Speed Bias speeds away in an allowance Jan. 7 at Oaklawn Park (Coady Photography)
NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— Trainer Ron Moquett is hopeful that a drop down in class can make a big difference for graded stakes-placed Speed Bias in Friday’s seventh race – a nine-furlong allowance optional claimer over the Saratoga Race Course main track.
The 4-year-old Uncle Mo bay colt enters from a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on July 1 at Ellis Park, where he set the early tempo under Luis Saez but retreated leaving the far turn and finished 6 1/4 lengths behind the victorious West Will Power.
This effort came following a close second under Saez in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 19, where he displayed similar frontrunning fashion, maintaining his advantage through upper stretch before being confronted by odds-on favorite Rattle N Roll, who won by a nose. The effort garnered a career-high 101 Beyer Speed Figure.
Moquett said having Saez, the pilot in his last three starts, back aboard the talented two-time winner gives him confidence when he steps up against a field that includes graded-stakes placed The Reds and stakes-winner Artorius.
“We got Saez back on him, so he knows him,” Moquett said. “He came out of a really, really tough race that I don’t think he had situation set up for him, as well as it did for him in the Pimlico Special. We’re trying to gain a little confidence and get him a win. Doing that at Saratoga isn’t always an easy challenge, but he’s coming into the race really well and we’ll see where we’re at.”
Bred in Kentucky by Alpha Delta Stable, Speed Bias is out of the dual graded stakes-winning Malibu Moon mare Hot Summer and was bought for $220,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Speed Bias will leave from post 2 as the 3-1 morning line second choice.
