Saratoga, Race 1 & 6 – Friday, August 25, 2023
By 2YO EdgeMan
SAR1:082523 – 1 1/16th mile on the inner turf. Sixteen colts have been entered, but of course there is not enough room on the track for that many, so ten will make up the main body of the field and six will wait on the Also Eligibles list. Firsters abound in this one – only one guy has competed (and that was just once). We’ve got a fantastic docket of trainers lined up, including two from Maker and one each from Cox, Shug, Bill Mott, Weaver, Chad, DeVaux, TAP and McPeek. The sire list is quite robust, too – Tapit, Winstar Farm’s Constitution, Uncle Mo, More Than Ready, Oscar Performance, Not This Time, Curlin and Lope de Vega. Add to that, Winstar’s debut sire – Audible. I’m expecting this to be an excellent affair as it seems very evenly matched. Let’s jump right into breaking down the field…
#1 – Radio Liberty (9/2) – One of the nine First-Time Starters, this colt is trained by Brad Cox and hails from the First-Crop Sire, Audible. He was snatched out of the Keeneland Yearling Sale last fall for $150K (42/123). His dam earned $79,000 while a race mare who went 2 for 9, but is most famous for throwing Major Dude, a winner of over $3/4 million going 4 for 12, including a win a first asking in June of his two-year-old campaign and also a win in the Pilgram Stakes (Grade 2) at Belmont at The Big A in October of that year (Equibase Speed Fig = 88). This fella has worked ten times, all down in Kentucky, five at Keeneland and then five under the Twin Spires. His last three efforts have been breezes of 5/8 of a mile and his best work was probably back on 7/1/23 at Keeneland when he turned in a time of 48 seconds flat for four furlongs (4/26). Geroux has been tapped to be his guide.
#2 – The Hero Code (8/1) – Shug will cinch up the girth on this grey/roan colt by the mighty Tapit. Mom was unraced, but has produced four offspring that have earned $100K or more, including a filly who won nine times from her 56 career races and ended with $768K in winnings. She’s also responsible for a filly who made $483K on the track (5 for 12) and a colt who was 2 for 2 as a juvenile overseas. Today’s runner is a homebred and he’ll be making his first afternoon run today. Fourteen workouts make up this dude’s prep history, the first nine coming at Belmont Park and the last five came at Saratoga (two on the Oklahoma turf, two on the Oklahoma dirt and one on the main track across Union Avenue). As per normal for Shug, none of this guy’s works have been very fast. Joel will be the reinsman.
#4 – Feltrinelli (5/1) – This colt comes to us from a union of Uncle Mo and a Harlan’s Holiday mare who won five times from 23 starts and banked $427K, including a G2 and a G3 event. Today’s competitor hammered down for $400K as a 2YO earlier this year at the OBS Spring sale (7/28). George Weaver, who has saddled three juvenile 2YO MSW winners this meet at Saratoga, is this fella’s trainer and he will be making his first start. Nine Saratoga works are under his belt – three each on the dirt training oval, turf training track and main strip. His most impressive came early in his work tab and it was over on Oklahoma’s dirt when he went 36.23 seconds for three poles on 6/19/23 (1/26). Manny Franco will be in the saddle.
#5 – Walley World (4/1) – The tepid favorite on the Morning Line is managed by Chad and, although he’s been entered a few times previously, this will be his first actual race. More Than Ready is his sire and his mama was winless in three tries and this is her first foal. $220K was the final price for this colt when he went through the auction ring at Keeneland last September as a yearling. From a workout standpoint, he has had taken part in 11 morning drills, all at Saratoga, with the bulk (six) coming on the dirt at the training track, one on the turf at the training facility and then four over the main oval. Most of his times have been no better than average, but on 6/12/23 he did travel three panels in 36.84 seconds to earn a solid bullet (1/58). Flavien Prat will have the riding duties.
#7 – Tireless (6/1) – It doesn’t seem like we’ve seen too many Not This Time babies this summer at Saratoga, but this colt is one who demanded a hefty $875K as a yearling at KEE September (1/76). Owned by Repole, St. Elias and LNJ Foxwoods, this guy will be making his first start today and he’s conditioned by TAP who’s put 11 total works into him – his first six where down at Churchill and then he shipped up to The Spa in mid-July for five more. He logged a bullet move in his second try back on 6/17/23 when he went 3/8th of a mile in 36.2 seconds (1/23). Five of the 11 mornings that he’s been out saw him travel five furlongs, including the last two over the grass across the street at Oklahoma. Yes, you guessed it, Irad will be in the irons.
#10 – Buffoon (15/1) – I picked this French bred colt last week, but he was scratched out of that race, so hopefully he’ll go into the gate for his first career race today. Lope de Vega is his proud papa and he comes from an Irish bred mare from Invincible Spirit who never won. At the Arqana auction last August, the sale price for this guy when he was a yearling converted to $179,480 (30/56). This fella is one of the two in here from Mike Maker and he was able to sneak in one work at Saratoga this past Sunday after working ten times in Kentucky (two at The Thoroughbred Center, three at Keeneland and five over the All-Weather surface at Turfway Park. He’s earned two ‘small’ bullets at TP (1/8 and 1/5), but has not really lit up the stopwatch yet. Dylan Davis will be in the saddle.
Pick – #7 Tireless – I don’t see this colt going off at odds of 6/1, but even if he drops in half, I like this guy. Owner / Trainer / Jockey all about the best that there is and this was Not This Time’s highest priced yearling in 2022. The bullet work back in June shows that he definitely have some hops and I can see him running a big one today. I love the name of the owner of this colt in the Game of Silks – FreakyFast – best of luck to you, I think that you’ve got a dandy on your hands.
SAR6:082523 – Six furlongs on the dirt. Eight colts will battle it out for supremacy in this outstanding affair with six making their first career afternoon effort – two have been out one time each. Bill Mott will saddle two and the following will do the same for one each – Cox, Clement, Chad, Shug, TAP and The Coach. Sires? Quality Road, Blame, Violence, Spendthrift’s All-World Into Mischief, City of Light, Street Sense and Medalia d’Oro. Two of these eight colts have gone through the sales ring and walked out with a hammer price of more than $1 million and three more sold for $400K+. Leaving out the two homebreds, the six that sold at public auction went for an average of over $700K – that’s north of $4 million in horse flesh, folks! Excited yet? You oughtta be! Let’s look at every one of these fellas…
#1 – Air of Defiance (5/2) – Brad Cox will saddle this new shooter who is a son of Quality Road. His mom was not too shabby either, having brought home $444K to her owners by winning 4 of 12, with one being a Grade 3 variety. $400K was the high bid for this colt at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale (21/45). He started his workout regime in mid-May down at Keeneland and then made the trek to upstate NY in late July / early August. That’s given him the opportunity to take three morning spins at the SAR Training Track, with the last two covering 5/8th of a mile. He has completed one work in sub 12 second splits when he went 47.8 seconds at Keeneland for a half mile on 6/20/23 (3/20). Luis Saez was scheduled to ride, but they’ll have to replace him as he went down with injuries on Wednesday.
#2 – Anchises (6/1) – This Florida bred colt is a product of Blame and an Empire Maker mare who was unraced. However, she did produce a gelding that took down $215K going 4 for 32 and a gelding who won $75,000 and was a winner at age two overseas. Today’s racer was picked up for $300K back in March at OBS’s 2YO Sale (6/19). He is one of the two dudes in here that has been out in the afternoon and on that day, 7/21/23 here at Saratoga, he stalked a length or two off the pace before settling for third place money. Trainer Bill Mott has put three works into him since his race and he’s got Dylan Davis lined up to ride.
#3 – Apollo Ten (8/1) – Christophe Clement will saddle this homebred, Violence colt for Cheyenne Stables – this owner / trainer combo has already scored once this meet in two Juvenile MSW tries. His Midshipman dam won half of her eight races and collected $160K in purse money for her efforts. She’s also been successful in the breeding shed having thrown a filly who earned $708K for her connections with five wins from 16 outings, including a win at second asking while two-years-old at Belmont Park in October (87 EBSF) and she also scored in three stakes races. Apollo Ten will be making his first start today and to prep for that he’s worked eight times at Saratoga, all but his most recent were on the dirt at Oklahoma. His best effort was a half mile move in 47.65 seconds on 8/5/23 (4/67). Manny Franco has accepted the offer to pilot him.
#4 – Wajda (5/1) – The ill-fated WinStar Farm’s Laoban is the stallion behind this FTS for Chad Brown. His dam banked $100K on the race track, winning seven of her 15 starts, including a win at first asking at Finger Lakes in September of her 2YO campaign and then she followed that up with an ALW win at the same oval in November while posting a fine 85 EBSF. This guy sold big at the OBS March 2YO sale earlier this year when owner Sean Flanigan went to $425K. He’ll be making his first run today, but in order to get ready for the big day, he’s taken ten spins here at Saratoga, all but the first three over the big boy, main track. Two morning outings back, on 8/12/23, he was in the top 10% of workers at the distance when he went four furlongs in 48.22 seconds (9/106). Flavien Prat gets the call to handle the reins.
#5 – Change of Command (8/1) – This is the first of two seven figure babies and, not surprisingly, he’s a product of Into Mischief from a winless Medaglia d’Oro mare. To be exact, Courtlandt Farm went to $1.05 million on this colt during the Keeneland September Yearling Sale (6/77). As he often does, Shug started this guy in his workout routine at Fair Hill and he drilled seven times there before shipping into Saratoga for four more morning moves. His times have been solid, but none jump of the page. His best was probably two back over the dirt at the Oklahoma oval on 8/12/23 when he covered a half mile in 48.47 seconds (6/65). Jose will do the honors in the saddle.
#6 – Fierceness (2/1) – The Morning Line favorite is trained by TAP and is sired by City of Light. He is another of the First-Time Starter and a homebred from Repole Stables. Mama didn’t light up the track, but did earn $63,000 by going 2 for 5. Todd started his works over at Monmouth where he was out on four morning moves. He then shipped him to Saratoga in late July and he’s been working well here on the main strip. His next to last published work was four furlongs in 47.4 seconds from the gate (3/106). Irad will be his pilot.
#7 – Billal (15/1) – Bill Mott seems to have an endless supply of fancy babies and this colt by Street Sense is no exception. He’s out of a dam by Bernardini who was 0 for 2 on the track and this is her first foal. He light up the board at the Keeneland September Yearling sale last fall when he sold for $725K (2/52). He’ll be making his first try in competition today and he’s been working towards this start since late May with nine works over Saratoga’s dirt training oval. He’s never been in the top 10% of time at the distance, but his second ever work on 6/5/23 was done in 37.43 seconds (6/43). Florent Geroux will be the man aboard for Mott.
#8 – Daily Grind (15/1) – The second million dollar plus yearling in the field – this one is by Medaglia d’Oro – brought a bid of $1.35 million at Fasig-Tipton New York Select Sale at Saratoga last year (1/41). This amount was $450K higher than the second highest selling yearling last year from his dad. His Tapit mare won nearly $300K in her racing days going 4 for 13, including a G3 score and a win in her only start at two at Belmont in September. Additionally, she has produced Anneau d’Or, a gelding who came in second in the 2029 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He’s been out one time prior to today and it didn’t go so well, as he finished 8th of 10, nearly 20 lengths behind the winner. Since that race a little over a month ago here at Saratoga, conditioner D. Wayne has pumped three 5f works into him and he’s got his attention. His last drill – on 8/15/23 – was completed in 59.6 for the 5/8 of a mile (1/2). Joel steps in to guide him for the first time.
Pick – #8 Daily Grind – We are swinging for the fences a bit on this one, but thinking that he may go off at pretty big odds after getting beat badly first out at odds of 16/1. In reviewing the replay, he was assigned Post Position #1 and absolutely fell out of the gate, spotting the field several lengths. Not saying he would have won on that day, but there was no sense trying to make a big run from that far back. His workouts since his race have been quite encouraging and it’s always a positive to have a horse that has done the racing thing before. The step up to Joel Rosario is also a plus and shows that The Coach is serious. This colt is still available in the Game of Silks – can you even imagine minting a horse and winding up owning this fella?
Two great races today, my zealous Edgies – especially R6 – but don’t miss either. We’ve got another one tomorrow, so please stay vigilant for my ‘Picks, Plays and Pontification’ for that one tomorrow. We are going into the last two weekends here at The Spa, so let’s hit some winners and have some fun. I appreciate you all – thank you and stay safe and well.
