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Pletcher ‘Very Happy’ With Dr Post’s Friday Work At Saratoga

Grade 1 Belmont Stakes runner-up Dr Post resumed serious preparations for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on Friday morning at Saratoga for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s, the 3-year-old son of Quality Road went to the track following the renovation break, and completed his five-eighths work in company with stablemate Money Moves in 1:00.75 over a fast main track.

“It was a good work for him today. He galloped out well and I was very happy with what I saw out of him,” said Pletcher, who won the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017).

Pletcher said that Dr Post would work once more next Friday, August 28 over the Saratoga main track before shipping to Churchill Downs.

Owned by Vincent Viola's St. Elias Stable, Dr Post will arrive at the Kentucky Derby off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on July 16 at Monmouth Park after running second to likely Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law in the Belmont Stakes. His lone stakes victory to date took place in the Unbridled on April 26 at Gulfstream Park, where he was a 1 ½-length winner.

Pletcher holds the record for the most Kentucky Derby contestants, having saddled 54 contenders dating back to 2000, where he sent out Impeachment (third), More Than Ready (fourth) and Trippi (11th). He has finished second twice and third on four occasions, and his total number of starts is five more than the next-closest competitor in Hall of Famer and Pletcher mentor D. Wayne Lukas, who has sent out 49 starters.

Also on Friday, Pletcher sent out Robert and Lawana Low's Sweet Melania for a breeze over the Oklahoma training turf course, where she completed a half-mile move in 48.72 seconds in preparation for an attempt at a third graded stakes win in the Grade 3, $100,000 Lake George on Friday, August 28.

The daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner and second crop sire American Pharoah was an easy gate-to-wire winner of the last out Grade 3 Wonder Again over the Widener turf at Belmont Park. As a 2-year-old, she won the Grade 2 Jessamine at Keeneland en route to a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.

“She worked well and finished up nicely,” Pletcher said.

Bred in Kentucky by St Elias Stables, Sweet Melania is out of the Discreet Cat mare Sweet N Discreet and is a direct descendant of prolific broodmare Lassie Dear. She was bought for $600,000 from the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where she was consigned by Gainesway.

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Weekend Lineup: Pacific Classic, Fourstardave Highlight Racing Action

Three Breeders' Cup Challenge Series “Win and You're In” races are on tap for August 22 at Saratoga and Del Mar. The Pacific Classic at Del Mar is an automatic qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Classic, while the Del Mar Handicap offers a fees-paid entry to the Breeders' Cup Turf. At Saratoga, the Fourstardave Handicap is a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Mile.

The Pacific Classic and Del Mar Handicap will both be televised live on TVG as part of their comprehensive coverage of racing at Del Mar. In addition to Del Mar, TVG will also be broadcasting racing from Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park, Golden Gate and more all weekend.

The Fourstardave will be shown on NYRA's “Saratoga Live” telecast on FS2. “Saratoga Live” will be shown on either FS1 or FS2 through Sunday. For the complete “Saratoga Live” broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

Friday August 21

9:07 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at Del Mar on TVG

K M N Racing's Sneaking Out, a 4-year-old filly with a strong resume, a Hall of Fame trainer and Del Mar's leading rider set to climb on board, is a solid favorite for the 49th edition of the Rancho Bernardo Handicap. Sneaking Out has been first or second in nine of her 11 starts. She's won a pair of stakes, most recently capturing the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos to push her bankroll to $431,441.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR082120USA9-EQB.html

Saturday August 22

2:29 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park on TVG

Warrior's Charge, fourth in the Grade 1 Met Mile in his last start and a close-up fourth in the 2019 Preakness Stakes, heads a compact field of six for the 85th edition of the Iselin, the feature on a 14-race card. A 4-year-old son of Munnings, Warrior's Charge launched his 2020 campaign with a win in the Grade 3 Razorback at Oaklawn on February. 17. He followed that by finishing second in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap before being beaten just two lengths in the Met Mile at Belmont Park on July 4 in his last start.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/MTH082220USA5-EQB.html

5:46 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga Race Course on FS2

Gary Barber's Got Stormy will take on reigning champion turf female Uni (GB) as she looks to defend her title in the 36th running of the Fourstardave at Saratoga Race Course. Trained by Mark Casse, Got Stormy will seek to become the first back-to-back winner of the Fourstardave since two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan scored back to back victories in 2012-13 and will look to end a streak of four straight losses. Eclipse Award-winner Uni, one of four runners for trainer Chad Brown along with Raging Bull (FR), Valid Point and Without Parole (GB), will attempt to replicate her form from last year when making her second start of 2020. Uni, who was third in last year's Fourstardave, rounded out the trifecta as the favorite in her seasonal bow in the Grade 1 Just a Game on June 27 at Belmont Park, where she finished 3 ½ lengths behind stablemate Newspaperofrecord.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR082220USA9-EQB.html

6:05 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar on TVG

The Green Flash Handicap leads off a banner day of racing at Del Mar offering five stakes worth a total of more than $1-million. Topweighted in the Green Flash at 123 pounds – and the morning line favorite at 5-2 – is Del Secco DCS Racing's Sparky Ville, a multiple-stakes winning Candy Ride (ARG) gelding who already has a win at the session on the five-panel layout that he'll run on Saturday. Mike Smith rode the 4-year-old to a photo-finish tally on July 26 and has the call back Saturday. Jeff Bonde trains the chestnut Kentucky-bred who can claim purse earnings of $321,312.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR082220USA3-EQB.html

6:36 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar on TVG

Seven 3-year-old fillies will match strides at in the 43rd edition of the Torrey Pines Stakes. Topping the group in the one-mile testing will be Bamford or Tabor's Uncle Mo filly Harvest Moon. The bay Kentucky-bred, who races out of the barn of trainer Simon Callaghan, has only started three times and never run versus stakes competition, but appears to have found a spot right in her wheelhouse in the Torrey Pines.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR082220USA4-EQB.html

8:06 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at Del Mar on TVG

L N J Foxwoods' United will strut his stuff in the oldest stakes on the shore oval's roster, which is also a “Win and You're In” program that grants its winner a guaranteed entry with fees paid in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Turf. United, who has banked $1,253,549 during a career that has seen him win six of 14 starts including a three-for-three run in stakes this year, scored most recently in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar on July 26.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR082220USA7-EQB.html

9:06 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks at Del Mar on TVG

Eleven 3-year-old fillies will test their mettle over nine furlongs on the Del Mar turf course Saturday in the Del Mar Oaks. The likely favorite in the highly sought lawn test is Gary Barber's Laura's Light, a daughter of Constitution who has won five of her seven lifetime starts, including a last-out tally in one-mile Del Mar's San Clemente Stakes on grass July 25.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR082220USA9-EQB.html

9:36 p.m.—$500,000 Grade 1 Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar on TVG

Champion Maximum Security, the fourth-ranked horse on the latest NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll, headlines the track's marquee event – the Pacific Classic. The son of New Year's Day, bred by owners Gary and Mary West, who have added partners to his ownership group in Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, will take on five rivals in the mile and a quarter for 3-year-old and up and he'll have Abel Cedillo in the irons. Cedillo rode the bay to a hard-fought nose victory in the San Diego Handicap here on July 25 in his first start in five months and first under the care of trainer Bob Baffert. The 4-year-old carried topweight of 127 pounds that day but, under the weight-for-age conditions of the “Classic,” he – and all the other runners – will go postward with 124 pounds Saturday.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR082220USA10-EQB.html

Sunday August 23

5:18 p.m.—$500,000 Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on FS1

Trainer Chad Brown will enter Sunday's Diana at Saratoga Race Course loaded for bear, saddling two former Breeders' Cup winners in Rushing Fall and Sistercharlie (IRE) as he looks to win the race for a fifth consecutive year. Sistercharlie has captured the last two runnings for Brown and will look to achieve a three-peat in headlining the six-horse field. The now 6-year-old daughter of Myboycharlie (IRE) won the 2018 Eclipse Award as champion turf female for a campaign that included her first Diana victory as well as scores in that year's Grade 1 Jenny Wiley, Grade 1 Beverly D. and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Sistercharlie's stablemate, Rushing Fall, is a five-time Grade 1 winner, including last out when she outkicked Jolie Olimpica by three-quarters of a length to repeat in the Jenny Wiley on July 11 at Keeneland. The winner of the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf is already Grade 1-winner at ages 2, 3, 4 and 5, including the 2018 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SAR082320USA8-EQB.html

9 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Mile Handicap at Del Mar on TVG

Grade 1 winner Mo Forza makes just his second start of 2020 when he heads up a field of 11 in the Del Mar Mile Handicap. Trained by Peter Miller, Mo Forza concluded his 2019 campaign with four straight victories, including a triumph at Del Mar in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby. The son of Uncle Mo has not started since running ninth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park on January 25.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/DMR082320USA9-EQB.html

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Medaglia d’Oro Filly Serves Up Impressive Performance in Ellis Unveiling

1st-Ellis, $46,200, Msw, 8-21, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:06.71, fm.
NAVRATILOVA (f, 2, Medaglia d’Oro–Centre Court {GISW, $961,048}, by Smart Strike), backed as the tepid 5-2 favorite with a standout pedigree among this group, flew home late to ace her maiden test. Far back early among a very strung-out field, the bay first caught the eye when rolling into fourth entering the stretch. She continued to gobble up ground down the center of the course and blew by the tiring leaders to prevail by a widening 2 1/4 lengths. Fellow firster Music City Star (Tapiture) completed the exacta. The winner’s dam took four starts to graduate, breaking through going nine panels on the Churchill turf as a May sophomore before scoring a career best in the GI Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland the following season to cap a three-race winning skein. Navratilova is Centre Court’s third foal and first winner. She’s followed by an Arrogate filly and a Bernardini colt. Centre Court, a daughter of GSW and GISP Let (A.P. Indy) and a half to GSW Ravel (Fusaichi Pegasus), was bred back to Medaglia d’Oro for 2021. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $27,720. Click for the Equibase.com chart.
O-G. Watts Humphrey, Jr.; B-G. Watts Humphrey (KY); T-George R. Arnold, II.

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Battaash Digs Deep To Defend His Title In Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes

Battaash showed true Champion qualities as he battled both the elements and a worthy adversary in Que Amoro to successfully defend his Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes title at York. The victory earned Battaash an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint this fall at Keeneland.

The sprinting sensation had blown everyone and everything away this season, and in truth was yet to be properly challenged on a racecourse in 2020. It was a different story Friday at a rain-soaked York as he was forced to engage in a battle down the Knavesmire.

It had looked to be going similarly to his two previous victories this season, with the Hamden Al Maktoum-owned sprinter cruising up to head the pace-setting Que Amoro with two furlongs left to run. It appeared as if that was that until Que Amoro began to dig in and it was clear she was not going down without a fight.

A battle then ensued in the final stages, and as admirably as Que Amoro fought, Battaash always seemed to find an answer. The Charlie Hills trainee managed to hold that rival at bay as the line came, giving Jim Crowley an incredible four-timer on the day.

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