Following Sea | Horse Racing Free Tips

Maxfield Has Final Woodward Prep For Walsh; Pletcher Breezes Several Stakes Contenders

A number of star equines breezed Saturday morning at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., in preparation for next weekend's lucrative card that will feature seven graded races worth $2.3 million in purse money.

A pair of Grade 1s highlight the Saturday, Oct. 2, card with the $500,000 Woodward for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn 1 1/8 miles on Big Sandy; and the $500,000 Champagne for 2-year-olds running one mile in a prestigious race, affording a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile to the winner. The Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo will see juvenile fillies running 1 1/16 miles on turf that day, along with the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the grass.

Sunday, Oct. 3, will continue the high-level action, with the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at one mile on the main track with a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies up for grabs. The day will also include the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles on the turf and the Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya at 1 3/8 miles in a turf route for fillies and mares 3-and-up.

Godolphin's Maxfield registered his final breeze for the Woodward on Saturday, covering a half-mile in 48.55 seconds on the main track.

Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s, the five-time graded stakes-winning millionaire completed his half-mile move at 8:45 a.m. marking the quarter-mile in 24.71 and galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.10 and up six furlongs in 1:14.81 under Jose Ortiz, who has piloted Maxfield to five of his seven lifetime victories.

“It was a very good work,” said Maxfield trainer Brendan Walsh. “We just wanted to give him a feel for the track. He did all of his serious work in Saratoga. It was just a routine half-mile. He galloped out really well. We're all set for the Woodward.”

Maxfield, a dark bay 4-year-old son of Street Sense, enters the Woodward off a runner-up effort to Knicks Go in the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 7, at Saratoga. Maxfield arrived at the Whitney from wins in the Alysheba on April 30 and the Stephen Foster on June 26, both Grade 2 events at Churchill Downs.

Maxfield will be targeting his first Grade 1 victory since winning the Breeders' Futurity in October 2019 at Keeneland.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher also worked a slew of horses in pursuit of graded stakes action next weekend.

Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable and Gainesway Stable's Wit, second in the Grade 1 Hopeful last out on September 6 at Saratoga, and Robert and Lawana Low's decisive maiden winner My Prankster worked in company at 7:45 a.m. over the Belmont training track in preparation for the Champagne.

Wit and My Prankster breezed through splits of 25.25 and 37.25, before completing their five-furlong breeze in 1:01.84.

“It was a good solid work for them both,” said Pletcher, who eyes his seventh Champagne conquest. “They're pointing for the same race, so I thought it made sense to work them together. They make good workmates, they were head-and-head throughout.

“My Prankster was very impressive in his maiden win,” Pletcher added. “His gate work I thought was impressive before he first ran, he's not a horse that is an overzealous work horse. If you hadn't seen that gate work, you might not have expected the debut he had, but he's a pretty laid back colt. It's always a big stretch to go from a one start maiden to a Grade 1 stake, but we've had some success doing that.”

Pletcher worked three-time Grade 1-winner Malathaat at 9:30 a.m. on the Belmont training track in company with graded stakes-winner and fellow Curlin daughter Spice Is Nice, who completed their four-furlong works in 49.46.

Shadwell Stables' Malathaat is scheduled to train up to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff and was a last out winner of the Grade 1 Alabama on August 21 at Saratoga. Earlier this year, she won the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland en route to a victory in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.

Robert and Lawana Low's Spice Is Nice, a winner of the Grade 3 Allaire DuPont Distaff in May at Pimlico, will target the Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame on October 10.

“Everything has gone according to plan with Malathaat,” Pletcher said. “This was her second half-mile breeze since the Alabama and we'll go five eighths next week and start to pick things up a bit. There's quite a bit of time in between races, so hopefully we'll have her ready.”

Pletcher also worked Spendthrift Farm's Following Sea, a dual Grade 1-placed sophomore son of Runhappy, who will face elders next out in the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh on October 9 at Belmont – a “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Following Sea went a half-mile in 49.23 over the Belmont training track. He finished a distant third to Jackie's Warrior and stable mate Life Is Good last out in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 28 at Saratoga. In his only start over Big Sandy, Following Sea bested winners going 6 ½ furlongs on June 3.

“He went well,” Pletcher said. “He seemed to run really well in his allowance win here at Belmont, so that's part of the reason why we chose the Vosburgh.”

Pletcher said Robert and Lawana Low's Classy Edition emerged from her Joseph A. Gimma triumph on Friday in good order. While the daughter of Classic Empire is likely for the $250,000 Maid of the Mist against fellow New York-breds on October 30, Pletcher did not rule out a start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“She's been very impressive in both starts, so I think we have to consider open company,” Pletcher said. “The Maid of the Mist comes [one week] before the Breeders' Cup so we'll target that race. But if she's doing so well that we can't resist, we'll talk about it.”

Pletcher also stated that Classy Edition could target the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle on December 4 at Aqueduct.

Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister's promising Champagne aspirant Jack Christopher, trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, breezed five-eighths in company with sophomore maiden winner Pipeline in 1:00 flat Saturday on the main track.

Jack Christopher, a Munnings chestnut who was purchased for $135,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, registered a 92 Beyer for a his 8 3/4-length debut score in a six-furlong maiden special weight on August 28 at Saratoga.

John Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock Services' Pipeline, by Speightstown and out of the Empire Maker mare Vivo Per Lei, graduated at fourth asking in a seven-furlong maiden tilt on September 4 at Saratoga. The bay colt's 3 1/4-length score matched a career-best 97 Beyer.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Wit, Happy Saver Work In Preparation For Upcoming Saratoga Starts

Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, and Gainesway Stable's 2-year-old Wit, dominant winner of the Grade 3 Sanford July 17, put in his final preparation for the $300,000 Grade 1 Hopeful on September 6 with a half-mile breeze Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Wit, with jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, went four furlongs in :49.22 over a main track rated fast, ranking 16th of 24 horses at the distance. It was the fifth work in Saratoga since an eight-length triumph in the six-furlong Sanford for Wit, who went five furlongs in 1:01.42 on the Oklahoma training track August 23, the fastest of five horses.

“[It was] a good maintenance work,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He had a really solid work last week so we were just kind of looking for the final prep, and it went smoothly.”

By Practical Joke out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Numero d'Oro, Wit fetched $575,000 as a yearling last fall at Keeneland. He was a six-length winner of his June 5 debut at Belmont Park, where he did all his prep work for the Sanford.

Wit's sire won the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens in 2017, formerly the King's Bishop, in the first year it was renamed for the late Hall of Fame trainer. The Hopeful for 2-year-olds, like the Jerkens contested at seven furlongs, will be run on Labor Day, September 6 – closing day of the Saratoga meet.

“He's a really easy horse to train. He's very professional. He's very responsive to whatever you want him to do,” Pletcher said. “He'll sit off a horse and he'll accelerate on command. He's really been push-button so far.”

Wit worked in company with Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Power Agenda, purchased for $120,000 out of the same sale. A gutsy front-running nose winner of his debut, a six-furlong maiden special weight August 4 at Saratoga, Power Agenda was timed in :49.25 and is also under Hopeful consideration.

“Power Agenda worked well also. We'll see how he bounces out of it, but right now we're leaning toward running both,” Pletcher said. “He showed that he's got some fight to him. He had trained well leading up to it, so we weren't surprised, but we've been happy with the way he's come out of it.”

Pletcher said he was thrilled with the efforts of both Life Is Good and Following Sea, who respectively ran second and third in Saturday's Jerkens. CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's Life Is Good set blazing fractions of :21.97 and :44.16 and dug in through a protracted stretch duel with Jackie's Warrior before coming up a neck short.

Life Is Good joined Pletcher's stable earlier this summer and was racing for the first time since a victory in the Grade 2 San Felipe March 6 at Santa Anita for previous trainer Bob Baffert. The Jerkens marked his first loss in four career starts.

“Both horses came out of it in good order this morning,” Pletcher said. “[Life Is Good] ran a spectacular race off the layoff. [He] went really fast and just got nipped by a really good horse.”

Pletcher said there is no specific race yet picked out for Life Is Good following the Jerkens.

“We're kind of surveying all of our options,” he said. “We'll give it a little time just to digest the race and assess how he comes out of it. I think he's versatile enough that there's a lot of potential options.”

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Spendthrift Farm homebred Following Sea made a late run to be third, 8 ¾ lengths behind the top two. In his prior start, he finished third in a three-way photo finish in the Grade 1 Haskell July 17 at Monmouth Park but was elevated to second following the disqualification of top finisher Hot Rod Charlie.

“I thought he ran on well,” Pletcher said of the Jerkens. “He got a little confused when he got hit by dirt. He hadn't had a whole lot of experience with dirt in his face, but once he got going I thought he put in a nice run down the lane to get up for third.”

Wertheimer and Frere homebred Happy Saver, unraced since suffering his first loss in five career starts in the Grade 2 Suburban July 3 at Belmont, remains on track to defend his 2020 victory in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Previously held at Belmont, the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup for 3-year-olds and up going 1 ¼ miles was moved to Saratoga this year and will be run Saturday, September 4.

Happy Saver, whose other stakes win came in the 2020 Federico Tesio last September at Laurel Park in Laurel Md., has experience racing over at Saratoga, winning a 1 1/8-mile allowance last July in his second career start. He breezed five furlongs in 1:00.66 Saturday on Saratoga's main track.

“He worked well yesterday and looked good this morning,” Pletcher said. “We've kind of been pointing for this for a little while.”

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Jackie’s Warrior Challenged By Comebacking Life Is Good In H. Allen Jerkens Memorial

J. Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior will seek to solidify himself as the nation's leading sophomore sprinter when taking on a compact but highly talented field in Saturday's 37th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at seven furlongs over the Saratoga Race Course main track.

The prestigious event, formerly known as the King's Bishop, has seen five of its winners go on to earn the Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter in their respective years, including Housebuster [1990], Squirtle Squirt [2001], Lost in the Fog [2005], Runhappy [2015] and Drefong [2016].

Jackie's Warrior, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, has shown an affinity for Saratoga having not come close to losing in three starts at the Spa. After a three-length victory in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special last August, the son of Maclean's Music won the Grade 1 Hopeful by 2 ¼ lengths en route to a 5 ½-length score in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park, where he earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He's done really well,” Asmussen said. “All three of his races at Saratoga were obviously very good. We're anxious to run him here again.”

After falling to Essential Quality – the favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers – in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Grade 3 Southwest, both around two turns, Jackie's Warrior regained winning form when cutting back to one turn for the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on May 1 at Churchill Downs, fending off a stretch rally from Dream Shake to win by a head.

Jackie's Warrior then saw his unbeaten record around one-turn thwarted when losing the Grade 1 Woody Stephens on June 5 at Belmont Park to returning rival Drain the Clock, but displayed his most dominant effort yet when splashing through a sloppy and sealed main track at Saratoga, to turn the tables on his familiar foe in the Grade 2 Amsterdam on August 1 by 7 ¼ lengths, earning a career-best 102 Beyer.

A victory would make Jackie's Warrior the third horse in the last four years to capture both the Hopeful at 2 and the H. Allen Jerkens at 3, joining Practical Joke [2018] and Mind Control [2019].

Regular rider Joel Rosario will vie for his second Allen Jerkens victory when he pilots Jackie's Warrior from post 2.

Jackie's Warrior's biggest obstacle could come from the presence of returning graded stakes winner Life Is Good, who arrives off a five-month hiatus and makes his debut for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The highly-regarded son of leading sire Into Mischief, owned by CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm, is unbeaten in three starts on the West Coast and has never been behind horses at any point of call, when racing for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

After a scintillating debut, winning by 9 ½ lengths in November at Del Mar, he started his 3-year-old campaign with a narrow victory in the Grade 3 Sham on January 2 at Santa Anita. He put up his best effort yet with a runaway conquest in the Grade 2 San Felipe on March 6 at Santa Anita, which he won by eight lengths, recording a 107 Beyer.

Pletcher will seek his fourth H. Allen Jerkens victory having won with More Than Ready [2000], Discreetly Mine [2010] and Capo Bastone [2013].

“It's a tall order going into a seven-furlong Grade 1 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.”

Breaking from post 6, Life is Good will be piloted by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, a four-time Allen Jerkens winner who is currently tied with fellow Hall of Famer John Velazquez for most wins in the race's history.

Also from the Pletcher barn is Spendthrift Farm's Following Sea, who arrives from the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational where he was a distant third, elevated to second via disqualification.

The son of second-crop sire Runhappy, who won this race in 2015, cuts back to one turn. After defeating impressive next-out winner Happymac by 5 ¾ lengths in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Oaklawn Park, he defeated winners in his first start for Pletcher going 6 ½ furlongs on June 3 over a good main track at Belmont Park.

Velazquez will pilot Following Sea from post 4.

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Drain the Clock handed Jackie's Warrior his lone defeat around one turn in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens, tracking just to the outside of Jackie's Warrior down the backstretch and dueled with his foe in the stretch before putting his neck in front in the final furlong. While the same tactics were used in the Grade 2 Amsterdam, it was Jackie's Warrior who came out on top when utilizing his outside position down the backstretch and drawing away from Drain the Clock.

“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.”

Drain the Clock, by Maclean's Music, is owned by Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael Nentwig.

Breaking from the inside post, Drain the Clock will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. who will seek his second victory in the contest.

Trainer Danny Gargan will saddle Judge N Jury as he makes his stakes debut off a sharp 8 ½-length allowance victory on July 23 at the Spa, registering a 99 Beyer while racing off a 10-month layoff.

Owned by Flying P Stable and West Paces Racing, the son of Tapiture graduated at second asking over next-out winner Work Out and subsequential stakes-winner Devious Mo on September 4 at the Spa.

Judge N Jury, bred in the Empire State by Wellspring Stables, will attempt to be the first New York-bred to capture the Allen Jerkens since Willy Beamin in 2012.

Leading rider Luis Saez will retain the mount from post 5.

Completing the field is Down Neck Stables' Newbomb, a two-time winner for trainer Kelly Breen. After finishing behind eventual stakes-winner Founder and the now multiple graded-stakes placed Nova Rags in his first two starts last season, the son of Speightstown made the third time the charm when firing off an eight-month respite to win a six-furlong maiden special weight event on June 19 at Monmouth Park. Newbomb defeated winners two starts later with an eight-length victory on August 7 at Saratoga.

Jockey Jose Ortiz will ride from post 3.

The H. Allen Jerkens Memorial honors the late Hall of Fame conditioner known as “The Chief” who conditioned prominent racehorses such as Sky Beauty, Devil His Due, and Sensitive Prince among others. Perhaps Jerkens' greatest claim to fame is a penchant for defeating all-time greats in upset fashion, earning him the nickname “Giant Killer”. In 1973, he saddled Onion to a triumph in the Whitney and Prove Out in the Woodward, defeating Secretariat both times. Other all-time greats dethroned by Jerkens trainees include Kelso, Buckpasser, Cougar II and Forego.

The H. Allen Jerkens Memorial is slated as Race 9 on the 13-race card. First post is 11:35 a.m. Eastern. For the third consecutive year, FOX will air the Runhappy Travers as the centerpiece of a 90-minute telecast beginning at 5 p.m. The networks of FOX and FOX Sports will air 7.5 total hours of live racing and analysis on Runhappy Travers Day, with coverage scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on FS1. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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Following Sea May Target H. Allen Jerkens Stakes At Saratoga

Spendthrift Farm's general manager Ned Toffey said Following Sea remains under consideration for the $500,000 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens on August 28 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The talented son of champion medication-free stallion Runhappy was elevated to second via disqualification last out in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on July 17 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

In his second start, Following Sea was a decisive 5 ¾-length winner on April 10 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., before defeating winners on June 3 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Since the Haskell, Following Sea has recorded two breezes over the Saratoga main track for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, most recently going a half-mile in :49.22 seconds on August 14.

“We'll see. Obviously, the Jerkens is coming up tough,” Toffey said. “He's clearly a very talented horse. He's working really well. We'll put our heads together with Todd and see which way we want to go. We certainly have an eye on the Jerkens, but it will be very tough for a horse that still has his conditions. We'll see how his next work is, talk to Todd and go from there.”

A Kentucky homebred, Following Sea is out of the stakes-placed Speightstown mare Quick Flip.

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