Turned Aside finally got the better of Jack and Noah when beating both that odds-on favorite, and four others, in the $100,000 Quick Call Stakes (G3) at Saratoga on Friday.
Racing in close attendance to the pace-setting Jack and Noah, Turned Aside took over approaching the quarter pole, and won the 5 1/2-furlong turf dash for 3-year-olds by 1 3/4 lengths. The Paul Pompa-homebred paid $6.50 after completing the course on firm ground in 1:01.99 under Jose Lezcano.
Old Chestnut edged Fore Left for second by a neck, with Flap Jack another neck behind in fourth. It was a gap back to 9-10 favorite Jack and Noah, while outsider High Cruise trailed.
Trained by Linda Rice, Turned Aside has now earned $179,992 from a line of 7-3-2-1. The Kentucky-bred finished second to Jack and Noah in his second career start, a maiden race at Belmont, and later finished behind that rival in the Atlantic Beach S. at Aqueduct, finishing seventh, and in the June 19 Sir Cat S. at Belmont in an improved runner-up placing.
“Paul and I discussed it and we felt if we didn’t engage early we were just going to hand it over to Jack and Noah and we’ve done that enough already,” Rice said. “Sometimes you change courses and one horse prefers Belmont and one horse prefers Saratoga and I thought our horse has been training great all spring and maybe we could turn the tables on him on a different course.”
By American Pharoah, Turned Aside is out of the Grade 2-placed Sustained, by War Front.
