J C’s Pride, Currency Swap are ‘Hopeful’ to conclude Spa
run in style
Monday may be closing day for the 143rd meet at Saratoga Race Course, but the
$250,000
Hopeful S. (G1) could be just the beginning of bigger things for the 10
juveniles entered in the seven-furlong race.
Man o’ War, Secretariat, Affirmed, Whirlaway and Summer Squall are among the
many classic winners to have taken the Hopeful, which will be run for the 107th
time on Monday.
Although lightly raced, Saturday’s contenders have no shortage of talent. A
pair of two-year-olds — J C’S PRIDE (Henny
Hughes) and CURRENCY SWAP (High Cotton) — have landed on NYRA’s “New York Watch” series off extremely
impressive maiden victories at the Spa and will take the next step in the
Hopeful.
J C’s Pride opened a clear lead but could not hold off a challenge from
Overdriven in his first race, a five-furlong dash at Belmont Park on July 1.
Overdriven would return to take the Sanford S. (G2) by four lengths, and J C’s
Pride would do well in his second start as well. On July 27, the juvenile set a
Saratoga track record when he zipped five furlongs in :56.54, and his
connections are anticipating another good effort from the chestnut colt.
“He’s very, very rapid,” trainer Bobby Barbara said. “But, he’s very easy to
handle. I’m hoping he gets out of the gate like he did in his first two starts,
stays in front, and relaxes on the lead. If someone runs at him down the
backside, he’s not a horse who’s going to grab the bridle and run off.”
Having drawn advantageously on the outside, the challenge for the
front-running colt will be the stretch out to seven furlongs from five.
“If he runs as fluidly and smoothly as he did when he broke his maiden, he’ll
handle it,” said Barbara, who will be saddling his first Hopeful starter. “Plus,
he’s got a wonderful mind. That’s what’s going to keep him sound and good,
because he’s not aggressive and running off. He won a maiden race; now, he has
to run against horses.”
Jose Lezcano will ride J C’s Pride, the 5-2 morning-line favorite.
Currency Swap, trained by Teresa Pompay, has made just a single start, but it
was a memorable one. On August 6, the bay colt came four wide on the turn and
drew off to an imposing six-length victory, covering 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.02
to earn a field-best 108 BRIS Speed rating.
“He’s smart, good-looking, a nice mover, and fast,” said Pompay of Currency
Swap, who has been stabled in Barbara’s barn since Sunday. “I think stretching
out, he’s going to like the distance. In his first race, he ran off his talent,
and I hope he learned something.
“They’re all talented, it’s a matter of who comes forward, and who doesn’t.”
Rajiv Maragh will be aboard Currency Swap, who drew post position 3 and was
listed as the 3-1 second choice on the morning line as part of an entry with
Chad Brown’s CLIP THE COUPONS (Congrats).
Todd Pletcher, who appears to have wrapped up his eighth training title at
Saratoga, will send out recent maiden winners HUNT CROSSING (Corinthian) and BIG
BLUE NATION (Bluegrass Cat). Hunt Crossing was a four-length winner going five
furlongs at Saratoga on August 3 while Big Blue Nation pressed the early pace
and prevailed by three-quarters of a length in his six-furlong debut at
Churchill Downs on July 3, after which he was purchased by Bortoazzo Stable and
sent to Pletcher.
“Big Blue Nation we’ve had for about three weeks now and seems to be training
well,” said Pletcher, who won the 2006 Hopeful with Circular Quay. “We were
pleased with Hunt Crossing’s maiden win and pleased with the way he’s trained
since then, so we’re going to take a shot.”
John Velazquez rides Hunt Crossing, 4-1 on the morning line, from the rail
while Ramon Dominguez is aboard Big Blue Nation, who drew post position 6 and
was listed at 10-1 on the morning line.
POWER WORLD (Distorted Humor) will be making his third graded start in the
Hopeful, having finished second in the Bashford Manor (G3) at Churchill on July
2 and second in the Sanford. Winner of his maiden outing at Churchill on July
11, the Neil Howard pupil drew post position 4 and will be ridden by Hall of
Famer Edgar Prado at 6-1 on the morning line.
Coming in from California for the Hopeful is the Doug O’Neill-trained I’LL
HAVE ANOTHER (Flower Alley), a maiden winner at first asking who came back to
finish second in the Best Pal S. (G2) at Del Mar on August 7. The chestnut colt
drew post position 8 with Julien Leparoux in the irons and was listed at 8-1 on
the morning line.
Rounding out the field are the John Kimmel-trained VEXOR (Wildcat Heir), a
maiden winner at the Spa on August 11; TRINNIBERG (Teuflesberg), a well-beaten
fifth in the Saratoga Special (G2) on August 15; and LAURIE’S ROCKET (Bluegrass
Cat), who broke his maiden at second asking at Saratoga on July 23.
The Hopeful will be supported on Saratoga’s closing day card by the $100,000
Glens
Falls S. (G3) and the $75,000
Ecclesiastic S. for turf runners.
From first in the New York S. (G2) to last in her following start in the
Diana S. (G1), GIANTS PLAY (Giant’s Causeway) has run, back-to-back, the best
and worst races of her career. The four-year-old miss will attempt to return to
form in the Glens Falls, which drew 12 runners, including a main-track only
entrant.
“She’s been very consistent but had a bad race in the Diana,” trainer
Christophe Clement said of Giants Play. “Distance had something to do with
that.”
The 1 1/8-mile Diana was the shortest race of Giants Play’s career. Her
victory in the New York at 1 1/4 miles came on the lead and was her first since
breaking her maiden in Great Britain last September in the care of Sir Michael
Stoute. Since being transferred to Clement, Giants Play has hit the board in
every start except for the Diana. She figures to stand a strong chance to make
the pace in the Glens Falls, with most of the other entrants either deep closers
or runners who prefer to race midpack.
Pletcher will send out BUBBLY JANE (Brz) (Yagli), winner of the 2008
Brazilian Oaks (Brz-G1), in the Glens Falls to make just her second start for
the barn. Last out, after a 14-month layoff, she finished second in the Robert
Dick Memorial S. (G3) at Delaware Park, which was run at the Glens Falls
distance.
“We thought she ran a credible race off the layoff in the Robert Dick
Memorial,” Pletcher said. “She’s probably the type that will settle middivision
and make a steady run.”
Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard has a serious threat in EMERALD BEECH
(Maria’s Mon), who has won three straight races, all at different distances,
including the 1 1/2-mile Waya S. Sheppard got the horse last year, when she was
four-years old, and ran her with little success. After a layoff between October
and April, Emerald Beech returned a different animal.
“She was extremely high-strung and nervous when she came to us,” Sheppard
said of Emerald Beech. “Last year, she was kind of a work in progress. She was
un-ratable on the lead in her (early) races in Canada. My goal was to try and
change that, which you can’t do overnight.
“It was nice to give her a break over the winter…and when we brought her
back in the spring it seemed like she had learned her lessons, not just mental
but physical. I’m a slow learner; it takes me a longer time than others to
figure out these horses.”
Getting the stakes action started on Monday will be the 5 1/2-furlong
Ecclesiastic, with FIDDLERS PATRIOT (Proud Citizen) looking for that elusive
first stakes victory following a nose second in the Highlander S. (Can-G2) at
Woodbine in June. Also in with a chance are VARSITY (Indian Charlie), a head
second in the Wolf Hill S. at Monmouth last out, and WICKED TUNE (Concorde’s
Tune), a neck runner-up in the My Frenchman S. most recently.