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Lexitonian Gets First Grade 1 Win In Vanderbilt Upset

A gate scratch in the 2020 edition of the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, Lexitonian's best showings since then were his two second-place finishes in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby last August and the 2021 Churchill Downs on Derby Day. In the 2021 G1 Vanderbilt, though, he played giant killer, taking the lead early and besting a dueling Special Reserve in the stretch to get the first Grade 1 victory of his career at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Ridden by Jose Lezcano, Lexitonian, carrying six fewer pounds than favorite Mischevious Alex, broke well, taking the lead in the race's opening furlong, with Strike Power and Special Reserve a half-length behind. He maintained the lead into the six-furlong G1 Vanderbilt's only turn, but Joel Rosario on Special Reserve stayed with him, grabbing the lead on the final turn. Going into the stretch, Lezcano did not let Special Reserve get too far ahead, as Lexitonian dug in and passed him in the race's waning yards. Whitmore, seventh early, was able to move up on the rail in the stretch to finish third. Montauk Traffic, Firenze Fire, Strike Power, Three Technique, Mischevious Alex, and Miles Ahead rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the six furlongs was 1:09.35. Lexitonian paid $70.00, $21.20, and $10.40. Special Reserve paid $5.20 and $3.70. Whitmore paid $4.00 to show.

Find this race's chart here.

“I said to Jose [Lezcano] he's a horse who fights. Please get him out of the gate and engage him early. I believe if you engage him early, he will feel the pressure and respond to that. At the half-mile pole if he comes off the bridle, perfect. That's him and he will respond. It's even better if a horse heads him because he'll fight on again, which happened. He stuck his head out in front today,” Calumet trainer Jack Sisterson said after the race.

“This horse is a very good horse. He tries hard all the time. He's the type of horse that needs to be involved and sometimes he doesn't break all that well and has to stay in the back. He broke well today,” Lezcano said after his win on Lexitonian. “Joel [aboard No. 9, Special Reserve] tried to get away from me, but when I dropped my hands, he took off again and won the race.”

Bred and owned by Calumet Farm, Lexitonian is 5-year-old horse by Speightstown out of Riviera Romper, by Tapit. The G1 Vanderbilt victory brings Lexitonian to five wins in 19 starts, for career winnings of $687.682.

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Speightstown’s Lexitonian Upsets Vanderbilt

Lexitonian (h, 5, Speightstown–Riviera Romper, by Tapit), beaten just a nose in last summer's GI Bing Crosby S. at Del Mar, got his Grade I victory with a shocking, 34-1 upset in Saturday's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga.

Drawn on the fence, he was hustled to the front by Jose Lezcano. The chestnut was pressed through an opening quarter of :22.04 and appeared to be in deep water as streaking former claimer and two back GIII Maryland Sprint Match Series S. winner Special Reserve (Midshipman) loomed large at the top of the stretch and hit the front. Lexitonian never quit, however, and battled back gamely in the lane to turn that one back and win by a half-length. The classy 8-year-old defending sprint champion Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) was third. Favored GISW Mischevious Alex (Into Mischief) was a no-show eighth.

Scratched at the gate in this race last year and re-routed to the aforementioned Bing Crosby, Lexitonian was a close fifth in a saturated renewal of last summer's GI Forego S. at the Spa. He finished second, beaten only a head at 46-1, in this term's GI Churchill Downs S. May 1. Eased in the GI Metropolitan H. at Belmont last time June 5, Lexitonian geared up for the Vanderbilt with a sharp, four-furlong breeze in :47 (4/113) at Saratoga July 24.

His resume also includes wins in the 2019 GIII Chick Lang S. and Concern S. in Maryland, respectively.

Trainer Jack Sisterson won the first Grade I of his promising career with Vexatious (Giant's Causeway) in last summer's GI Personal Ensign S. at Saratoga.

“Growing up, this sport was a passion of mine and now it's a livelihood,” Sisterson said. “I'm speechless. To be up here on a stage like today and even to compete in a race like this is very humbling.

He continued, “I said to Jose [Lezcano], he's a horse who fights. Please get him out of the gate and engage him early. I believe if you engage him early, he will feel the pressure and respond to that. At the half-mile pole if he comes off the bridle, perfect. That's him and he will respond. It's even better if a horse heads him because he'll fight on again, which happened. He stuck his head out in front today.

“I have to give Lexitonian a ton of credit. He ran in the Met Mile and he was eased. You'd think a horse that was eased and thrown in some clunkers, you'd sit back and think let's drop him down a grade and give him a confidence builder. But I've run him in every Grade I and been hard on him and this is how he responds today.”

Pedigree Notes:

Lexitonian is the 22nd GISW for Speightstown and the sixth GISW out of a daughter of Tapit (Gran Alegria, Harvey's Lil Goil, Qafila, Halladay and Carta Embrujada).

Lexitonian's 2-year-old half-sister Miss Raison (Raison d'Etat) debuted for Sisterson with a fifth-place finish at Arlington earlier this month.

Progeny in the pipeline for Riviera Romper — a daughter of 2006 GI Darley Test S. heroine Swap Fliparoo (Exchange Rate) — include a Keen Ice colt of 2020 and a Speightstown filly of this year.

My Meadowview Farm homebred Riviera Romper, a winner of one of seven career starts, brought $310,000 from Calumet carrying her first foal Lexitonian at the 2015 KEENOV sale.

Saturday, Saratoga
ALFRED G. VANDERBILT H.-GI, $350,000, Saratoga, 7-31, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:09.38, ft.
1–LEXITONIAN, 118, h, 5, by Speightstown
                1st Dam: Riviera Romper, by Tapit
                2nd Dam: Swap Fliparoo, by Exchange Rate
                3rd Dam: Fliparoo, by Buckaroo
   1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Jack Sisterson;
J-Jose Lezcano. $192,500. Lifetime Record: 19-5-2-2, $687,682.
Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Special Reserve, 119, g, 5, Midshipman–Love Spun, by Hard
Spun. ($60,000 Ylg '17 FTKJUL; $140,000 2yo '18 OBSMAR).
O-Paradise Farms Corp. & David Staudacher; B-Russell L.
Reineman Stables Inc. (KY); T-Michael J. Maker. $70,000.
3–Whitmore, 123, g, 8, Pleasantly Perfect–Melody's Spirit, by
Scat Daddy. O-Robert V. LaPenta, Ron Moquett & Head of
Plains Partners LLC; B-John Liviakis (KY); T-Ron Moquett.
$42,000.
Margins: HF, 1 1/4, 2 1/4. Odds: 34.00, 3.35, 4.30.
Also Ran: Montauk Traffic, Firenze Fire, Strike Power, Three Technique, Mischevious Alex, Miles Ahead.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Channel Cat Primed To Take On Saratoga’s Bowling Green

Calumet Farm homebred Channel Cat and his trainer, Jack Sisterson, are no strangers to springing upsets in graded stakes. The duo will look to add another exclamation mark to their collective ledgers in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green, an 11-furlong inner-turf test for older horses, at Saratoga Race Course.

Channel Cat, who is one of three sons of English Channel entered for Saturday's 63rd renewal, captured the 2019 Bowling Green at odds of 13-1 for former conditioner Todd Pletcher. The 6-year-old chestnut, who was transferred to Sisterson's care last year, won a dramatic renewal of the Grade 1 Man o' War in May at Belmont Park at 8-1 by a nose over Gufo, who was a neck better than Bowling Green-rival Moon Over Miami.

The Man o' War score completed a personal trifecta of Grade 1-wins at all three NYRA tracks for Sisterson following Vexatious' [9-1] score in the Personal Ensign last year at Saratoga and True Timber's [7-1] Cigar Mile victory in December at Aqueduct Racetrack

John Velazquez, who has also enjoyed surprise success in the Bowling Green, is tied with fellow Hall of Fame riders Javier Castellano, Jerry Bailey, and Jorge Velasquez for most Bowling Green wins with three. He will look to secure the standalone record victory from the inside post after scores with Turk Passer [1994, 31-1], Cetewayo [1998, 9-1], and Air Support [2012, 7-5].

Channel Cat has posted a trio of recent works at Saratoga, including a half-mile effort in 48.66 seconds Saturday on the Oklahoma training turf.

“He couldn't be doing any better,” Sisterson said. “He's done all his works within himself. On Saturday, John Velazquez worked him and was very happy with him. The key to Channel Cat is keeping him happy and he seems to be going into the race in great shape and happy form. We look forward to a fun summer with him.”

Channel Cat, who has competed over good turf in his last three outings, ran second in the 12-furlong Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland in April ahead of his Man o' War score.

Last out, in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan on June 5 at Belmont, Channel Cat pressed the pace and faded to seventh in a race won by Domestic Spending. The second and third-place finishers exited that event to win stakes, including a Grade 1 United Nations coup for the Chad Brown-trained Tribhuvan and a Grand Couturier-score for the Christophe Clement-conditioned Gufo.

“I ran him back in three weeks after the Elkhorn because he was doing so well. I probably should have skipped the Manhattan because he had a tough race in the Man o' War, but we gave him a little break now prior to the Bowling Green,” Sisterson said. “It was good to see Chad Brown's horse come back and win the United Nations so the form held up well.”

Bill Mott, who is tied with fellow Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher for most Bowling Green victories with four, will saddle a trio of contenders, including the reigning Champion Turf Male Channel Maker, graded-stakes winner Red Knight and multiple graded-stakes placed Moon Over Miami.

Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R. A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Channel Maker, a 7-year-old Ontario-bred son of English Channel, boasts a record of 39-7-6-5 with purse earnings in excess of $3.2 million.

The prominent chestnut, last seen finishing eighth in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in March, will make his fourth-consecutive Bowling Green appearance, including a dead-heat win in 2018, a fourth in 2019 and a third a year ago.

Channel Maker captured the 12-furlong Grade 1 Sword Dancer here last summer over soft going ahead of a similar front-running score in the Grade 1 Turf Classic Invitational in October over firm Belmont turf. Manny Franco, aboard for both of those victories, returns to the irons from post 5.

Trinity Farm homebred Red Knight, a 7-year-old New York-bred son of Pure Prize, made the grade in October in the Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland. The consistent chestnut sports a ledger of 25-8-8-1 and will look for his first win of the season, adding blinkers from post 6 under Tyler Gaffalione.

Summer Wind Equine's Moon Over Miami, a 4-year-old Malibu Moon colt, captured the 1 5/16-mile Dueling Grounds Derby in September at Kentucky Downs to secure his only stakes win. He has made all three starts this year in graded company, finishing third in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida in February and second in the Grade 2 Pan American, both at Gulfstream, ahead of his last-out third in the Grade 1 Man o' War.

Junior Alvarado retains the mount from post 7.

Pletcher will saddle Donegal Racing's Shamrocket, a 4-year-old Tonalist bay in search of his first graded win. The normally late-running colt, who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Man o' War in May, utilized a more prominent approach last out when third in the Grand Couturier.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the call from post 8.

Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Border, a 7-year-old New York-bred son of English Channel, was elevated to victory in last year's Bowling Green following the disqualification of Sadler's Joy.

Trained by Mike Maker, Cross Border has thrived on the Saratoga turf with five wins and one second from six starts. Last year's efforts at Saratoga included a win in the Lubash and a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer. In 2019, Cross Border went 3-for-3 in a perfect Spa summer campaign.

Bred in the Empire State by Berkshire Stud and B.D. Gibbs, Cross Border will exit post 2 under Luis Saez in search of his first win this year.

Brown, a four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer, combined previously with Hall of Fame rider Castellano to capture the Bowling Green with Hyper [2013] and Flintshire [2016].

On Saturday, Castellano will pilot Three Chimneys Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Siena Farm and Jeff Drown's Breakpoint, a multiple Group 1-winner in his native Chile, from post 3.

The 4-year-old Constitution colt broke slow en route to a fourth-place finish last out in his North American debut in a nine-furlong optional-claiming event on June 27 on the Belmont turf.

Brown will also saddle Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, Wonder Stables, Michael Kisber and Michael J. Caruso's multiple Grade 1-placed Rockemperor [post 4, Joel Rosario], who enters from a sharp optional-claiming win traveling 10-furlongs on June 26 over firm Belmont turf.

The 5-year-old Irish-bred son of Holy Roman Emperor finished third in the 2019 Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational and second in last year's Grade 1 Manhattan at Belmont.

The Bowling Green is slated as Race 10 on Saturday's 11-race card, which also includes the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt in Race 8 and the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy in Race 9. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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Sisterson Prepares Channel Cat, Lexitonian For Saratoga Starts

Trainer Jack Sisterson will see a trio of Calumet Farm-owned stakes contenders look to make an impact at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in the next two weeks, with Tango Tango Tango, Channel Cat, and Lexitonian each slated for respective graded stakes contests through August 7.

This coming Saturday will see Channel Cat look to win the $250,000 Grade 2 Bowling Green for the second time in three editions after his 2019 victory in the 1 3/8-mile turf contest for 4-year-olds and up.

The now 6-year-old son of English Channel ran second in the 1 1/2-mile Grade 2 Elkhorn on April 17 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., before returning three weeks later to edge Gufo by a nose in a thrilling finish to win the Grade 1 Man o' War on May 8 at Belmont Park going 1 1/8 miles. That marked Channel Cat's first win since Sisterson took over the training duties – and his first victory in 10 starts overall – with his first winner's circle trip since the 2019 Bowling Green.

Buoyed by the Man o' War effort in which he earned a 98 Beyer, Sisterson ran Channel Cat back on Belmont Stakes Day June 5 in the 1 1/4-mile Grade 1 Manhattan, where he tired and finished seventh. The Chad Brown-trained duo of Domestic Spending and Tribhuvan comprised the Manhattan exacta, with Tribhuvan going on to win the Grade 1 United Nations next out at Monmouth Park.

Sisterson said the extra rest for Channel Cat could put him in a good position to succeed on Saturday.

Lexitonian ran second in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day May 1, finishing a head back to Flagstaff, before encountering a troubled trip in a sixth-place Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap effort on Belmont Stakes Day the next month going one turn on Big Sandy. Lexitonian will cut back to six furlongs this Saturday in the $350,000 Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap for 3-year-olds and up.

“He's 110 percent ready to go. It's all about which Lexitonian shows up,” Sisterson said with a laugh. “He's run races that can compete with anyone and then he throws in a clunker now and then. I think a mile is his best distance, so we're cutting him back a little, but if he runs his best race, he'll be right there at the wire. He's shown us training-wise that he's going into next week's race in great shape.”

Lexitonian's previous race at Saratoga was a fifth-place finish in last year's Grade 1 Forego at seven furlongs over a sloppy track. The 5-year-old son of Speightstown will have jockey Jose Lezcano back in the irons.

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Tango Tango Tango, who won his stakes debut last out in the 1 1/16-mile American Derby on July 17 at Arlington Park, could now target the $1 million Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 7, which marks the second leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series for 3-year-olds.

Sisterson said the Tourist colt could also return to Arlington to run in the $600,000 Grade 1 Bruce D – a race formerly knowns as the Secretariat – on August 14.

Tango Tango Tango, unraced as a juvenile, started his career running third in a race moved off the turf in April at Keeneland. After running sixth on the Churchill Downs main track on May 23, Sisterson put him on the turf for the first time on June 27 at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., where he ran second in the 1 1/16-mile contest. For his stakes debut last out, Sisterson added blinkers, and the equipment change netted a personal-best 86 Beyer as he won by two lengths.

“The addition of blinkers really helped him out, as well as putting him on the grass. We thought he'd break his maiden the first time on the grass at Ellis but we ran into a good horse of [trainer] Michael McCarthy [There Goes Harvard]. We thought the blinkers would put him over the edge. It was a 3-year-old stakes, so we figured 'why not take a shot?' He was doing well, and it worked out in his favor.

“He's moved forward in the right direction and we'll obviously keep the blinkers on him. It seemed to be the missing link for him,” he added.

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