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Acorn Trifecta Wheels Back In Saturday’s Longines Test

The top-three finishers from June's Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park – featuring winner Search Results, runner-up Obligatory and Make Mischief – will again comprise a talented field in a prestigious stake for 3-year-old fillies in Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Test at seven furlongs at Saratoga Race Course.

The 96th edition of the Longines Test, slated as Race 8 on the 12-race docket, is one of five stakes on a loaded card, headlined by the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney for 4-year-olds and up that is a “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Breeders' Cup Classic. Also on tap will be the Grade 1, $1 million Saratoga Derby as the middle jewel of the Turf Triple series for 3-year-olds, as well as the Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls for older fillies and mares on the turf and the $120,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure for older horses on the Mellon turf course.

Klaravich Stables' Search Results, who posted a half-length win in the Acorn going a one-turn mile on Belmont Stakes Day June 5, has won four of her five career starts for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. The daughter of Flatter did not race as a juvenile but started her sophomore year with three straight wins, building on a debut victory in January at Gulfstream Park with a pair of stake wins at Aqueduct Racetrack in the one-mile Busher Invitational in March and the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Gazelle in April.

That victory at the Big A spring-boarded Search Results' appearance in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30, where she was forwardly placed and challenged Malathaat in the stretch before settling for second, just a neck off the winner. Five weeks later, Search Results fended off Obligatory and Make Mischief's late charge to win the Acorn, earning an identical 95 Beyer Speed Figure she achieved in the Kentucky Oaks.

Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard for the Gazelle and Kentucky Oaks, will return to ride Search Results, drawing post 7.

Brown will also send out Three Chimneys Farm's Always Carina, who won her first two starts before running second to fellow Test participant Zaajel in the Grade 2 Mother Goose going 1 1/16 miles on June 26 at Belmont. The lightly raced daughter of Malibu Moon will make her Saratoga debut, drawing post 5. Flavien Prat has the call.

Gary Barber's Make Mischief won her debut in June 2020 at Belmont before posting a pair of runner-up efforts in graded stakes at the Spa, finishing behind Dayoutoftheoffice in the Grade 3 Schuylerville and the Grade 2 Adirondack.

Trainer Mark Casse, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame across the street from Saratoga Race Course on Friday, sent Make Mischief to Chris Englehart to start her 3-year-old year, which included a victory by a neck over Brattle House in the one-mile Maddie May in February at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Returning to Casse for the spring, Make Mischief has been a contender when facing top-flight divisional competition again, running third in the Grade 2 Eight Belles in April at Churchill Downs at the Test distance before running third in the Grade 1 Acorn. The Into Mischief filly ran a competitive fourth in the Grade 2 Mother Goose last out and will return to Saratoga with Tyler Gaffalione set to ride from post 6.

“When we broke her, I told Gary I thought she was a pretty good filly,” Casse said. “I think she just needed a little more ground and a little bit of time to grow up. Her races this year have been good. I kept her with Chris Englehart over the winter since we didn't have any horses in New York at that time. He ran her right away and she won and he did a great job with her.”

Make Mischief, bred in New York by Avanti Stable, is the field's most experienced entrant with 12 starts, compiling a 4-3-2 record with earnings of $365,750.

Her stablemate, Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational, notched her first graded stakes win last out, displaying a strong closing kick to draw away for a 3 1/4-length score in the Grade 3 Victory Ride going 6 1/2 furlongs on July 10 at Belmont.

Casse campaigned the daughter of Curlin in a series of Kentucky Oaks preps at Fair Grounds to start 2021, and she responded with a runner-up performance in the Silverbulletday. After an off-the-board effort in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra in February, Souper Sensational returned to the same track to earn third in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks also going 1 1/16 mile in March.

Souper Sensational returned to sprinting in April, finishing fourth in the Eight Belles, and last out earned a career-best 95 Beyer for her Victory Ride win over a Big Sandy track rated good.

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Casse said Charlotte Weber, owner of Live Oak Plantation, helped select the $725,000 purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale.

“She is by Curlin out of an Indian Charlie mare, but if you look at her she's more a sprinter type,” Casse said. “She [Weber] helped pick this one out. We bought her here in Saratoga. She's a really good horsewoman herself, she knows what she's looking at. We go around at the sale and she usually picks out one or two and that's how we got her.”

Ricardo Santana, Jr. will ride Souper Sensational for the first time, drawing post 2.

Juddmonte's Obligatory also was a filly who benefitted from cutting back in distance, going from a fourth-place finish in the Fair Grounds Oaks to a one-length win in the Eight Belles in her first stakes sprint for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

After earning a 94 Beyer for her second to Search Results in the Acorn, the fellow Curlin filly will compete at Saratoga for the first time, drawing post 4 in tandem with Jose Ortiz, who won this race in back-to-back years aboard American Gal and Separationofpowers from 2017-18.

Shadwell Stable's Zaajel garnered a 96 number for her 1 1/4-length Mother Goose win for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Zaajel made her turf debut in the Grade 2 Edgewood the race prior, finishing seventh in April over the Churchill grass, before Pletcher moved her back to dirt and running her around one turn.

“That made some of the difference,” Pletcher said. “The race before that was an experiment on the turf that didn't pan out. The time before that in Louisiana she misbehaved in the gate, got off to a poor start and got a little rank in the first turn. I think she'll handle two turns down the road but we wanted to keep her and Malathaat separated for the time being, so backing up to seven-eighths makes the most sense.”

Joel Rosario, aboard for the Mother Goose score, will ride again from post 3.

Rounding out the field is Illumination, an eight-length winner to break her maiden at fifth asking last out in June at Santa Anita Park for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert [post 1, fellow Hall of Famer John Velazquez]; and Bella Sofia, who ran second in the Jersey Girl on June 6 for trainer Rudy Rodriguez [post 8, Luis Saez].

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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Baffert: Distance Won’t Be a Problem for Gamine

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley

As spectacular as Gamine (Into Mischief) was in the GI Longines Test S., the win failed to answer the only question that remains unanswered when it comes to a filly who shows superstar potential. She demolished her opposition, including the talented Venetian Harbor (Munnings) in the seven-furlong race, but will she be able to do the same at nine furlongs in the GI Kentucky Oaks?

Her two biggest wins, the Test and the GI Longines Acorn S., have come at a mile or less and around one turn. In her only start around two turns and racing beyond a mile, she gutted out a win in a mile-and-a-sixteenth allowance race at Oaklawn, albeit over a talented stakes horse in Speech (Mr. Speaker). Therefore the doubts.

But trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday he is not worried about stretching his filly out for the Oaks. In the Test, he saw a horse that not only was spectacular, but won the race the right way. Facing off against another horse with electric early speed in Venetian Harbor, she showed no signs of being headstrong or overeager. With John Velazquez aboard, Gamine set the pace, but did so in comfortable early fractions of 22.70 and 45.14.

“I was worried about Venetian Harbor and whether or not they would go way too fast early,” Baffert said. “Johnny V did a great job. He kept her nice and relaxed. She has always had so much quality and now she is learning to relax.”

Baffert said that he changed bits on Gamine after the Acorn, one that he hoped would help her settle down and be more manageable.

Using a seven-furlong race to prepare for a mile-and-an-eighth event is an unusual move, but Baffert said it was a priority to win major Grade I races with a filly who cost $1.8 million at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic 2-year-old sale.

“I wasn’t ready to stretch her out,” Baffert said. “It’s very important to get those Grade Is like the Acorn and the Test. Now, when we send her long she will be fresher.”

While Gamine won the Acorn by 18 3/4 lengths, the Test may have been her most impressive win to date. Venetian Harbor is a good horse and Gamine ran away from her with ease. Velazquez did not ask her for anything in the stretch, but she managed to pull away and win by seven lengths. Her time was 1:20.83, considerably faster than the 1:21.63 it took for Serengetti Empress (Alternation) to beat older fillies and mares in the GI Ballerina S. Her Beyer number was a 108.

“What she’s doing is crazy, just incredible,” Baffert said.

She will have to again be at her best in the Kentucky Oaks. Not only will she be running at a demanding distance but she will likely face another star filly in Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil). Another race where she runs away from the field would cement her status as one of the very best fillies of her generation.

“Her last two races have been incredible,” Baffert said. “She does it with ease. She doesn’t look like she’s going that fast. Silverbulletday was that type of filly. It’s fun to have one like that.”

Baffert said the Oaks will be next and ruled out starting Gamine against males. After the Acorn, he brought up the possibility of Gamine running in the GI Preakness S.

The Quadruple Crown

Tiz the Law (Constitution) has a chance to join a small and select group of horses that have swept the Triple Crown and also the GI Runhappy Travers S. Of the 13 Triple Crown winners only one, Whirlaway (1941), has won all four races.

The first to try it was Gallant Fox, the 1930 Triple Crown winner. Before what was then the biggest crowd in Saratoga history, his loss to Jim Dandy, a 100-1 shot, is considered one of the biggest upsets in racing history.

The next Triple Crown winner to appear in the Travers was Affirmed, who crossed the wire first but was disqualified for bothering his rival Alydar in 1978. In 2015, American Pharoah didn’t have his best stuff and finished second.

After finishing second in the Whitney H., Secretariat passed on the 1973 Travers, but was paraded before the fans prior to the race.

While anything can happen, Tiz the Law certainly looks headed for a Triple Crown sweep. He will likely be the shortest priced favorite in the Derby since Chief’s Crown went off at 6-5 when third in 1985. And if he wins the Derby, the Preakness might shape up as one of the easiest Triple Crown races ever. With the race coming four weeks before the Breeders’ Cup and if Tiz the Law has continued to dominate, the Preakness looks like a hard sell to all trainers not named Barclay Tagg.

Green Gratto Done

Things could not have gone worse for 10-year-old Green Gratto (Here’s Zealous) in his controversial return to the races Sunday at Monmouth. A Grade I winner who had not started since April 2018, he was last and eased in a $20,000 claimer for New Jersey-breds. He was not pulled up and eventually crossed the wire, 41 1/4 lengths behind the winner.

Afterward, owner Norm Wilson said the horse would go back into retirement.

“He did hurt himself a little bit but nothing serious,” Wilson said. “He did clip a heel. But I doubt that was the whole reason. Everything else checked out good. We’re just assuming he’s telling us he is done. The indication was that he didn’t want to do it.”

Wilson defended his decision to run the horse, who won the GI Carter H. in 2017.

“I have no regrets,” he said. “I’m not about to go around second-guessing myself. I made the decision and I have to live with it. I was expecting better. He was enjoying training but looked like he didn’t enjoy racing. Training and racing are two different things.”

Wilson said Green Gratto will return to his farm in Ocala, Florida and has promised that that will be his permanent home.

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5 Sophomore Fillies Set To Take On Gamine In Test

Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine headlines a field of six in Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Longines Test, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The Longines Test is one of three Grade 1 events on Saturday's 12-race Runhappy Travers Day card, headlined by the “Mid-Summer Derby” at 1 1/4 miles for the country's most talented 3-year-olds and the $300,000 Ballerina presented by NYRA Bets for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going seven furlongs offering a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

The card is bolstered by the Grade 3, $200,000 Troy, a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint for older males, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Waya, a 1 ½-mile turf route for older fillies and mares. The card will be broadcast on Saratoga Live on FOX Sports and MSG Networks.

Gamine, an Into Mischief bay trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, has crossed the wire first in all three career starts, winning her March debut at Santa Anita by 6 1/4-lengths when sprinting 6 1/2-furlongs. In May, she edged Speech, who two starts later captured the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland, in an optional-claiming sprint at Oaklawn where she was subsequently disqualified from purse money.

Last out, the $1.8 million Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale purchase annexed a field of seven in the Grade 1 Longines Acorn by 18 3/4-lengths on June 20 at Belmont Park.

Gamine led the seven-horse field wire-to-wire, completing the course in 1:32.55, marking the fastest of 90 editions of the Acorn and just missed Najran's track record of 1:32.24 set in May 2003.

Baffert said Gamine, who breezed six furlongs in 1:12.80 in company with Eclair on Sunday at Del Mar, is coming into Saturday's test in good order as she marches a path toward the nine-furlong Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on September 4 at Churchill Downs.

“She looks great. We're keeping her one turn,” said Baffert. “I would have liked to stretch her out one more time, but the timing wasn't just right for it, but she's doing really well. She's a really exciting filly, so hopefully she runs as well as in the past and then we can run her in the Kentucky Oaks.”

Bred in Kentucky by Grace Thoroughbred Holdings, Gamine is out of the Kafwain mare Peggy Jane and will be piloted by Hall of Famer John Velazquez from post 5.

Tracy Farmer's Grade 1-winner Perfect Alibi, trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, owns a perfect record from two starts at the Spa. The dark bay daughter of Sky Mesa, bred in Kentucky by Pin Oak Stud, graduated by 9 1/2-lengths at first asking in May 2019 in a Churchill Downs maiden sprint.

Following a runner-up effort in the Astoria in June 2019 at Belmont, she shipped upstate to Saratoga and rallied to smart scores in the Grade 2 Adirondack and Grade 1 Spinaway.

She completed a productive 2-year-old campaign with a second in the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades at Keeneland and a closing fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita.

After opening her sophomore season with a distant fifth in the Longines Acorn, Perfect Alibi will look to get back on track after a distant fifth in the Acorn.

“It was such a crazy race and the one filly [Gamine] was so awesome, it's hard to say what happened,” said Casse of the Acorn effort. “She was coming back off a long layoff and it wasn't an ideal spot, but it was the best spot that was out there for her and it just didn't work out.”

Perfect Alibi has worked four times since the Acorn, including a half-mile breeze from the gate in 49.44 on July 26 and a swift four furlongs in 48.63 on Sunday both at Saratoga. Casse said he is hoping to motivate the filly for a sharper performance on Saturday.

“She's not a very good work horse, which also made it difficult coming off the long layoff,” said Casse. “Some horses are easier to get ready than others. We gave her the gate work to get her excited and I thought her last work was very good.”

With a perfect 2-for-2 record at Saratoga, Casse said he is hoping a return to the Spa will be beneficial.

“I'm not sure what to expect this weekend, but the good thing is that she has shown she likes Saratoga,” said Casse. “I'm hoping being at Saratoga will push her along and help her run a little better. We thought about finding an easier spot, but we know much she likes it there.”

Tyler Gaffalione has the call from post 2.

Ciaglia Racing, Highland Yard, River Oak Farm and Dominic Savides' Venetian Harbor, a sophomore daughter of Munnings bred in Kentucky by Colts Neck Stables, completed the exacta behind Speech last out on July 11 in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland.

Trained by Richard Baltas, the pacey filly romped at second asking by 10 3/4-lengths on December 29 at Santa Anita in a 6 ½-furlong maiden sprint and followed up with a frontrunning 9 1/4-length score in the one-mile Grade 2 Las Virgenes at Santa Anita in February to kick off her 3-year-old campaign.

Venetian Harbor stretched out to 1 1/16-miles when second behind Swiss Skydiver in the Grade 3 Fantasy at Oaklawn July 11 ahead of the Ashland and will return to sprinting on Saturday.

A $110,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Venetian Harbor shipped in under the care of assistant trainer Aimee Dollase at Saratoga on Tuesday.

“She traveled well yesterday and ate up well last night. We jogged her this morning and she seems pretty comfortable,” said Dollase. “We'll gallop her again on Thursday and go to the gate on Friday.

“She's settled in really well and she's a smart filly,” added Dollase. “She's very well-balanced. She's a nice filly with a good mind and she tries hard.”

Dollase, who traveled with the filly to Oaklawn and Keeneland, said Venetian Harbor should appreciate a turnback in distance after her route efforts.

“At some point, she could get the [route] distance with the right scenario,” said Dollase. “She trained well into those races. She set a quick pace in the Fantasy but the other filly, Swiss Skydiver, is obviously a very good filly and she just ran her down in the last part.

“She ran a big race in the Ashland, as well. She set a nice pace but Speech is coming into her own,” continued Dollase. “She's been beaten by two very good fillies going long, which is probably more what those fillies wanted to do, so we'll see how she runs here with a cutback in distance.”

Joel Rosario, aboard for the maiden score, has the call from post 6.

“Joel rides her well and has a lot of confidence in her. It's always good to have someone on who knows her well. He's the ultimate professional,” said Dollase.

Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Wicked Whisper, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, sprinted to a memorable first-out graduation last August going six furlongs at Saratoga before stretching out to a one-turn mile to win the Grade 1 Frizette over Frank's Rockette.

The Liam's Map chestnut, a $500,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, completed her 2-year-old campaign with a fifth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and made her seasonal debut on July 10 with a fourth in the Grade 3 Beaumont traveling seven furlongs on the Keeneland main. Ricardo Santana, Jr., aboard for the maiden voyage, returns to the irons from post 4.

Black Type Thoroughbreds and R.A. Hill Stable's Florida-bred Up in Smoke has won 4-of-6 starts, but arrives at the Test looking for her first win outside of Gulfstream Park.

Trained by George Weaver, the grey daughter of The Big Beast bested fellow Florida-breds in her first two starts, both at six furlongs at the Hallandale Beach oval, including a rallying four-length score in an optional-claimer on March 5.

Following an open-company optional-claiming win in April at six furlongs, Up in Smoke stretched out to 1 1/16-miles for the Hollywood Wildcat on May 15 and finished fourth. Up in Smoke returned to sprinting in the 6 1/2-furlong Game Face on June 6 and bested Boerne, who exited that effort to win the Azalea at Gulfstream.

Last out, in her first start outside of Gulfstream Park, Up in Smoke finished an even fourth in the Grade 3 Victory Ride at 6 1/2-furlongs on July 4 at Belmont Park.

Up in Smoke has breezed twice at Saratoga since the Victory Ride, including a five-eighths effort in 1:02.12 on the main track on July 3.

Luis Saez has the call from the inside post.

Rounding out the field is Allen Stable's Mrs. Danvers, a homebred daughter of Tapit out of the Awesome Again mare Gracie Square.

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, who won the Test with Lass Trump [1983] and Versailles Treaty [1991], Mrs. Danvers graduated at second asking last August at Saratoga in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden sprint.

The late-running grey has finished second in a pair of allowance efforts at Belmont to start her sophomore season. On June 20, traveling 6 1/2-furlongs, she finished 2 3/4-lengths back of Indian Pride, who exited that effort to the win the Shine Again impressively at the Spa on July 17. Last out, traveling a one-turn mile on July 9, Mrs. Danvers lunged at the start before rallying from last-of-6 to complete the exacta, four lengths back of undefeated Grand Cru Classe. Jose Ortiz, who won the Test with American Gal [2017] and Separationofpowers [2018], retains the mount from post 3.

The Grade 1 Longines Test is slated as Race 10 on Saturday's 12-race card, which offers a first post of 12 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the 40-day summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com

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