It was a hot time last weekend in Saratoga Springs, both in the old town and at the racetrack.
Temperatures soared into the mid to upper 80s without a ripple of cooling breeze, making for toasty conditions in the venerable wooden grandstand. The racing action warmed to the occasion, topped by Fierceness rebounding to capture the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2).
Trainer Aidan O’Brien. Coolmore Poto
“Diego is in good form since Leopardstown,” O’Brien said. “We think the track, trip and ground should be fine for him. We are happy with him and hopeful he should run a very good race.”
The son of Frankel arrives with high expectations and something to prove. His last graded stakes was a crushing disappointment: a 10th place finish in the King Edward VII Stakes (G2) at Ascot as the 2-1 favorite.
Diego Velazquez breaks from post 4 with Ryan Moore aboard the 2-1 favorite.
Just to his inside will be Legend of Time, from the barn of Charlie Appleby, the English trainer seemingly winning everything in sight. Appleby will be seeking his fourth American Grade 1 victory of the year with a colt who ran third in the Belmont Derby (G1) as the 3-2 favorite. He was trapped inside for a long stretch that afternoon and shook loose too late.
“Unfortunately, in the Belmont Derby it was a tactical race and was going to be tricky and that’s how it panned out,” Appleby said.
Of the local runners, White Palomino looks most promising, beaten only a head in the Belmont Derby on July 6 in only his fourth career start for trainer Chad Brown.
“It’s back a little tight,” Brown said. “He ran a tough race last time and got beat a head. My only concern would be the short rest.”
The Saratoga Derby winner will receive an automatic berth in the Cox Plate (G1) in Australia on Oct. 26.
It shapes up as a contentious race but when the turf settles on Saturday, we expect to see Diego Velazquez posing for his portrait in the Saratoga winner’s circle.
The fun of handicapping horse races is shopping for value, uncovering a runner with hidden value.
Sometimes you just have to MOTO: be a Master of the Obvious. That’s the case here with Ways and Means in the six-horse Test at 7 furlongs. All indicators point in her direction.
Ways and Means. Coglianese/Susie Raisher Photo
Ways and Means, also trained by Brown, seeks her first graded victory. This looks like the ideal setup, especially on the cutback in distance for the 7-5 favorite.
At 2, Ways and Means demonstrated her brilliance in a pair of sprint races at Saratoga by winning her debut by 12 ¾ lengths followed by a half-length defeat in the Spinaway (G1) on closing weekend.
When a horse shows that kind of precocious talent, the temptation always exists to see if longer distances are possible.
Ways and Means launched her 2024 campaign in the 1 1/16 miles Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), beaten only a length as the 1-2 favorite. From there it was on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at 1 1/8 miles in the slop at Churchill Downs where she ran a respectable fourth behind Thorpedo Anna, a leading contender for Horse of the Year who will next take on the boys here in the Travers Stakes (G1) on Aug. 24.
Brown got the clear message from Ways and Means: shorter is better. Her follow-up to the Kentucky Oaks was an 8 ¼-length romp in a 1-mile allowance race during Saratoga’s Belmont Stakes festival in June.
Cutting back another furlong for the Test should be the gift Ways and Means has been craving.
It’s hard to interpret the enthusiasm demonstrated by rival horsemen who opted to tackle odds-on favorite Cogburn in the Troy. Ten rivals will challenge Cogburn in the 5 ½-furlong dash. Apparently, no one got the memo that he will be very tough to beat. The 5-year-old won this race last season with a terrific stretch rally after a bobble at the break.
Cogburn. Coglianese Photo.
He has come back better and stronger in 2024. He is 2-for-2 this campaign with dominant wins in the Turf Sprint (G2) at Churchill Downs and the Jaipur (G1) at Saratoga in a North American-record 59.80 seconds for the 5 1/2 furlongs.
Look out boys: it’s a freight train coming through!
“We’re extremely excited about him and how he’s doing,” said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. “He’s just a very fast horse.”
That might be the understatement of the meet.
“He’s coming off an incredible performance,” Asmussen said. “He’s training really well.”