Outwork Colt Green But Good Sprinting on Spa Lawn

5th-Saratoga, $72,000, Msw, 7-26, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.36, fm.
OUTADORE (c, 2, Outwork–Adore You {SP, $276,240}, by Tactical Cat) was let go at 6-1 as the less fancied of a pair of juvenile runners saddled by a trainer whose prowess with young horses–especially on turf–is well documented, and he proved to be the “right” Ward while providing his first-crop sire (by Uncle Mo) with a second winner and first on the lawn. Irad Ortiz, Jr. had ridden Outadore’s stablemate River Tiber (War Front)  to a fourth-place run on debut at Belmont June 12, but landed on Outadore this time off a fairly unassuming worktab and it was soon clear why. Away well in typical Ward fashion, Outadore chased two-time runner-up filly Mad Maddy (American Pharoah) through an opening quarter in :21.63 and half in :44.77. The grey had his head cocked towards the stands a bit as he challenged for command in upper stretch, and he took over while racing greenly before pulling away to a 2 3/4-length graduation. Mad Maddy held off River Tiber to be second. The winner is half to Piedi Bianchi (Overanalyze), MSW & MGISP, $476,700. His dam, who was at one point claimed for $12,500 before finishing a close third at long odds turf sprinting in the 2007 Buffalo Trace Franklin County S. at Keeneland, is a half to a stakes-winning juvenile who was second in the 2012 GII Adirondack S. over the local main track. Outwork was also responsible for the debuting runner-up in Sunday’s second race, a maiden special weight for New York-breds on the dirt. Outadore is bred on a version of the same Uncle Mo over Storm Cat as Sunday’s Ellis romper Dream Quist (Nyquist). Sales history: $140,000 Wlg ’18 KEENOV; $290,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $39,600. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-Breeze Easy, LLC; B-Deann Baer & Greg Baer DVM (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward.

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‘Hard Work Pays Off’: Irad Ortiz Jr. Bags Five Wins Thursday At Saratoga

Irad Ortiz, Jr. enjoyed a tremendous day at the races, winning with 5-of-8 mounts on Thursday's 10-race card at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The veteran jockey, a two-time leading rider at Saratoga [2015, 2018], moved into a tie for second position in the jockey standings with his brother, Jose Ortiz, each with 10 wins, just one short of Joel Rosario.

“When you have the right horses, they make you look good,” said Ortiz, Jr. “Days like this are great. To win five races in one day at any track is so special. You work so hard in this business and on days like this all that hard work pays off.”

Ortiz, Jr. kicked off the flat racing portion of Thursday's program by guiding Thomas Shelby [No. 6, $6.50] to a claiming score for owner-trainer Wesley Ward. Two races later in Race 4, he captured the NYSSS Statue of Liberty for the second straight year by piloting Fresco [No. 1, $3] to a memorable maiden win for leading trainer Christophe Clement.

The veteran rider followed up in Race 5 with a prominent score aboard Irish Front [No. 5, $9.50], a Waterford Stable homebred son of Summer Front trained by Todd Pletcher. In Race 7, he guided Bertranda [No. 10, $6.70] to an in-hand allowance optional-claiming event for trainer Mertkan Kantarmaci.

Ortiz, Jr. added his fifth win on the card in Race 9 when Admiral Lynch [No. 3, $16.80] sprinted to convincing score over 8-5 mutuel favorite Honest Mischief.

On July 31, 2019, Ortiz, Jr. also won five races in one card at Saratoga, going 5-for-7 on the day of his NYSSS Statue of Liberty score aboard Kid Is Frosty.

Hall of Famer Ramon Dominguez twice won six races on a Saratoga card in 2012 and Hall of Famer John Velazquez also notched six in one card at the Spa in 2001.

Live racing resumes Friday at Saratoga with a 10-race card highlighted by the Grade 3, $100,000 Quick Call for sophomores going 5 ½ furlongs on the Mellon turf course in Race 9 at 5:46 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:10 p.m.

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Hello Beautiful Breezes At Laurel With Eye On Saratoga’s Test

Multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old filly Hello Beautiful continued preparations for a possible start in next month's Test (G1) at Saratoga with a strong five-furlong breeze over Laurel Park's main track Sunday morning in Laurel, Md.

With jockey Jevian Toledo subbing for injured regular rider and work partner Sheldon Russell, Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stable and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful covered the distance in 1:01.20, the fastest of six horses.

It was the second work for Hello Beautiful since her front-running 8 1/4-length allowance romp June 20 at Laurel that improved her record to four wins, two seconds and a third with $199,360 in purse earnings from eight career starts.

“Toledo has worked some good ones and prepped for some big races, so he knows how to work a good horse,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “Toledo worked her beautifully, and she went excellent. She's just doing great.”

The connections have yet to settle on a next start for Hello Beautiful but are giving strong consideration to the Test, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies Aug. 8 on the undercard of the Travers (G1).

Wherever she runs next, Hello Beautiful will need a new rider. Sheldon Russell, the trainer's husband, is expected to miss four to six weeks after breaking his right wrist in a starting gate mishap July 16 at Delaware Park. He has been aboard for all of Hello Beautiful's races.

Due to the track's health and safety protocols, out-of-town jockeys are currently not allowed to ride at Saratoga this summer. Brittany Russell said two-time defending Eclipse Award winner Irad Ortiz Jr. would likely get the call if Hello Beautiful runs in the Test.

“It depends on where we decide to go,” she said. “but I think we're going to go with Irad if we go to New York.”

Though he couldn't be aboard, Sheldon Russell was at Laurel to see Hello Beautiful work, bringing along the couple's 11-month-old daughter, Edy.

“He did show up to watch. He wanted to supervise. He showed up with Edy. I don't know how he managed that with one arm,” Brittany Russell said. “He called me and said, 'I'm on my way.' I'm like, 'How are you on your way?' He got here with Edy and they watched her work, so that was great that he came out.”

Hello Beautiful has raced exclusively in Maryland since her unveiling last May at Pimlico Race Course. She captured the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship last fall at Laurel by a combined 15 ½ lengths.

The combination of a planned break and a 2 ½-month pause in live racing from mid-March to late May amid the coronavirus pandemic pushed Hello Beautiful's sophomore debut to a June 1 sprint over Laurel's world-class turf course, where she faded to seventh, her only time off the board. She rebounded impressively 19 days later on a sloppy and sealed main track.

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Country Grammer Shows His Long-Distance Chops In Peter Pan

Country Grammer dueled Caracaro in the stretch and held firm from the inside position, edging his rival by a neck to win the Grade 3, $100,000 Peter Pan for 3-year-olds on Thursday, Opening Day of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Owned by Paul Pompa, Jr., Country Grammer broke his maiden traveling nine furlongs at second asking in November at Aqueduct Racetrack for his only previous victory. After running fifth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in November at Gulfstream and third against allowance company on June 4 at Belmont, Country Grammer returned to 1 1/8 miles and responded with his first career stakes score. His win earned 50 qualifying points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in September at Churchill Downs.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

Under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., who won the Belmont spring/summer meet riding title, Country Grammer stalked in fourth position as Mo Hawk led the nine-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 23.24 seconds, the half in 48.13 and three-quarters in 1:12.35 on the fast main track.

Out of the final turn, Ortiz, Jr. angled Country Grammer near the rail, while Caracaro made a strong bid under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano from his outside. The duo linked up in the stretch for an exciting final furlong before the Chad Brown trainee prevailed, hitting the wire in a final time of 1:49.79.

“Irad gave him a beautiful ride. He took advantage of his inside post,” Brown said. “He trains that way and he's a bit of a grinder. He's a long-distance horse and we've been wanting to get him back out to a mile and an eighth.”

While Country Grammer earned points to go to Kentucky, Brown said he could be staying at Saratoga in the immediate future with a spot in the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers on August 8 a likely spot.

“Obviously, the logical thing is to point him to the Travers at a mile and a quarter,” Brown said. “I don't think he'll have a problem with the distance. We'll have to see if he's good enough. He hasn't run many times and there's room for improvement there. It's a race we hoped to get him to, and I'll talk to Mr. Pompa about it.”

Brown is coming off another title as the leading trainer in the Belmont spring/summer meet and has also captured the Saratoga training crowns the previous two summer meets. Though this year's lid-lifter at the Spa was different without spectators in attendance in compliance with New York State guidelines, Brown said it's always special to win at a track that dates its history to 1863.

“It's really nice to win this race but definitely a bittersweet day when this beautiful place is empty where I grew up,” said Brown, a native of nearby Mechanicville, N.Y. “We'll try to get through the meet and hold out hope that maybe it will open more during the meet, but there's no guarantees about that. We'll do the best we can and we're grateful they're running here. Hopefully, this is the only year we have to do this.

“NYRA has really done a good job,” he added. “It feels very safe on the backside training in the morning. It's well organized and I think it's a very safe environment.”

Off at 4-1, Country Grammer returned $10.20 on a $2 win wager. The bay colt is a son of Tonalist, who won the 2014 Belmont Stakes in upsetting California Chrome's Triple Crown bid.

“He's a fighter. He has a great trainer and he [Country Grammer] had something left at the end,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “Chad's horses finish really good. I never gave up and I was lucky he came back.”

Caracaro, conditioned by Gustavo Delgado, was making his first stakes appearance and just his third start overall. The Uncle Mo colt finished 3 ¼ lengths in front of 8-5 favorite Mystic Guide for second, racking up 20 qualifying points for the runner-up effort.

“I had a beautiful trip. I like the way it set up. My horse usually likes to go to the lead and tries to dictate the pace,” Castellano said. “He broke a little sideways out of the gate. I decided not to rush and put him in the lead, and just let him develop himself. I think he got tired the last part of the race, he hadn't run in such a long time. I'm very satisfied with how he did it today. He was only beat a little bit and I'm not disappointed at all. I'm excited for his future.”

Mystic Guide, trained by Michael Stidham, earned 10 points for third.

Celtic Striker finished fourth, garnering five points. Modernist, Chestertown, Candy Tycoon, Mo Hawk and Katzarelli completed the order of finish.

Handle on the 10-race Opening Day card was $19,100,297, a 21 percent increase over the 2019 Opening Day handle of 15,754,227.

Live racing resumes Friday with a 10-race card featuring the $85,000 De La Rose for older fillies and mares in Race 7 and the $85,000 Shine Again, also for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up, in Race 9. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

 

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