For generations, Saratoga Race Course has been known as a locale for some of the sport’s best 2-year-old racing, and for colts the top 2-year-old race of the meet is the Hopeful Stakes.
Month: September 2023
Anglophile Rallies Up Rail To Take Dueling Grounds Derby
LFG Racing LLC's Anglophile struck for his first stakes win Sunday at Kentucky Downs when upstaging favorite and runner-up Far Bridge in the $1-million National Thoroughbred League Dueling Grounds Derby (G3).
The English Channel colt was third to Wadsworth in the KY Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Derby Aug. 5 at Ellis Park but would not be denied Sunday. Relaxing his mount off the early pace in fourth through one mile in the 1 5/16-mile race as Wizard of Westwood set the early tempo, Declan Cannon brought the winner up along the rail with a determined stretch rally to get the victory by a half length as Far Bridge rallied strongly on the outside but just missed.
Battle of Normandy, who who dispatched by the winner after leading briefly at the eighth pole, hung on for third, one length behind Far Bridge.
Anglophile returned $23.40 after completing the trip in 2:o8.93 on firm turf. His overall record improved to 3-1-2 from nine starts. The $597,120 winner's share of the purse brought his lifetime bankroll to $735,599.
“He'd been training so well coming into this race,” trainer Brian Lynch said of the chestnut colt. “We thought he had a little bit of traffic (at Ellis Park) last time that probably could have cost him the prep for it. But he overcame it today. What a great, confident ride with Declan. It was just great to see this little horse and this group of guys. Just a wonderful group. To pull this off for them is fantastic. Everybody just loves this little horse. He just continues to get better and better. We're just thrilled to have him in the barn.”
“I think the sky's the limit for this little guy, especially for these marathon distances. So we'll just let the dust settle here and we'll look for bigger and better things down the road.”
Anglophile was bred in Kentucky by Upson Downs Farm and Louie W. Wright. His dam is the Kitten's Joy mare Trustmore Lovemore.
Louisville resident Hunter Rankin of winning owner LFG Racing, recalled how he put the partnership in Anglophile together.
“Had this idea to put 14 guys together and got together with this horse. It is very special to me because my parents (of Upson Downs Farm) bred this horse. He is such a neat little horse, he does everything you ask him to do. If you don't ask him to do it, he won't, but if you ask him he will. He has just gotten better with racing. We put blinkers on him a race ago and it helped him because he is so laid back. I can't say enough about what Brian Lynch and his staff have done with him.”
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Freydis The Red Takes Dueling Grounds Oaks In Record Time
Angling six wide into the stretch, Freydis the Red found the $1-million Dueling Grounds Oaks' 1 5/16-mile distance to her liking as she powered clear late and scored by 2 3/4 lengths Sunday at Kentucky Downs.
Sent off 7-1, the French-bred Saxon Warrior filly was winning for the second time in nine career starts and came into the race off a third-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Pucker Up (G3) Aug. 6 at Ellis Park.
Freydis the Red, ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. for trainer Kenny McPeek, returned $17.64 after covering the distance in 2:06.13, a course record. The previous record of 2:06.41 was set by Micheline, a half sister to Grade 1 winner Proxy, in the 2020 Dueling Grounds Oaks.
Saabalenka was third, and Flashy Gem was third in the field on 12. Favorite Safeen, second behind pacesetter Callie's Grit through six furlongs, faded to eighth and Callie's Grit was ninth.
“We felt the added distance in this one would benefit her,” McPeek said of the winning filly, who is out of the German-bred Shirocco mare Songerie . “She is the consummate professional. We felt pretty comfortable she would handle the distance. Looking at the past performances going in, I thought the odds were very generous. Knowing her pedigree, I knew she would be capable. You knew she would not have any quit in her. Very happy with her.
“We will take a look at the QEII ($600,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup G1) on Oct. 14 at Keeneland).
McPeek was enjoyed his third Dueling Grounds Oaks win after scoring with Daddys Lil Darling (2017) and Princess Carolina (2019).
Owned by Walking L Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm, the chestnut filly was bred by Oceanic Bloodstock SARL, Ecurie Du Parc Monceaus et al., and Eric Puerari.
Freydis the Red's earnings increased to $489,528 with the $345,960 winner's share of the Dueling Grounds Oaks purse.
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NYRA Might Hold Belmont S. Twice In Saratoga
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The next two runnings of the GI Belmont S. could be held at Saratoga Race Course, New York Racing Association President and CEO David O'Rourke said Sunday.
NYRA would make the temporary switch of the oldest race in the Triple Crown series to America's oldest track during a massive re-construction undertaking at Belmont Park. In mid-June, Patrick McKenna, NYRA's vice-president for communications, said that the 2025 Belmont S. might be held at Saratoga Race Course. While noting that a final decision has not been finalized, O'Rourke said Saratoga could host the race next June and again in 2025.
“With Belmont, you're looking at just under a three-year project, including demolition,” he said. “Our preferred course of action is to get moving on the abatement and the demolition early this winter. If we are successful, we will not be back to Belmont until the Belmont S. of '26.
“I won't have a definitive answer on that until a month from now, maybe a month and a half. In terms of our preferred path forward, that would be it.”
Saratoga Race Course would be a suitable host site because it can accommodate large crowds. NYRA still operates Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, but its once-massive grandstand is gone.
Moving the Belmont S. would be a huge economic boon for the city of Saratoga Springs and the Capital Region of upstate New York. The annual 40-day Saratoga meeting is a key economic driver and adding more days in June for the Belmont Stakes festival would be a very big deal in the marketplace.
Thoroughbred racing debuted in Saratoga in 1863 on an existing track on the north side of Union Avenue. The experiment launched by John Morrissey was so successful, that land was purchased across the street and a track was ready for the 1864 season. The first race held on the new grounds, where the current track is located, was the Travers Stakes, named after William Travers, the president of the racing association. For 3-year-olds, it is the most-important race of the season.
The annual Saratoga racing, season, now 40 days, is the highest-profile, most-popular meet in North America. NYRA officials said that total attendance for this year's meet, which conclude Monday, will again top 1 million.
Saratoga Race Course would be the fifth track in New York to host the Belmont S. It was first run in 1867 at Jerome Park Racetrack in the Bronx. The Belmont was staged at Morris Park in Westchester County from 1890 until Belmont Park was opened in 1905. The race was held at Aqueduct Racetrack between 1963 and 1967 when Belmont Park was being rebuilt.
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