Forty Tales, winner of Sunday’s Amsterdam at Saratoga, is likely to come back in the King’s Bishop on
the August 24 Travers undercard.
“(Forty Tales) has really found his niche,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.
“He’s a tough little
horse that keeps delivering one good performance after another.
Also bound for the King’s Bishop is Declan’s Warrior, despite a lackluster
effort in the Amsterdam that disappointed Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito. Declan’s Warrior trailed the field in seventh and made a
belated run to finish fifth, beaten 3 3/4 lengths.
“He was hanging out with Joel (Rosario, aboard eventual winner Forty Tales),
and the next thing you know Joel had six lengths on him,” Zito said.
“I would have taken him out as
wide as I can so he could see daylight, and maybe he would have came. He stood
there for a minute and wasn’t making up any ground, and then he took off again.
He was fifth by (3 3/4 lengths). It’s kind of a tough situation.
“Seven furlongs is
probably a little better (than the Amsterdam’s 6 1/2-furlong distance), but I
thought he was going to close a little better.”
Earlier on Sunday’s card, the Pletcher-trained Winning Cause rallied smartly
to take the Sir Cat Stakes on turf.
“Winning Cause ran very well,” Pletcher noted. “We started him on the turf
here last year because we thought he showed improvement when we breezed him over
the turf. His first two starts, maybe he just needed a little time to get it
together. That was a good effort for him yesterday.
“It was a great weekend. We’re blessed to have some pretty talented horses,”
added Pletcher, who also turned the Jim Dandy/Haskell double with Palace Malice
and Verrazano, respectively.
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