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Drain the Clock Prepares For H. Allen Jerkens, Mischevious Alex For Forego On Travers Card

Drain the Clock, the winner of the Grade 1 Woody Stephens and the last-out runner-up in the Grade 2 Amsterdam, recorded his final work on Saturday ahead of the $600,000 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens on Runhappy Travers Day on August 28 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The Maclean's Music colt registered a four-furlong breeze in :47:47 in company with 2020 Grade 1 Haskell runner-up Ny Traffic over the Saratoga main for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

Owned by Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Nentwig, Drain the Clock finished second behind top divisional contender Jackie's Warrior in the 6 1/2-furlong Amsterdam on a sloppy and sealed track August 1.

The ultra-consistent Drain the Clock enters the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens with momentum, posting four wins and a pair of second-place finishes through the first six starts of his 3-year-old campaign. He won the Grade 3 Swale, contested at the Jerkens distance, by 6 1/4 lengths in January at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and tallied consecutive wins on the NYRA circuit with a 1 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Bay Shore in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., before edging Jackie's Warrior by a neck in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens on Belmont Stakes Day June 5.

“He had a good work going in company with Ny Traffic and galloped out pretty strong,” Joseph, Jr. said. “Obviously, last time he was well-beaten fair and square by Jackie's Warrior. Now, you have Life Is Good in this race, so, hopefully, we can get outside this time. I think the draw will have a lot to do with it. But we're willing to give it another chance.”

Joseph, Jr. also saw two contenders for the $600,000 Grade 1 Forego work Saturday at Saratoga, with Chance It and Mischevious Alex logging four furlongs in :48.12 and :48.48, respectively, on the main track.

The Forego, for 4-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs, will give four-time graded stakes-winner Mischevious Alex a chance to add to that total, with the Into Mischief colt posting wins in last year's Grade 3 Swale and Grade 3 Gotham as a sophomore before continuing to improve as a 4-year-old, winning the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint in February and romping by 5 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Carter in April at the Big A.

After running third in the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day, Mischevious Alex [owned by Cash is King and LC Racing] ran eighth in the six-furlong Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 31 at Saratoga. Joseph, Jr. said his charge has continued to work well as he readies to stretch back out to seven furlongs next week.

Shooting Star Thoroughbreds' Chance It, second last out in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint going six furlongs on July 3 at Gulfstream, has compiled a 4-4-0 record in nine starts entering his Saratoga debut. The 4-year-old son of Currency Swap is looking for his first graded stakes victory.

“They worked by themselves and they seem to be coming into the race in good order,” Joseph, Jr. said.

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Saffie Joseph, Jr. Points Mischevious Alex To Forego At Saratoga

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. said Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex had a good breeze back on Friday in his first timed work since an off-the-board finish in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 31 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 4-year-old Into Mischief bay worked a half-mile solo in :48.45 on the main track in preparation for a start in the $600,000 Grade 1 Forego at seven furlongs on the main track on Travers Day August 28.

“He's bounced out of the race good. We haven't seen anything to deter us running back in the Forego,” Joseph, Jr. said. “He got the thumps last time pretty bad. Hopefully, that was the reason for his performance.”

A multiple graded stakes winner, Mischevious Alex has won 3-of-5 starts this year, including scores in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., in February and the Grade 1 Carter Handicap in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Joseph Jr. said Friday's breeze have him confidence that Mischevious Alex could return to form in the Forego.

“He went a good half by himself. Hopefully, the real Alex shows up and if he does, he'll have a good chance,” Joseph, Jr. said.

Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Nentwig's Drain the Clock, a sophomore son of Maclean's Music, also breezed Friday covering a half-mile in :48.83 on the main track.

Boasting a record of six wins and two seconds from nine starts, Drain the Clock bested Jackie's Warrior by a neck on June 5 at Belmont in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens.

Last out, in the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Amsterdam, Jackie's Warrior turned the tables with a romping 7 1/4-length score over a sloppy and sealed Saratoga main track.

Joseph Jr. said he is hopeful Drain the Clock will one-up his familiar foe in the $500,000 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on Travers Day.

“No one was beating Jackie that day. He ran dynamite. Maybe our horse didn't run his best that day but all credit to Jackie,” Joseph, Jr. said. “We have no excuse. We had a good trip. The record is one and one. He's beat us once, we beat him once. We'll try again in the Allen Jerkens.”

John Fanelli, Cash is King, LC Racing, Paul Braverman, and Team Hanley's Ny Traffic, a 4-year-old New York-bred son of Cross Traffic, breezed a half-mile in :48 flat Sunday on the main track.

The talented colt finished second in a trio of graded events last year, including the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby in March at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., the Grade 3 Matt Winn in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., in July in which he finished just a nose back of Authentic.

Ny Traffic won his seasonal debut in May at Belmont by 6 3/4-lengths sprinting seven furlongs against fellow state-breds in an optional claimer and followed with a close second in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile in June at Monmouth.

Last out, Ny Traffic faded to fourth in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on July 17.

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“He went good this morning. It was his first breeze back since Monmouth, I had him in 47 and 4. It was a good work back,” Joseph Jr. said. “There's a possibility he could go in the Forego or the Charles Town Classic.”

Joseph Jr. said Ny Traffic will breeze again next weekend before he decides on cutting back to seven furlongs for the Forego or stretching out to nine furlongs for the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic at Charles Town in Charles Town, W.Va. on August 27.

Overall, Joseph, Jr. said he has been pleased with Ny Traffic's performances this season.

“He won his debut at Belmont and in his second race at Monmouth he ran second but it was a good race,” Joseph, Jr. said. “Last time he disappointed a little bit if you just look at the running lines, but the reality is that he acted up pre-race back at the barn and I think he lost his race there. It wasn't a true run.”

Joseph, Jr. said e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Gibberish will turn back to nine furlongs for the $120,000 Summer Colony on August 22 at the Spa.

Last out, the 4-year-old daughter of Lea was a game second to Miss Marissa in the 10-furlong Grade 2 Delaware Handicap on July 10.

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Beren Considers Options Ahead of Curlin, Amsterdam At Saratoga

Susan Quick and Christopher J. Feifarek's Beren is entered in Friday's nine-furlong $120,000 Curlin, but trainer Butch Reid Jr. said a recent bullet half-mile work in :46.60 on the Spa main track has him considering cross-entering in the 6 1/2-furlong $200,000 Grade 2 Amsterdam on August 1 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The Weigelia sophomore boasts five wins and two seconds from 10 starts, including a pair of off-the-turf scores in his last two starts by 10 3/4-lengths in the seven-furlong Paradise Creek at Belmont and by 9 1/2-lengths in the 1 1/16-mile $100,000 Crowd Pleaser at Parx.

Reid, Jr. said the latter effort has him interested in stretching out the versatile bay.

“That last one is why I'm tempted to keep him around two turns,” Reid, Jr. said. “Both races look like they're coming up equally tough, so it's not going to be easy either way we go.”

Reid Jr. said he is considering longer-term options at Parx for the Pennsylvania-bred colt, out of the millionaire multiple graded-stakes winning Diamond mare Silmaril, including the Grade 3 Smarty Jones on August 24 and the nine-furlong Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on September 25.

“Being a 'PA' bred, the bonuses are worth a lot,” Reid, Jr. “When we won the $100,000 race in that last start, his owners own the stallion and the dam, so they got 110 percent of the purse. If he wins the Pennsylvania Derby, the breeder awards are big.”

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, and Swilcan Stable's reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Vequist breezed a half-mile in :47.77 Friday on the Saratoga main track under Jose Lezcano in preparation for a potential comeback at the end of the Saratoga meet.

“Vequist likes this mountain air,” Reid, Jr. said. “She's handling it very well. She didn't do well in the Florida heat. She's training very forwardly and we're right on schedule with her.”

Reid, Jr. said Swilcan Stable and LC Racing's Mainstay, a 2-year-old half-sister to stablemate Vequist, has come out of her runner-up effort to Pretty Birdie in the Grade 3 Schuylerville on Opening Day July 15 in good order and will now point to the 6 1/2-furlong $200,000 Grade 2 Adirondack on August 8.

“Mainstay came back so well, we'll take a shot in the Adirondack with her. I think that race did her a world of good,” Reid. Jr said.

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Gotham Winner Mischevious Alex To Use Woody Stephens As Springboard To Haskell

Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex, who captured the Grade 3 Gotham last out on March 7 at the Big A for trainer John Servis, worked a half-mile in 51.42 Tuesday morning at Parx Racing in preparation for Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

“He two-minute licked and then we let him pick it up the last half. I wanted to let him stretch his legs a little bit,” said Servis.

Servis said he had considered Saturday's Belmont Stakes for Mischevious Alex, but wanted to bring the Into Mischief colt back at a shorter distance. Servis said the Woody Stephens, at seven furlongs for sophomores, would set Mischevious Alex up for a two-turn try in the Grade 1 Haskell on July 18 at Monmouth Park.

“I think this race sets him up for the other races,” said Servis. “The Belmont is a one-turn mile and an eighth and the big question for my horse is two turns, so we'll save that for next time.

“If he runs really good on Saturday, we'll probably try the Haskell.”

Mischevious Alex is undefeated since the addition of blinkers for a score in the Parx Juvenile in November. He followed that effort with a prominent score in the Grade 3 Swale at Gulfstream Park in February ahead of his Grade 3 Gotham coup.

Kendrick Carmouche, aboard for the Gotham win, retains the mount.

The probable field for the Woody Stephens presented by Claiborne Farm includes Echo Town (Steve Asmussen), Fore Left (Doug O'Neill), Meru (Jorge Duarte, Jr.), No Parole (Tom Amoss), and Shoplifted (Asmussen).

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