of only one rival at the halfway point and made a sustained bid to arrive in time after receiving a terrific pace setup. The opening quarter was run in :21.08 and a half-mile in :43.67 on the firm going.
Under Dylan Davis, Big Invasion finished up in 1:01.37 and paid $9.50. He is owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and is trained by Christophe Clement.
“He’s always been in a catch-up mood all year long and I’m not sure why. He was a top-class horse last year and ran great in the Breeders’ Cup (Turf Sprint [G1]),” said Clement, referring to Big Invasion’s neck loss to Nobals at Santa Anita.
Big Invasion finished fourth in the Silks Run S. in his season debut, 10th in both the Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G2) and Jaipur (G1), and was most recently second by a neck in an Aqueduct allowance on July 4.
“This year, we ran him, and he missed the break at Gulfstream. Every time I run him — we went to Churchill and soft turf — every time it was always against us. But he ran very well at Aqueduct, and I was amazingly disappointed not to win that day, but they (Outlaw Kid) broke the track record. We finally won today.”
Our Shot finished three parts of a length ahead of Souper Quest, who had taken a brief lead in midstretch from the weakening High Front. Souper Quest was followed by 1.95-1 favorite Arzak, High Front, Smithwick’s Spice, Surveillance, Mister Mmmmm, and Charging.
The Harvey Pack was the eighth career stakes victory for the five-year-old son of Declaration of War whose signature win to date occurred in the Nearctic (G2) at Woodbine last October.
Clement said Big Invasion would be pointed again toward the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, which will be held at Del Mar, with a prep to be determined.
