J Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) puts his perfect three-for-three Saratoga record on the line when he faces five rivals in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. at Saratoga Saturday. The bay colt won last year's GII Saratoga Special S. and GI Hopeful S. and returned to the upstate oval to annex the Aug. 1 GII Amsterdam S. last time out.
“He's done really well,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of Jackie's Warrior. “All three of his races at Saratoga were obviously very good. We're anxious to run him here again.”
A victory would make Jackie's Warrior the third horse in the last four years to capture both the Hopeful at two and the H. Allen Jerkens at three, joining Practical Joke (2018) and Mind Control (2019).
Jackie's Warrior will again match strides with Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music) in the Allen Jerkens. Drain the Clock outbattled Jackie's Warrior to win the June 5 GI Woody Stephens S. at Belmont before running a distant second in the Amsterdam.
“Obviously, last time he was well-beaten fair and square by Jackie's Warrior,” said trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. “We feel on his best day, he's just as good as others in the field. But we have a new challenge in Life Is Good. It should be quite a race, and hopefully he shows up and runs his race.”
'TDN Rising Star' Life is Good (Into Mischief) was considered a likely GI Kentucky Derby favorite before injury knocked him off the Triple Crown earlier this year. The bay colt is unbeaten in three starts having broken his maiden by a front-running 9 1/2 lengths going 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar last November and adding the Jan. 2 GIII Sham S. and Mar. 6 GII San Felipe S. He makes his first start for Todd Pletcher and his first start in nearly six months Saturday.
“It's a tall order going into a seven-furlong Grade I off a layoff,” Pletcher said. “The horse has trained extremely well, has been impressive in all his breezes and we like what we've been seeing from him.”
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