Saratoga Babies
– Ready’s Image Beyer for Thursday’s Sanford Stakes came back a big 104, which easily makes the strapping colt trained by Todd Pletcher the two-year-old division leader. As Steven Crist points out on his new blog though, “how far will he go, being by More Than Ready out of a Clever Trick mare?” My question is, how much of a monster is Rated Feisty? The Steve Amussen-trained filly beat Ready’s Image by more than seven lengths in the G3 Kentucky Breeders’ Cup in May, earning a 102 Beyer for that race. He came back from that third place finish to take the Tremont at Belmont; she returned to break a stakes record winning the G3 Debutante at Churchill.
Fed Watcher, so visually impressive winning his maiden debut at Belmont earlier this summer, set the pace in the Sanford and ran greenly in the stretch as he tired, veering toward the outer rail. Tale of Ekati finished second with a sleeper run, looking like a horse who might appreciate more distance. “I think he is going to need more ground, but I knew that all along,” said trainer Barclay Tagg of his colt’s finish (Times Union). The flashiest mover in the Sanford was The Roundhouse, another from Pletcher’s barn, who rallied from last to get third.
Speaking of Pletcher, he seemed to be channeling Yogi Berra after the Sanford, saying of Ready’s Image, “You can’t win any until you win that first one, so it’s nice to get this one” (DRF). The Sanford was Pletcher’s first win at Saratoga; the trainer went 0-for-5 opening day.
– Subtle Aly, who nipped I Promise at the wire in the Schuylerville, earned a Beyer of 74 for the race with so-so fractions and a final time of 1:11.06. Favorite According to Plan broke in the air, then was checked, losing all chances for a win. Watch for her to come back. Interesting aside: Twisted Tale, who ran second to Subtle Aly in her smashing maiden debut at Churchill on June 23, returned to win as the 9-5 favorite in Thursday’s second, a 5 1/2 furlong maiden special.
– A quick mention of Sargeant Seattle, Wednesday’s second race winner. The Stanley Hough-trained colt was cranked up for his debut with a dozen workouts, including a half-mile that was the second-fastest of 41 on July 13, and ran beautifully, rating off favored Bold Trust before drawing away to a 6 1/2 length victory as the 5-2 third favorite. It was all very reminiscent of Discreet Cat’s 2005 Saratoga maiden debut for Hough, which was so dominating Godolphin swooped in to purchase the now four-year-old colt privately for an undisclosed, but undoubtably large, sum.
