Played Hard (inside) bests Secret Oath in the La Troienne (G1) May 5 (Daniella Ricci/Past The Wire)
Stakes Company Not Ruled Out for Little Prankster
Skratch Kat Likely To Take Step Back After G2 Shuvee Third
NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— Rigney Racing’s Grade 1-winner Played Hard logged a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.05 in company with the stakes-placed 4-year-old gelding Warrior Johny [1:01.14] over the Saratoga main track Thursday in preparation for the Grade 1, $600,000 Personal Ensign on August 25 at Saratoga Race Course.
Played Hard, with exercise rider Santos Rivera up, tracked Warrior Johny in the sharp breeze and finished up strongly.
“When I’m looking for a strong work, I like to give a horse a target. We knew the horse in front of her is a quality individual, so we were going to get the work we wanted,” said trainer Phil Bauer, who enjoyed his first Grade 1 victory when Played Hard won the La Troienne on May 5 at Churchill Downs. “I was glad to see her come to him. She took a deep breath galloping out and that’s what we needed to figure out where we’re at with the missed time. A lot of times these good horses will move forward off things like that.”
Played Hard was last seen finishing a prominent third in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 Ogden Phipps on June 10 at Belmont Park, where she held a slim advantage at the three-quarters call but could not fend off the closing bids of Search Results and the victorious Clairiere. She was meant to start in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Shuvee on July 23 here but missed the race after spiking a temperature leading up to the race.
“We missed some time with her, so we needed a work like that to figure out where we’re at with our target,” Bauer said. “This work was intended to give her a deep blow and we accomplished that. So, we’ll see how she bounces out and go from there.”
Bauer said Thursday’s work came on the heels of a disrupted work last week when the daughter of Into Mischief covered five-eighths in 1:01.71 after being forced to ease up in the final furlong.
“She broke off for a five-eighths work and approaching the quarter pole, a rider fell off near the wire and they kind of had to pull up at the eighth pole,” Bauer. “We certainly were looking for a little more, but she’s doing great.”
In addition to the La Troienne, Played Hard boasts a pair of Grade 3 wins last year at Churchill Downs in the Locust Grove and Falls City, which surrounded another Grade 1 placing when third in the Spinster in October at Keeneland. She has banked nearly $1.5 million in total purse earnings through a 16-6-5-3 record.
Bauer, who went 6-for-13 at last year’s Saratoga meet, has gotten off to a good start this year with two wins from 13 starts and two stakes placings. Among his best performers this summer is Rigney Racing’s Little Prankster, who dominated a 5 1/2-furlong off-the-turf maiden special weight on July 30.
The sophomore daughter of Practical Joke was part of a three-way duel for the lead through the first quarter-mile before drawing off with ease through each point of call and coasting home a 7 3/4-length winner under Tyler Gaffalione. She was awarded a career-best 86 Beyer Speed Figure after beginning her career with three consecutive runner-up finishes in Kentucky maiden special weights.
“She’s got a ton of ability and I was a little frustrated with myself and never guessed it would take her four starts to break her maiden with how she trained,” said Bauer. “But, mission accomplished finally, and hopefully onto a big fall campaign.”
Bauer said he would not rule out a future start in stakes company for the talented dark bay.
“We’ll play it by ear. We might flirt with some stakes nominations and see how some things come up,” said Bauer. “Most likely, we’ll point to a ‘1X’ and go from there. But with 3-year-old with her type of ability, we may find a situation and take advantage of it.”
Bauer sent out Rigney Racing’s Skratch Kat to a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Shuvee on July 23 where she earned graded black type for the first time in her 12th lifetime outing. Bauer said the daughter of Arrogate emerged from her effort well, but will likely take a step back in company for her next outing.
“She’s good. I don’t know if she’ll run up here again or not, but we may look at some MTOs,” said Bauer. “She’s doing very well. I think we were lucky enough last time to find a perfect situation for her, but she’s a nice filly in her own right. We’ll try and get that ‘two-other-than’ taken care of next.”
The $200,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase has banked $252,435 in total purse earnings through a record of 12-2-3-2. She is out of the multiple graded stakes-placed Smart Strike mare Wave Theory and is a direct maternal descendant of Reine-de-Course mare Real Delight.
