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Now In Mott Barn, Art Collector Scores On Front End In Alydar At Saratoga

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector, confidently handled by Luis Saez, captured Friday's $120,000 Alydar, a nine-furlong test for older horses who have not won a stakes other than state-bred in 2021, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Recently transferred to the care of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the 4-year-old Bernardini colt utilized a front-running approach to secure his first win since capturing a pair of nine-furlong stakes last summer for his former conditioner, Tom Drury, in the Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland and the Ellis Park Derby.

“If you look at his nine-furlong races, you saw he had done very well for the previous trainer,” said Mott. “Both Tom Drury and I had trained for Bruce and Bruce wanted the horse in Saratoga, so Tommy sent the horse up to us and he was in good shape when he came. We've had him six weeks and he's done well since he's been here.”

Art Collector, exiting post 4, cleared the field of eight into the first turn as a forwardly-placed Core Beliefs protected his inside run with Bourbon War, Math Wizard and Night Ops also jostling for position through an opening quarter-mile in 24.51 seconds on the fast main track.

Jesus' Team, runner-up in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup in January, was slow away from the gate but rushed up into sixth down the backstretch by Junior Alvarado as the half-mile ticked by in 48.80.

Art Collector, moving confidently under Saez, dictated terms into the final turn as Night Ops continued to press with the duo gaining three lengths of separation on Core Beliefs in third.

As the field straightened away for the stretch run, Art Collector opened up by three-lengths under a hand ride as Night Ops continued his dogged pursuit and started to close the gap. But an alert Saez shook the reins and his charge responded in kind to secure the 1 1/2-length win in a final time of 1:48.20.

Saez, who guided Art Collector to a runner-up effort on debut in August 2019 at the Spa, said he wanted to be forwardly placed.

“I rode the horse when he was a baby and he liked to be a free runner,” Saez said. “The plan was to break well from our post and see if we can get the lead, and everything went the way we planned it. Breaking from there, we got ahead and he kept going. I saw Manny coming, but I knew I had a lot of horse, so I was patient with him.”

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Night Ops completed the exacta by 8 1/2-lengths over Math Wizard. Rounding out the order of finish were Core Beliefs, Limonite, Prioritize, Bourbon War and Jesus' Team.

“When I was in my position stuck in second, I didn't think the pace was too quick, so I had to do my work because no one else went with [Art Collector],” Franco said. “My horse is a horse that never gives up. He always tries. I have to give credit to the winner, but my horse was second-best today.”

Art Collector, who completed his sophomore campaign with off-the-board efforts in the Grade 1 Preakness in October at Pimlico and the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November at Keeneland, was transferred to Mott following a sixth-place finish in the Kelly's Landing in June at Churchill Downs.

Mott said Art Collector will now potentially target the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward on October 2 at Belmont Park.

Bred in Kentucky by his owner, Art Collector banked $66,000 in victory while improving his record to 13-6-1-0. He paid $3.80 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Saturday with a loaded 12-race card headlined by the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney at nine furlongs for older horses, a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1, $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

Whitney Day also features two other Grade 1 events with the $1 million Saratoga Derby Invitational for 3-year-olds going 1 3/16 miles over the Mellon turf and the $500,000 Longines Test for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs over the main track.

Also featured on the card are the Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls for older fillies and mares travelling 1 1/2 miles over the inner turf and the $120,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure for 4-year-olds and upward over the Mellon turf. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

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Jesus’ Team Returns In Friday’s Alydar At Saratoga

Group 7C Racing Stable's Jesus' Team, who has earned three placings in prestigious Grade 1 races, will return to stakes company on Friday as part of an eight-horse field of 4-year-olds and up who have not won a stakes other than state-bred in 2021 in the $120,000 Alydar contested at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The ninth edition of the Alydar, named for the 1989 Hall of Fame inductee who finished second to Affirmed in all three legs of the 1978 Triple Crown, will see Jesus' Team return to the Spa for the first time since running third in last year's Grade 2 Jim Dandy.

The Tapiture colt used that contest for sophomores as a prep for the 2020 Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, which was held in October last year, with Jesus' Team finishing third in the final leg of the Triple Crown behind Authentic and winner Swiss Skydiver. Trainer Jose D'Angelo saw him build on that effort in a Triple Crown classic to run second behind Knicks Go in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cut Dirt Mile in November at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

Jesus' Team closed out his year with his first stakes win, capturing the Claiming Crown Jewel in December at Gulfstream going 1 1/8 miles. Returning to the same track and distance, Jesus' Team again linked up with Knicks Go in his 2021 bow, again running second to his rival in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January that netted a 105 Beyer.

D'Angelo then shipped Jesus' Team to the United Arab Emirates, where he ran sixth in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in March. After a four-month freshening, he returned to run fifth on July 11 at Gulfstream, prompting D'Angelo to skip the $1 million Grade 1 Whitney on August 7 at Saratoga in favor of the Alydar.

“The last race, for sure, he needed,” D'Angelo said. “After quarantine coming back from Dubai, he lost a little weight. It was a little hard to [improve] his conditioning again. He needed that race to be the horse he is now. He's bigger than his last race, and in that race, he was a little too close to the front. I think it helped him get him fit, though, and we're looking forward to this race.”

Junior Alvarado will pick up the mount from post 7.

Two-time graded stakes-winner Core Beliefs returned from a nine-month layoff to run third in an optional claiming contest going 1 1/16 miles in June at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Trainer Brian Lynch said the Quality Road bay needed that race after being given a freshening following a fifth-place finish in the Champions Day Marathon in September at Churchill Downs for then-trainer Scott Hansen.

“I think he ran well enough last out to give us the confidence to try him in a spot like this, because it was a credible effort off a long layoff,” Lynch said. “He's trained on well enough to get a shot. This will be the second time off the bench and it's at a distance that he really likes.”

Core Beliefs, owned by Gary Broad, won the 2018 Grade 3 Ohio Derby in a sophomore year that saw him run fourth in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., and fifth in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. He then made his 2019 debut with a win in the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La., that March, which marked his last victory.

Running at Saratoga for the first time, Core Beliefs will be seeking his first victory in his last eight starts and enters after posting four workouts over the Saratoga main track in July.

“He's doing well and has great energy, and for an older horse, he's been very willing and trying hard in his works,” Lynch said. “I take that as a positive. He just acts like he's in good form. He's done so well since he's been here and the weather has been a little bit cooler, and he seems to enjoy that. His appetite has been fantastic, too. We're just hoping for good things.”

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will have the call from post 3.

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Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector, who like Jesus' Team also competed in last year's Preakness and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, will get his first opportunity to run at Saratoga and his first start for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Art Collector commenced his 4-year-old year with a sixth-place finish in the Kelly's Landing on June 25 at Churchill Downs, marking his first race since running eighth in that Breeders' Cup appearance seven months prior.

Art Collector, who ran fourth in the Preakness, finished just a head back to Jesus' Team to fall just short of black type in the 1 3/16-mile classic. The winner of the 2020 Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland will have the services of Luis Saez. on Friday, breaking from post 4.

Steve Landers Racing's Night Ops, off three consecutive runner-up efforts in the Grade 3 Ben Ali, Blame, and Grade 3 Monmouth Cup for reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, will make his Saratoga start in a well-traveled career.

Night Ops, who Manny Franco will ride out of post 8, has finished in the money in his last six starts, all against stakes competition, starting with a win in the 2020 Grade 3 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa.

Bourbon Lane Stable's Bourbon War will be running in a stakes for the first time since 2019, when as a 3-year-old he found success on the Triple Crown trail by running second in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth before finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, eighth in the Preakness, and 10th in the Belmont Stakes. Trainer Ian Wilkes took over the conditioning duties for Bourbon War's 5-year-old campaign, which started with a strong second, by a neck, to Home Base in an optional claimer in May at Churchill Downs before running third under similar conditions at the same track on June 26.

“He came off a long layoff and ran two good races; I thought he ran really respectable in putting two good ones together back-to-back,” Wilkes said. “I'm getting to know him and he's getting to know me, so it's all good there. The horse has been happy, so that's the key. We're hoping to make that next progression. He needs to step up and pick up his game a little more. I feel good for him.”

Bourbon War, a son of Tapit, will have Brian Hernandez, Jr. in the irons from post 6.

Prioritize, sixth in the Grade 2 Suburban on July 3 at Belmont, will return to a familiar track that's near trainer H. James Bond's base, as the Tizway gelding ran twice here last year, winning an optional claimer before running third in the Grade 1 Woodward. The now 6-year-old will have jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard for the first time, departing post 1.

Math Wizard will enter off a six-month layoff in his first start since finishing sixth in the Pegasus World Cup. The Saffie Joseph, Jr. trainee will be racing for just the second time as a 5-year-old as he seeks his first victory since the 2019 Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby [Irad Ortiz, Jr., post 5].

Limonite ran third in the Grade 3 Excelsior going the Alydar distance on April 3 at Aqueduct and after two fifth-place efforts will return to the Spa for trainer Gustavo Rodriguez [Joel Rosario, post 2].

The Alydar, slated as Race 8 on the 10-race card, is one of three stakes on a stacked Friday card that will feature a 1:05 p.m. Eastern first post.

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Bango Just Holds On In Kelly’s Landing; Art Collector Finishes Sixth

Tamaroak Partners LLC's 4-year-old homebred colt Bango tracked pacesetter Strike Power, took the lead from that rival at the top of the stretch and then held off a determined late run from Mucho to win Friday's 11th running of the $107,025 Kelly's Landing Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs by a nose. Last year's Blue Grass (G2) winner Art Collector, the 6-5 favorite who made his first start of the year, finished a non-threatening sixth.

Trained by Greg Foley and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Bango ran seven furlongs over a fast track in 1:21.25 to collect his second stakes win of the meet. Previously, he held off fellow Kelly's Landing rival Long Range Toddy to win the $150,000 Aristides (Listed) by a half-length on May 29.

Friday's triumph was worth $65,640 and boosted Bango's bankroll to $459,197 with a record of 18-7-1-1. Six of his victories have come in nine starts at Churchill Downs.

“This is why we get up early in the morning and do our job,” Foley said. “It makes it all worth it when horses like this run as well as they do. Bango loves Churchill Downs. He's a neat little horse and Tyler gave him a great ride.”

Strike Power led the field of nine older horses through early splits of :22.63 and :45.32 with Bango rating comfortably in third from the outside. Around the turn, Bango ranged into contention and grabbed a slight lead from the early leader with a furlong to run. The winner put away Strike Power at the sixteenth pole but a fierce late run by Mucho triggered a photo finish at the wire.

“There was a little bit of speed to our inside so I just let him get settled down the backside,” Gaffalione said. “We got into a great position and I wanted to make sure I got the jump on the closers. He held on well and ran a big race.”

Bango is a son of Congrats out of the Smart Strike mare Josaka and was bred in Kentucky by her owners Fred and Debbie Schwartz who campaign under the nom de course Tamaroak.

Bango returned $15, $7.40 and $4.60 as the 6-1 fourth betting choice. Mucho, at odds of 19-1 under Gabriel Saez, returned $14.60 and $7.20 and finished two lengths in front of Strike Power who paid $3.60 to show under Ricardo Santana Jr. as the 4-1 third choice.

Aloha West, the 3-1 second betting choice, was fourth and was followed by Home Base, Art Collector, Bourbon Calling, Long Range Toddy and Relentless Dancer.

The Kelly's Landing honors the Summerplace Farm runner who earned $1,853,831 from a record of 10-3-2 in 27 starts for trainer Eddie Kenneally between 2004-09. The gelding won the six-furlong Aristides Handicap (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs in 2005 by stopping the teletimer in a track record 1:07.55 (since eclipsed). His biggest victory came in the 2007 Dubai Golden Saheen at Nad Al Sheba in the United Arab Emirates. Kelly's Landing also won the 2006 Phoenix (G3) at Keeneland and 2007 Mr. Prospector Handicap (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

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Art Collector Set For 2021 Debut In Kelly’s Landing

Bruce Lunsford's Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes winning-homebred Art Collector leads a field of nine colts and geldings that were entered in Friday's $110,000 Kelly's Landing Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. – the penultimate card of the 38-day Spring Meet.

The seven-furlong Kelly's Landing was carded as Race 10 with a post time of 5:26 p.m. The 11-race program begins at 12:45 p.m.

Art Collector, a now 4-year-old son of Bernardini, is slated to make his seasonal debut in Friday's race following more than seven months away from the races. Trained by Tommy Drury Jr., Art Collector has been regularly training with Drury's string of horses at Churchill Downs and will once again be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr.

“We've done everything we can right now for his first race back,” Drury said. “He worked a really good half-mile (Saturday in :47.40). He's ready to go and we're excited to get him back to the races.”

Art Collector was the early Kentucky Derby (GI) favorite in 2020 following his 3 ½-length Blue Grass (GII) win and 3 ¼-length score in the Ellis Park Derby. Drury and Lunsford had to scratch Art Collector the day of the Derby post position draw because a minor foot issue developed. He returned to run in the Preakness Stakes (GI) but finished fourth after tracking the early pace. Art Collector closed his 3-year-old campaign with an eighth-place effort in the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile (GI).

The five-time winner drew post No. 9 in the Kelly's Landing.

Another accomplished colt entered in the Kelly's Landing is Tamaroak Partners' six-time winning homebred Bango. The Greg Foley-trained son of Congrats held off fellow Kelly's Landing rival Long Range Toddy in the $150,000 Aristides Stakes in his last start. Bango has recorded five of his six lifetime victories beneath the Twin Spires. Tyler Gaffalione has the mount from post 6.

The complete Kelly's Landing field from the rail out (with jockey and trainer): Mucho (Gabriel Saez, John Ortiz); Strike Power (Ricardo Santana Jr., Steve Asmussen); Bourbon Calling (Julien Leparoux, Ian Wilkes); Long Range Toddy (Jon Court, Dallas Stewart); Home Base (Manny Esquivel, Cipriano Contreras); Bango (Gaffalione, Foley); Aloha West (Florent Geroux, Wayne Catalano); Relentless Dancer (Martin Garcia, Mike Maker); and Art Collector (Hernandez, Drury).

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