Saratoga, Race 1 – Sunday, August 6, 2023
By 2YO EdgeMan
SAR1:080623 – 1 1/16 miles on the lawn. This time the ladies get the chance to dance and we’ve got an overflow field of 15 that have been entered. We’ve got a dandy main field with some great trainers, including two more from TAP and Chad Brown, as well as singles from DeVaux, Motion, McPeek, Mott, Maker and Clement. We are also excited to have outstanding sires, such as two from Mendelssohn and one apiece from More Than Ready, War Front, Into Mischief, Army Mule, Justify, English Channel and Lope de Vega. This will be a blast – let’s rock this town…
#1 – It’s Hot in Here (5/1) – Ireland’s Too Darn Hot is the sire of this filly who will be making her debut today and she’s out of an Irish mare that pulled down $130K in winnings while racing in Canada, England and the U.S. She won at first asking in September of her two-year-old campaign over in Jolly Ole England. This filly was sold for $112,856 as a yearling at Arquana in August last year (19/48). Trainer Chad Brown has pumped ten workouts into her, all over at the Oklahoma Training strip, with one of those coming on the turf. Her times have not been outstanding, but she appears to have a good base underneath her. Flavien will be her guide in the saddle.
#2 – Sands of War (8/1) – This FTS filly’s dam is a half to a horse that you’ve probably heard of – Justify. She’s by War Front and is conditioned by Cherie DeVaux. This gal didn’t come cheap as she demanded $550K at the Keeneland September Yearling sale last year (2/24). Even tho mom has a famous half bro, she was 0 for 1 on the track and this is her first foal. Today’s runner worked nine times at Keeneland before making her way up north for one spin around the training track at The Spa. Again, she’s not broken any world records in her morning moves. Jose Lezcano gets the call.
#3 – Later Darling (9/2) – The first of two from TAP, this filly is by More Than Ready and comes from a Rockport Harbor mare that won once from five tries, cashing in for $60,000 as a race mare. $175K was the price tag for this gal as a yearling las October at Fasig-Tipton’s KY sale. Nine total works – all at Toga – show on the work tab for this filly, with the first five coming on the dirt of the local training track, then three on the turf there, followed by one over the main track. She did fire off a bullet back on 5/30/23 going three panels in 36.94 seconds (1/42). Jose is set to pilot her for her first afternoon adventure.
#6 – Kingdom Come (15/1) – Bruce Lunsford bred and owns this filly whose pops is Justify and his mom ran second in a G1 event with three wins from 26 starts and $421K in the bank from winnings on the track. She also boasts a top EBSF of 118. Bill Mott is her patient trainer and she’ll also be making her first start today. Workout wise, she’s seen seven outings on the training track here at Saratoga in the past 60 days. Her best was probably her second effort back on 6/20/23 when she scampered four poles in 48.46 (2/30). Of course, the old master has Junior Alvarado booked to show her the way around the oval.
#8 – Weigh the Risks (7/2) – The M/L fav is Chad’s second entrant in this event and is a filly by Mendelssohn from a winless Candy Ride mare, however she has thrown a filly who banked $188K, going 5 for 16. Today’s contestant brought $205K as a yearling when she went through the ring last year at Fasig-Tipton (8/105). Saratoga has been her home and the only location that she’s worked (ten efforts). Back on 7/4/23, she sped a half mile over the dirt training track in 47.89 seconds (1/27) and she’s also seen the grass in one move. Irad has been named to slip his boots into the irons.
Pick – #8 Weigh the Risks – It’s gotta be a good sign that Irad has opted for this one and Chad ain’t too bad on the grass. Her work on the fourth of July shows that she’s got some speed and she was in the top 10% of the Mendelssohn yearlings that sold last year. Best of luck to ButterFarms, the owner of this gal in the Game of Silks.
