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Luis Saez Nearing Return

Injured an in Aug. 23 spill at Saratoga in the John's Call S. in which he fractured left wrist and dislocated his right collar bone, jockey Luis Saez has made rapid progress and will be ready to ride on opening day of the Keeneland fall meet on Oct. 6, reports his agent Kiaran McLaughlin.

“He's doing real well,” McLaughlin said. “There's no pain and he's doing physical therapy. He will be X-rayed in a few days. He'll be back for sure for beginning of Keeneland, if not a week before. He might ride a couple in Florida because he's down there.”

With 30 winners already at the meet, Saez was injured just three days before he was to ride GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Travers S. Saez was taken by ambulance to Albany Medical Center. According to McLaughlin, the doctors there told him he would not need surgery. The next day, Saez went to the Bone & Joint Center in Saratoga for a second opinion and was advised to have surgery.

“The night we went to the Albany Medical Center, three doctors were there and they told me surgery was not required,” McLaughlin said. “They said he had a hairline fracture that would heal in a few weeks and his collarbone will go back in place. It was dislocated but will settle back down. That's when I told people he didn't need surgery. The next morning we went to the Bone & and Joint Center at Saratoga and they said that he was a professional athlete and, therefore, they decided to put a little screw in his wrist and button back his collar bone to put it back in place. They put a button on top and on the bottom. All three things stayed there. They'll never come out.”

Original estimates were that he would be out three to five weeks.

During his downtime, Saez spent time at his home in Florida with his family.

“His mental outlook has been great,” he said. “He's at home with his wife and three daughters and he loves that, loves being with them.”

Saez won last year's Keeneland fall meet by a 21-20 margin over Tyler Gaffalione. McLaughlin is optimistic that his client will have another big meet.

“He's in good shape,” McLaughlin said. “His weight is good. He's very strong. Everything has gone well so far. Can we pick up where we left off? A lot of that falls on the agent. Hopefully, we will have some nice mounts starting back and good support from the people in Kentucky. We already have some stakes mounts.”

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The Week in Review: No Plan? No Problem for Castellano in Travers

After getting brushed and shuffled in the early stages of Saturday's GI Travers S. while losing momentum and position, Javier Castellano decided to wing his trip aboard 2.7-1 second choice Arcangelo (Arrogate). He would later explain with a laugh–in the way that only winning jockeys can find humor when their riding tactics go off-kilter–that “it seemed to me that everybody had a plan, except myself.”

Sometimes no plan ends up being the best plan, as demonstrated by Arcangelo's artful dissection of a “loaded” Midsummer Derby that brought together not only the winners of this year's three Triple Crown races, but also the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion colt from last season.

Yet while Arcangelo's team–owner Blue Rose Farm, trainer Jena Antonucci, and the now seven-time winning Travers jockey Castellano–deservedly basked in the glory of the colt's well-improvised, 105 Beyer Speed Figure score that came 11 weeks after a 7-1 upset of the GI Belmont S., the connections of the high-profile Travers also-rans might have been rightfully questioning how their own pre-race strategies also seemed to disintegrate shortly after the starter sprung the latch for Saratoga's annual showcase race.

Take 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), for example. The reigning 2-year-old champ and winner of three of five graded stakes at age three was favored to win the Travers at 1.75-1 odds. But I wouldn't bet that too many people expected him to outbreak the field, especially considering he was fractious in the gate from post one and that he had never led at the first call in any of his previous nine races. Yet he popped out on top and spearheaded the pack for the first 100 yards before jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. decided he wanted Forte back in his comfort zone of targeting pacemakers and not being one himself.

At the same time, GI Kentucky Derby upsetter Mage (Good Magic) also broke with more early energy than usual, leaving Flavien Prat with an unexpectedly hard-to-handle, keyed-up colt as the field scrambled for position into the clubhouse turn.

With both Ortiz and Prat committed to conceding their positions in efforts to get their colts to settle, Castellano had to adjust his own rhythm and cadence in their wake, dropping back to fifth while securing a rail spot for Arcangelo.

The two colts who projected to be the main speeds on paper–the GI Preakness S. wire-to-wire victor National Treasure (Quality Road) and the all-the-way Curlin S. winner Scotland (Good Magic)–then came around Forte and Mage while Arcangelo, taking the shortest route at the fence, edged up into second.

Onto the backstretch, the Travers pack sorted itself into a more logical procession after opening quarter-mile splits of :23.46 and :24.54.

But then the 12-1 'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit) surged up with an early bid for third behind Scotland and National Treasure, and these tactics, too, were out of the ordinary for a colt who has historically lagged and had to be scrubbed on in the early stages.

But on Saturday, Tapit Trice was newly adorned with blinkers for the first time in a race, and jockey Jose Ortiz had already started nudging him for run at the mile pole to see if the equipment change would produce a prolonged bid that would be able to sustain giving up five paths of real estate through the initial turn.

By the time the field crested the half-mile marker through a third-quarter split in a speeded-up :23.63, the body language of the contenders was telling: Scotland was all-out under pressure, with National Treasure being pushed along but not making headway while three-quarters of a length behind. Tapit Trice continued his wide journey three deep through the second turn, while Arcangelo fluidly clicked into a higher cruising gear, with Castellano tipping him out to the four path and appearing primed to pounce turning for home.

Forte at this point was rallying admirably considering his dire, self-inflicted circumstances, but the favorite's wide move from last under Irad Ortiz was accompanied by a whiff of too-little-too-late desperation. The punchless Mage dropped back to trail the field and was not hammered on for run by Prat when it was evident he was in no way in it to win it.

Banking off the bend through a fourth-quarter split in :24.65, Arcangelo drew abreast with what had essentially been a six-furlong middle move by Tapit Trice and the stubbornly staying-on Scotland.

Castellano gave one cursory look over his right shoulder to size up the threat from Forte, and he saw enough to know he wouldn't have to glance back in that direction again while hustling his colt with a vigorous hand ride in upper stretch.

Three-sixteenths out, Arcangelo put away both pacemakers, then braced for a fresh challenge from the late-striding Disarm (Gun Runner). A bit of judicious right-handed stick work outside the eighth pole elicited just enough torque from Arcangelo to keep Disarm at bay, with the final margin between them a length at the wire and Tapit Trice 2 1/2 lengths farther back in third.

In order, Forte, National Treasure, Scotland and Mage rounded out the finish.

Although Arcangelo's winning Beyer represents a three-point bump over his 102 for the Belmont S. and continues the colt's upward arc of always running a faster figure than his previous race over six lifetime starts, his final time of 2:02.23 for 10 furlongs was the slowest winning time for the Travers since V.E. Day stopped the timer in 2:02.98 back in 2014.

Arcangelo also made his winning move through a final quarter- mile clocked in :25.85, which is the slowest final split for the Travers since Keen Ice required :26.49 to upset American Pharoah in the 2015 edition.

Your Travers takeaway will depend upon how much emphasis you put on each of the above-mentioned factors.

On one hand, the winner looked visually impressive, and resonates as a colt who doesn't need to have everything go his own way to run his “A” race.

Arcangelo's speed figure came back more than respectable, but when the raw times get compared to the race's recent history, they're only so-so.

You also have to factor in that the next time Arcangelo meets Grade I competition, three of his main contenders are probably not going to suffer the disadvantageous types of trips that skewed the efforts of Forte, Mage, and (to a lesser degree) Tapit Trice.

On Sunday, the connections of the Travers top four reported all colts emerged from the race in decent shape. Mage's team posted on Twitter that he was doing well after “a bad day at the office.”

Antonucci was non-committal about a next start for Arcangelo. The GI Breeders' Cup Classic, though, would afford the same 11-week spacing as the colt's wins between the Belmont S. and the Travers.

That time frame would also match the same 11 weeks that Arcangelo's sire utilized when he won the Travers and the Classic in succession in 2016.

And let's not forget that Arrogate then parlayed those emphatic wins at age three into a sweep of the GI Pegasus World Cup and G1 Dubai World Cup early in his 4-year-old season.

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Mage’s Dam Puca and GISW Dalika to Keeneland November; Both Offered by Case Clay

Puca (Big Brown–Boat's Ghost, by Silver Ghost), the dam of GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), will be among the lots at the upcoming Keeneland November sale in an exclusive two-mare initial consignment offered by Case Clay's Case Clay Thoroughbred Management. The other mare in Clay's consignment will be 2022 GI Beverly D. S. winner Dalika (Ger) (Pastorius {Ger}–Drawn To Run {Ire}, by Hurricane Run {Ire}).

Puca is carrying a full-sibling to Mage, who has also placed in the GI Preakness S., GI Florida Derby and GI Haskell Invitational S. from six career starts and is scheduled to go postward in Saturday's GI Travers S. Puca's first foal is MSP Gunning (Gun Runner), while she also has a 2-year-old full-brother to Mage named Dornoch, who is entered in Monmouth Park's Sapling S. Saturday.

Dalika, who won races from 5 1/2 to 11 furlongs, is carrying her first foal to the cover of 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline (Tapit). In addition to her Beverly D. win, in which she set a new course record at Churchill Downs of 1:46.31 for the nine furlongs, Dalika won an additional three graded stakes, including the 2022 GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf S., the 2022 GIII Cardinal S., and the 2021 GIII Robert G. Dick Memorial S. She won 10 races in three countries for earnings of $1.465 million and also set a course record at Kentucky Downs for one mile and 70 yards in 1:37.45.

“It's an honor to bring Puca and Dalika to the market and to be associated with such quality mares and quality pregnancies,” said Clay. “I am associated with these two particular mares already, so it's a natural extension of my business in an area in which I have been lucky enough to have experience in selling top mares. I'm looking forward to showing them to potential buyers in November.”

Both Puca and Dalika are part of Keeneland's Book 1 and are scheduled to go through Keeneland's ring Wednesday, Nov. 8.

“Keeneland is excited that Case has chosen us to offer these two exceptional broodmares in Book 1 of the November Breeding Stock Sale–and mark the debut of Case Clay Thoroughbred Management,” said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. “While at Three Chimneys Farm, when it was owned by his family, Case oversaw the sale of a large number of million-dollar-plus broodmares over many years, including the great Take Charge Lady here at Keeneland in 2004. Along with this experience at the top end, he has an extraordinary number of connections and relationships with domestic and international buyers.”

“It's really just a vertical integration to my business for my clients, in an area in which I am lucky enough to have a lot of experience, as Three Chimneys used to consign a lot of mares when I was there full-time,” Clay said. “It is similar to my equine insurance business, which began during Covid, when one of my clients asked how he should insure his filly. There wasn't a lot going on at the time, so I got my license.”

Harkening back to his days at Three Chimneys, Clay amassed quite a record selling million-dollar-plus mares to the top players in the business. He said he has no plans to expand into the yearling consignment business.

“The November Sales were my favorite, since they follow the Breeders' Cup and everyone is in good spirits,” Clay said. “Selling high-quality fillies and mares is always a charge.”

The November Breeding Stock Sale catalogue will be released online Tuesday, Oct. 3.

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Stars Come Out To Play on Travers Day

It's a bit of Christmas in August Saturday at venerable Saratoga Race Course, which plays host to no fewer than five Grade I events for horses of all ages–on dirt and on turf–topped by the main event on the summer calendar, the $1.25-million GI Travers S. While the fields are short on numbers, they are long on quality, as three of the races have attracted reigning Eclipse Award winners, none of whom are anything close to a cinch in their respective heats.

Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) has had a tumultuous first two-thirds of the season but has his chance to put it all behind him on Saturday. Having defeated future GI Kentucky Derby hero Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Apr. 1, the $110,000 Keeneland September bargain was famously withdrawn on the eve of the Run for the Roses–for which he was likely to start favorite–and was first off a 71-day absence in the GI Belmont S. June 10. A highly creditable second to the race-fit Arcangelo (Arrogate), the dark bay exits a rough-and-tumble nose victory after surviving a lengthy inquiry in the GII Jim Dandy S. July 29. But here he is, a golden opportunity to cement his spot at the head of this year's sophomore class straight ahead.

“You're never going to make up for not getting to run in the Kentucky Derby,” Todd Pletcher told TDN's Mike Kane at Tuesday's draw. “But it would be, I suppose, some sort of consolation prize if we were able to win the Travers against the three Classic winners.”

Pletcher has been twice successful in the Travers, most recently with Belmont runner-up Stay Thirsty (Bernardini) in 2011.

The third of the Classic winners to whom Pletcher refers is National Treasure (Quality Road), who outlasted Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) and Mage to win the GI Preakness S. The $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad set a moderate pace when last seen in the Belmont, but gave way readily in the stretch to finish sixth. He looms part of the early pace equation with the outposted Curlin S. hero Scotland (Good Magic) and leaves from gate five with John Velazquez calling the shots. Blinkers come off for the Travers.

“I just got a text from Bob [Baffert] and he loves the post. I don't disagree with Bob too many times,” said Starlight Racing's Jack Wolf. “If he wants to take the blinkers off or put triple blinkers on, that's fine with me.”

Mage, who looks to become the first Derby winner to double up in the Travers since Street Sense in 2007, passed the Belmont and reportedly was underdone when nearly overcoming a wide trip to drop a narrow decision to Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. five weeks ago. Flavien Prat has been named to replace the injured Luis Saez.

Baffert was deep into his Hall of Fame career when sending out Arrogate to that stunning victory in the 2016 Travers, and the late stallion has a chance to join the fellow Travers winners Easy Goer, Birdstone and Bernardini as sires to account for a Travers winner of their own. Arcangelo's rise has been meteoric, as he progressed from a third-out graduation to victory in the GIII Peter Pan S. and an historic Belmont S. score for trainer Jena Antonucci. He makes his first start in 77 days Saturday, but that is of little concern to his connections.

“He's grown up so much and has gotten stronger and more professional over this little bit of a breather we gave him,” Antonucci said. “We're so thrilled to be here and blessed to do this. To have the opportunity to be here at this stage is amazing.”

Winchell Thoroughbreds looks to become the first owner since Ogden Phipps in 1989 and 1990 to score consecutive Travers wins. Disarm (Gun Runner), whose boom sire was a distant third to Arrogate seven years ago, was a troubled fourth in the Derby and won the GIII Matt Winn S. at Ellis June 11, but was a bit one-paced when fourth in the Jim Dandy. To that end, trainer Steve Asmussen tweaks the colt's equipment this weekend.

“We need to find more,” he said of the decision to add blinkers. “We aren't satisfied with the results of his last race and I think he's capable of more. This is our first step in trying to pull it out of him.”

'TDN Rising Star' and GI Toyota Blue Grass S. hero Tapit Trice (Tapit) tries to give his all-conquering stallion a second Travers winner in three years. Seventh in the Derby and third in the Belmont, he'll need to improve many lengths off his latest fifth in the Haskell.

Plenty Of Talent On the Travers Undercard

The elite-level action kicks off with the GI Forego S., a five-horse affair that shapes more like a match race. Juddmonte's Eclipse-champion sprinter Elite Power (Curlin) has very much lived up to his name and carries an eight-race winning streak into the seven-furlong test. To make it nine on the trot, he'll have to once again run down Gunite (Gun Runner), who appeared every ounce a winner in a sloppy renewal of the GI A. G. Vanderbilt H. July 29, only to be run down in the last couple of jumps. The latter was in receipt of just two pounds last month in the handicap, but is critically four pounds better off this time around (124-118).

Elite Power and Gunite threw down in the Vanderbilt | Sarah Andrew

Whereas the two older sprinters should boss the Forego, the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. looms a much more competitive affair, where a case could be made for at least five of the six entrants.

David Aragona has tabbed 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify) as the 2-1 favorite on the morning line off his victory in the GI Woody Stephens S. downstate June 10, but so open is the Jerkens that Drew's Gold (Violence,) who endured his first career defeat that day, is the 12-1 outsider. New York Thunder (Nyquist) turned in a Shancelot-esque effort in winning the GII Amsterdam S. by 7 1/2 lengths July 28 to remain unbeaten in four starts, while Fort Bragg (Tapit) drops back in trip off a nose success over subsequent Jim Dandy runner-up Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) in the GIII Dwyer S. July 1. Even Verifying (Justify) cannot be ruled out, as tries a sprint trip for the first time since debuting victoriously here over six furlongs 366 days ago. The half-brother to Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) gutted it out in the GIII Indiana Derby July 8.

A pair of former champions lock horns in the GI Ballerina S., a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in early November.

Goodnight Olive (Ghostapper) was making her graded stakes debut in last year's Ballerina and went on to best Caramel Swirl (Street Sense) by 2 3/4-lengths en route to a victory by a similar margin over champion 'Rising Star' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) in the Filly & Mare Sprint. Easy winner of the GI Madison S. on seasonal debut in April, the dark bay was an unlucky third behind Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GI Derby City Distaff May 6 and just managed to stave off Wicked Halo (Gun Runner) in the GII Bed O'Roses S. June 17. The latter would go on to frank the form in the July 23 Twin Bridges S. at Ellis.

Echo Zulu is perfect in her two runs this season at four, a 5 3/4-length tally in the May 29 GIII Winning Colors S. followed by a 7 1/4-thumping of Dr B (Liam's Map) in the GII Honorable Miss H. here July 26.

The GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer S. offers a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Turf and, really, what's not to admire about the evergreen Channel Maker (English Channel)? A winner of nearly $3.9 million in a career spanning 54 starts to date, horse racing's version of Cal Ripken, Jr. makes a mind-boggling sixth consecutive appearance in the Sword Dancer, including a front-running 5 3/4-length score in a soft-turf renewal in 2020. The chestnut doesn't appear to be slowing down either, as he exits a two-length defeat of Verstappen (War Front) in the GII Bowling Green S. July 30, a race marred when favored Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) clipped heels and fell.

Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Westerberg's Stone Age (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) was a one-paced third in last year's GI Saratoga Derby and now calls New York home for trainer Chad Brown. Runner-up to Rebel's Romance in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf, the dark bay was beaten a long way from home when last seen in the Listed HH The Amir Trophy in Qatar this past February.

Soldier Rising (GB) (Frankel {GB}) was beaten a length into third by then-stablemate Gufo (Declaration of War) in this event last year and was runner-up in the GI Man O'War S. and GI Manhattan S. this spring. He arguably took the worst of it in the Bowling Green and can rebound at a hint of a price here.

Breeders' Cup Berth Up For Grabs In Pat O'Brien

The seven-furlong GII Pat O'Brien S. offers its winner a spot in the field for the GI BigAss Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile up the road at Santa Anita and has drawn a field of 11 that lacks a true standout.

Though still eligible for a second-level allowance, Anarchist (Distorted Humor) was runner-up in the GIII San Simeon S. down the hill in Arcadia Mar. 5 and filled the same spot in the GIII Kona Gold S. on the dirt Apr. 22 before shipping into Woodbine to salute in the May 14 GIII Jacques Cartier S. Second to Elite Power in the GII True North S. June 10, he missed by a head to the outstanding Cal-bred The Chosen Vron (Vronsky) in the GI Bing Crosby S. July 29.

Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride) was a short-priced third in the San Simeon before validating 4-5 favoritism in the Kona Gold with a half-length defeat of Anarchist. The 6-year-old entire was a well-beaten third to The Chosen Vron in the state-bred Thor's Echo S. May 28 and cuts back to a sprint after rounding out the trifecta when trying to wire the field in the GII San Diego H. July 29.

A miniature version of Channel Maker, C Z Rocket (City Zip) tries the O'Brien for a fourth straight time at age nine. Victorious in 2020 when also second in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, he rounded out the exacta again in 2021, but was a slow-starting eighth last year. The bay ran on some to be fifth in the Crosby and gets blinkers back on Saturday.

The Estate of the late Jerry Moss is represented by the lightly raced homebred Sir Atticus (Gormley), winner of a 6 1/2-furlong allowance July 21 for which he earned a competitive 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

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