SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hard Not to Like, who got up in the final jump to nip Tepin in course-record time in Saturday’s Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga, will be aimed at the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Oct. 31 at Keeneland, with likely one start before then, trainer Christophe Clement said Sunday.
Clement said races like the Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont Park on Oct. 3 or the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita on Sept. 26 will be under consideration.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Micks Miracle, the 3-year-old colt who made a slow Del Mar surface appear fast while winning a highly rated allowance race Saturday, needs time to recover from a minor foot issue before he runs again, trainer Phil D’Amato said Sunday.
Micks Miracle won a first-level allowance sprint by 7 1/2 lengths Saturday, racing 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.72 and earning a 104 Beyer Speed Figure that was the highest earned through the first eight days of the summer meet.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Competitive Edge completed his preparation for next Sunday’s $1 million Haskell Invitational and a date with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah by working four furlongs Sunday at Saratoga.
Competitive Edge, working outside of Stanford, was timed by Daily Racing Form’s Mike Welsch in 48.32 seconds, with a final quarter in 23.39. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.07 and six furlongs in 1:14.01.
That breeze occurred at around 6:30 a.m., when rain was falling. Still, the main track remained fast.
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. – Four potential contenders for the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes – Texas Red, Frosted, Upstart, and Materiality – turned in their final works for the race on a busy and, for a short while, foggy Saturday morning at Saratoga.
The fog was long gone by the time Texas Red, Frosted, and Upstart came onto the track after the renovation break.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Fog enveloped the track for the first hour of training Saturday morning at Saratoga, but three contenders for the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes on Aug. 8 put in workouts during that time.
Honor Code, the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap winner, was the first horse on the track at 5:30 a.m. Only the final sixteenth of a mile of the work could be seen clearly from the front side, but trainer Shug McGaughey said exercise rider Lena Lorieul timed the move on her wristwatch in 1:00.80.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Stellar Wind is running in a Grade 1 race in August at Del Mar, but a specific goal was not clear as of Saturday morning. Trainer John Sadler said the options include two $300,000 races – the Clement Hirsch Stakes against older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles next Saturday or the Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 15.
Sadler said he plans to be involved in the Hirsch Stakes. Aside from Stellar Wind, Sadler might run Honey Ride, the winner of an optional claimer by 4 1/2 lengths at a mile at Santa Anita on June 19.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Big John B won his first stakes on dirt in Friday’s $100,000 Cougar II Handicap at 1 1/2 miles at Del Mar. The race is likely to have been a one-time surface change and not a new direction in the career of the 6-year-old gelding.
Trainer Phil D’Amato said on Saturday that Big John B will run Aug. 22, with the $250,000 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf likely to be preferred over the $1 million Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles on dirt.
“I’m leaning toward the Del Mar Handicap,” he said. “I think that’s the most sensible approach.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Frammento, the fifth-place finisher in the Belmont Stakes, worked a half-mile in 48.24 seconds here Friday, making up three lengths on his workmate, Battle Midway, who most recently was fourth in the Long Branch at Monmouth. Frammento is being pointed to the Grade 2 Jim Dandy here Aug. 1.
Trainer Nick Zito said he liked that Frammento pulled away from his workmate under exercise rider Maxine Correa.
“He tries to hang on a horse when he works in company,” Zito said. “She shook him up and got away from that horse.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Back at Saratoga, where they finished noses apart when one-two in last year’s Travers Stakes, stablemates V. E. Day and Wicked Strong both worked this week for the Whitney.
V. E. Day, second in the Brooklyn last out, worked four furlongs in 48.98 seconds on Friday. Working by himself, V. E. Day went his first quarter in 24.52 seconds and his second quarter in 24.46. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.35 and six furlongs in 1:16.24.
“Real good,” said trainer Jimmy Jerkens. “Nice and on his own. We’re happy with how he’s doing.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Christophe Clement had John Velazquez work Tonalist for a second consecutive week on Friday, with Velazquez guiding him through a five-furlong move in 1:01.33 over the Oklahoma training track. Clement said he wanted Velazquez to learn more about Tonalist before he rides him in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes here Aug. 8.
This year, Velazquez has ridden Tonalist to runner-up finishes in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and Grade 2 Suburban. In the latter race, Velazquez let the horse move too soon and was outkicked by Effinex, losing by a head.
