Renegade rallied from 11 1/2 lengths back under Irad Ortiz Jr., storming widest of all to run down Commandment and win the Grade 2 Jim Dandy by a half-length at Saratoga. (NYRA Photo)
Mary Eddy
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Grade 1-winning colt Renegade put an exclamation point on a banner day at Saratoga Race Course for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher and co-owner Mike Repole’s Repole Stable, giving the former his fifth win on the card and the latter his fourth with an emphatic deep-closing score in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun.
The prestigious nine-furlong route for sophomores serves as the Spa’s local prep for the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers on August 29.
Co-owned by breeders Robert and Lawana Low, Renegade was far back down the backstretch under regular pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr., but came with a strong and steady run down the stretch to collar the favored Commandment and return to the winner’s circle after respective second and third-place finishes to Golden Tempo in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby by a neck in May and the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets by 5 1/4 lengths in June here.
Renegade finished four lengths back of Commandment in the Belmont and flipped the script on him in the Jim Dandy. His connections hope he will have a chance to do the same to Golden Tempo in the Grade 1 Travers next.
“Listen, the best 3-year-old in the country right now is Golden Tempo,” Repole said. “How can you say he’s not, right? So of course, I wanted a shot here, but we’ll get a shot at the Travers and we’ll see what happens. I think the best horse with the best ride won the Kentucky Derby. And in the Belmont, we didn’t fire, and the last three weeks this horse has been back to his prime self. Irad tried to make it a little more heroic than we wanted it, he was pretty far back, and he made a great comeback.”
Pletcher agreed that Renegade’s sustained rally from 11 1/2 lengths back made for some tense moments, but went according to plan.
“I was just concerned that he was so far back, but I mean, that was part of the strategy that Irad and I talked about, it was ‘let him be him,’” said Pletcher, whose five wins on the Saratoga card put him at 5,997 career victories. “[Don’t] overthink the pace scenario, don’t take him out of his style, let him do his thing. Hats off to Irad to have that much confidence in a horse to allow him to get that far back and ride him patiently. I’m glad it worked out.”
The victory also marked a record-extending ninth Jim Dandy win for Pletcher, who scored previously with Graeme Hall [2000], Strong Hope [2003], Purge [2004], Flower Alley [2005], Stay Thirsty [2011], Palace Malice [2013], Forte [2023], and Fierceness [2024]. Four of those wins [Stay Thirsty, Forte, Fierceness, Renegade] came with Repole Stable as a full or part owner.
Renegade broke well and was unhurried by Ortiz, Jr. from post 3-of-5, watching as Chip Honcho broke a step slow from the inside post before being rushed up by Jose Ortiz through the first turn while pressured by Silent Tactic through the opening quarter-mile in 23.46 seconds over the fast footing.
“I took a little hold, and he dropped himself a little more than I wanted, but already in my mind I made my decision,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “I [went] with that and [sat] and waited and started making a run, and he did.”
There was a gap back to Commandment in third and a considerable distance to Renegade, who only had longshot maiden Asked and Answered beat as the half-mile elapsed in 47.82. The race was on approaching the turn when Silent Tactic was asked to pick it up on the outside of Chip Honcho while Commandment – who raced with blinkers on the first time in the afternoon – got going with a three-wide move under Flavien Prat through three-quarters in 1:12.30.
“I wasn’t sure if Commandment was going to be that close or not,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “I said, ‘I just want to ride my horse. I don’t care where he was, even if he is behind me. We just wanted to be in some position where he was comfortable.”
The top trio were strung across the track straightening for home and while Renegade still had plenty of ground to make up, he swung widest of all with giant strides to make things interesting in the stretch. Chip Honcho tired along the inside and Commandment dueled with a stubborn Silent Tactic into the final eighth. By the time Commandment edged clear of that foe, it was too late as Renegade stormed up in the last 100 yards to post the half-length victory in a final time of 1:49.08.
Commandment was two lengths the better of a valiant Silent Tactic, who raced from a more than four-month layoff and was 12 lengths ahead of Chip Honcho. Asked and Answered completed the order of finish.
This weekend was one to remember for Pletcher, who also won the Spa’s featured Grade 2 Amsterdam with Local Knowledge on Friday. On Saturday, his five wins came in a sweep of Races 3-5 in tandem with Repole, sending out Tuscan Sky to a $100,000 claiming win, and juveniles Pinpoint and Life Changing to debut maiden scores. Pletcher then added Race 7, a dirt allowance, to his tally with Sassmaster.
Five wins on a single card is a Saratoga record shared with five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown [2019, 2021, 2024], and Pletcher also accomplished the feat in 2004, according to statistics provided by Equibase dating to 1976.
“I mean we kind of like saved a bunch of them up for one day, I don’t know,” Pletcher said, alluding to an 0-for-44 slump in dirt races that he endured up until Friday’s card. “But yeah, I’d rather stay steady, but we felt like we had a pretty good hand coming into today, but it is hard to project that you are going to win five races in Saratoga. It just doesn’t happen very much.”
Pletcher said Renegade’s affinity for a late-footed running style was evidenced by his maiden-breaking victory in the Listed Sam F. Davis in February at Tampa Bay Downs, and his four-length victory over Silent Tactic in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in March at Oaklawn Park.
“By the three-eighths pole, I thought he was starting to get into the mix and I think he likes to be out in the clear, similar to the way he ran in Arkansas, when he kind of comes storming down the middle of the track,” Pletcher said. “We know from those races, the Arkansas Derby, the Sam Davis, that he has that unique ability to really close fast in a dirt race, which you don’t see very often.”
Renegade was a hard-luck second in the Kentucky Derby after drawing the dreaded inside post and being jostled through the early stages. He demonstrated his strong turn-of-foot from 15th-of-18 and got the jump on Golden Tempo, but was nailed in the final strides. He was also passed in the lane in the Belmont Stakes, but would not be denied as he cut back to nine furlongs, the distance of his dominant Arkansas Derby victory.
“This horse did everything possible to win the Derby, should have won and didn’t,” Repole said. “Didn’t fire in the Belmont, so now to get this back here, with a big crowd on a big day, yeah there’s redemption. Irad and Renegade, it’s really special. I’ve won four races today which is insane, and this is the fourth Jim Dandy, too, and I’ve won three out of the last four.”
The Into Mischief bay hammered for $975,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the Grade 3-winning Curlin mare Spice Is Nice, who was owned by the Lows and trained by Pletcher. His second dam, Dame Dorothy was a three-time graded stakes-winner for Pletcher, including the Grade 1 Humana Distaff in 2015.
Renegade banked $275,000 in victory, boosting his total bankroll to just north of $2.5 million. He returned $4.72 on a $2 win bet as the 6-5 second choice.
Dual Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox said he was pleased to see Wathnan Racing’s Commandment – winner of the Grade 1 Florida Derby in March – deliver a strong performance with blinkers.
“I like the trip he got,” Cox said. “I liked the way he traveled in the blinkers. Flavien said he felt a little more forward and carried himself really well with the blinkers, not over the top or anything. I thought that was something that pushed him forward – just second best.”
Cox said both the Travers and the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on September 19 at Parx Racing are on the table for Commandment’s next start.
“I don’t know – that’s [the Travers] back in four weeks. It’s a big ask,” he commented. “He ran hard today. We’ll see how he comes out of it before making any decisions. It will be one of those two, for sure. We’ll see how it goes.”
Prat mentioned Commandment may have been caught off guard by Renegade late.
“He ran well. He battled with Silent Tactic, and I don’t think he saw [Renegade] coming on the outside,” he said.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Saratoga with an 11-race card that includes two rescheduled stakes in the Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls and the Listed Curlin presented by Casamigos in Races 8 and 9. The card also features the Grade 3, $225,000 Adirondack in Race 10. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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