Tag: Racing

Gate-To-Wire Wilton Victory Could Put Randomized On Path To Grade 1 Test

Klaravich Stables' Randomized scored a commanding gate-to-wire triumph in Friday's second running of the $135,000 Wilton at Saratoga Race Course.

The Nyquist bay made amends for a disappointing stakes debut last out when sixth in the Grade 1 Acorn on June 9 at Belmont Park by posting a sharp score in the one-mile Wilton which was contested out of the Wilson Chute and restricted to sophomore fillies which have never won a sweepstakes other than state-bred.

Randomized made every pole a winning one to break her maiden two starts back going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct. After being unable to flaunt frontrunning tactics in the Acorn, where she finished 11 1/2 lengths behind the victorious Pretty Mischievous, she was able to regain her pacesetting form and fend off a late rally from Just Katherine to win by 1 1/2 lengths for trainer Chad Brown.

Breaking from the outermost post 4 under Irad Ortiz, Jr., Randomized cleared the field and was in front exiting the chute, leading Unsung Melody by 1 1/2 lengths through an opening-quarter mile in 24.18 seconds over the fast main track. Stablemate Accede and Just Katherine took up the rear of the compact field.

Around the far turn through a half-mile in 47.49, Unsung Melody tried launching a bid with Luis Saez going to the right hand aboard his charge. Ortiz, Jr. still sat calm aboard Randomized and did not began asking his charge until upper stretch through three-quarters in 1:11.27. Just Katherine began making up ground towards the rail, but Ortiz, Jr. took a peek back and implored Randomized for more. Just Katherine, with Hall of Famer Javier Castellano up, switched leads to pursue an outside rally, but Randomized kept her foe at bay to win in a final time of 1:35.83.

Just Katherine finished 10 lengths ahead of Unsung Melody with Accede completing the order of finish. Sacred Wish was scratched and will point to next Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.

Ortiz, Jr. said he intended to be on the lead with his eye on Unsung Melody, who was stretching out in distance.

“That was my goal to be on the lead without using too much, but I realized the other filly had showed speed before, she came from six furlongs,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “I had that in mind, but if my filly helped me and break the way she break, I will go for it. And then if he goes, I'll sit second, but we are so good, we are better than the other one and I was able to clear. It was perfect.”

Brown said he was happy with Ortiz, Jr.'s well-executed ride.

“I gave the option [of going to the lead] for him. It looked like there was a speed horse on the inside, so I told Irad just to break and just see what happens inside,” Brown said. “He told me, 'in that first turn, it looked like I had an easy lead, so I just went for it.' When she broke her maiden impressively two back, she was on the lead. So, it might prove to be that she's happiest there.”

Brown has opened the possibility of targeting the Grade 1, $500,000 Test going seven furlongs on August 5 at Saratoga, a race he previously won with Klaravich Stables' Separationofpowers in 2018.

“You'd think a cut back [would suit]. It's a pretty good group this year. It's shaping up to be a really fast race. She might have to put her hat in the ring for that race. I think it would make sense,” Brown said. “For this filly that we had high hopes for – we ran her in a Grade 1 last time and she didn't run well – for her to get back into form and have a nice, impressive win in a listed stake here, it's time maybe for her to go back up in class and run in a better race next time.”

Despite another distant effort, Brown's confidence in Accede, third in the Grade 2 Eight Belles in May at Churchill Downs, has not wavered.

“She ran so well at Churchill and now two times in a row, she's had disappointing results. I think she'll be a fine horse. I just have to go back to the drawing board with her,” Brown said.

Randomized returned $4.60 for a $2 win wager and banked $74,250 in victory which enhanced her lifetime earnings past the six-figure mark to $135,850.

Randomized is out of the Elusive Quality mare French Passport, who is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winning millionaire Smooth Air. She was bought for $420,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Live racing continues Saturday with an 11-race card, featuring the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana in Race 4 [2:46 p.m. Eastern], the Grade 3, $175,000 Kelso in Race 9 [5:45 p.m.] and the Grade 3, $175,000 Sanford in Race 10 [6:19 p.m.]. First post is 1:10 p.m.

Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

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Nashwa ‘Powerful’ In The Rain To Land Friday’s Falmouth Stakes

Last year's heroine, Nashwa, is back winning on the Group 1 stage after a storming performance to land the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket on Friday in the driving rain, after a fine ride from Hollie Doyle who was winning her seventh Group 1 in the saddle.

Persistent rain deemed to give the advantage to George Boughey's Via Sistina who went off at evens, but John & Thady Gosden's 4-year-old Nashwa proved too strong. Doyle kept her mount towards the rear of the field and as the pace quickened with Remarquee hitting the front, Hollie and Nashwa found a gap to put the race to bed in a matter of strides.

The devastating turn of pace showed huge potential as she looks to defend her Nassau crown next week.

Gosden senior said: “She has had a difficult spring. She didn't come to herself, but went over to France and it helped her by going there.

“This filly needs to race and so I phoned up Teddy (Grimthorpe), and Mr Imad Al Sagar was brilliant. I said I'd like to supplement this filly and he said, 'you believe that's right', and I said 'yes'. So he said, 'do it'. He is very trusting.

“The mile was no problem – she is a powerful filly with speed and it will set her up nicely for the Nassau, but it just happens to be a lovely Group One on the way.”

Doyle and Nashwa recorded back-to-back Group 1 wins last year in the Prix de Diane and Qatar Nassau Stakes, before a second placed effort in the Prix de l'Opera. Their return in 2023 had yet to go to plan following odds-on defeats in France and Newcastle, but her year looks just to have started.

The Qatar Nassau Stakes takes place at Goodwood next month, and Nashwa may take aim at the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day in October.

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Becky’s Joker ‘Towers Over Everybody’: 16.3 Juvenile Filly Will Progress To Spinaway

Trainer Gary Contessa was still watching replays on Friday morning of Lee Pokoik's Becky's Joker, who launched what appears to be a promising career with a debut victory in the Grade 3, $175,000 Schuylerville on Opening Day at Saratoga Race Course.

Becky's Joker, a daughter of third-crop sire Practical Joke, entered the six-furlong Schuylerville off nothing more than a Saratoga work tab, breezing a sharp three furlongs in 34.88 seconds over the main track en route to Thursday's score.

Despite breaking slow, she recovered quickly and was a close fourth by the first point of call before splitting foes in upper stretch to draw away to a 3 1/4-length score to spring a 21-1 upset as the second longest shot in the seven-horse field. The effort garnered a 75 Beyer Speed Figure.

The sizable bay stands 16.3 hands high and, “towers over everybody” in the barn according to Contessa, who confirmed the filly for the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway on September 3 at the Spa.

“She came back sound and they tell me she looked great this morning,” said Contessa, who was catching a flight to Nashville to watch his son's baseball tournament. “She honestly can only get better. She's got a lot more left in the tank, so we're looking forward to seeing what she can come up with next. As big as she is, and as big as her stride is, she's going to get better as the distances stretch out. I think seven-eighths is going to hit her right between the eyeballs in the Spinaway.”

Contessa commented on the soundness and the good mind of his newly minted graded stakes winner.

“Knock on wood, she's been very, very sound and very healthy. Everything has gone our way so far, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that it continues,” Contessa said. “She's trained as well as any horse I've ever had as a 2-year-old. No matter what you ask her to do, she's push button and picks it up to another gear. Her mind is so good. She had it figured out and she's really a smart filly.”

Contessa's last graded stakes victory before the Schuylerville took place with Pokoik's Sippican Harbor, who pulled a 16-1 upset in the 2018 Grade 1 Spinaway.

Both Becky's Joker and Sippican Harbor were initially slated to be pinhooked before their racing careers, but ended up not being sold at public auction.

“With Lee Pokoik, we have a program where we buy well-bred fillies as weanlings and then we try to resell them as yearlings. This year, we sold an American Pharoah filly that we paid $200,000 for and sold her for $475,000. We sell them for profit, but they don't all get sold,” Contessa said. “We bought her and Sippican Harbor, tried to resell them. We just couldn't get them sold. Then, I won a Grade 1 with Sippican Harbor. I only get them to train if we don't get them sold. That's the game plan, but so far it's been very successful with the ones that we haven't been able to sell. They've turned out to be some of our best ones.”

For the past couple of years, Contessa has worked as private trainer and general manager for Nick Beaver's Belle Gable Stable.

“I had a two-year contract and I sat down with Nick and I told him that we could reduce our overhead by 25-35 percent if we just gave his horses to a public trainer and that's what we did. We gave his horses to Rick Sillaman, who has a public stable at Laurel and Delaware,” Contessa said. “A bunch of my owners asked me if I would come back and train their young horses, which is really my specialty.”

One can expect Contessa, who has 10 stalls on Saratoga's Oklahoma backstretch, to unleash more promising young talent throughout the meet.

“All these babies are ready to run, so we're going to have a real presence,” Contessa said. “This was a great win to start with and we have even more pretty nice horses awaiting their turn.”

Contessa added that he could have stalls at Belmont Park later this year.

“I'm sure I will, but I'm going to stay at Saratoga until the very end,” Contessa said.

Bred in Kentucky by Warren J. Harang, Becky's Joker is out of the Elusive Quality mare Becky's Best – a half-sister to graded stakes winner Vertical Oak- the dam of graded stakes-placed sophomore Giant Mischief.

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‘He Knows Where The Wire Is’: Forte Records First Saratoga Breeze In Preparation For July 29 Jim Dandy

Reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Forte logged his first breeze of the summer at Saratoga Race Course when covering a half-mile in 48.90 seconds over the Oklahoma dirt training track Friday with regular jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. up for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The son of Violence went in company with graded stakes-winner Grand Sonata in preparation for the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy on July 29 at the Spa.

“He jumped on the bridle a little early, so I kind of took a little hold away from the horse,” said Ortiz, Jr. “I allowed him to see the company and go after him. He did.”

Pletcher said he was pleased with the work, which he moved to the training track after heavy rains overnight led to the main track being sealed this morning.

“We fortunately had the option of coming over here on a harrowed track,” said Pletcher. “I thought he worked well. He's a pretty straightforward horse and he does what you ask him to do. I thought he was moving really well and he seemed happy. He usually sits a little off [his workmate] to keep him focused.”

Ortiz, Jr., who regularly works the colt, said Forte was as professional as usual.

“We went 48 and change. On this kind of track, it is really good,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “He is doing good. He looked good, he looked happy, so let's see what happens. The way he does things [excites me]. He knows where the wire is. He loves to win. You can see in the Belmont Stakes, I kept trying with him and he kept coming. He's a fighter.”

Forte, owned by St. Elias Stable and Repole Stable, recorded his second work since running a closing second in the 12-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, adding to a half-mile drill in 50.80 he posted on July 7 over the Belmont dirt training track.

“He's obviously a very fit horse and he just ran a mile and a half, so we don't feel like we have to do a lot with him leading up to this race,” Pletcher said. “We'll probably come back with another maintenance work next week.”

Forte had a five-race win streak snapped in the Belmont after beginning his sophomore season with wins in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 1 Florida Derby, both at Gulfstream Park. The Jim Dandy is likely to serve as a springboard to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 26, a race Pletcher said would be meaningful to win after Forte was forced to scratch from the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby due to a bruised foot.

“I think you can see he's a little more laid back. He's an intelligent colt and takes everything in stride, and you can see he's matured that way,” said Pletcher. “Obviously it was a frustrating spring and he ran terrific in the Belmont considering what he was up against. To me, he's a deserving divisional leader, but like everyone else, he's got to continue to win to hold that spot.”

Pletcher also provided an update on 2-year-old filly Wine On Tap, who finished an even fourth in Thursday's Grade 3 Schuylerville as the post-time favorite. The daughter of Tapit raced a half-length off the pace through the first quarter mile under Ortiz, Jr., but backpedaled into the turn and was defeated 6 3/4 lengths by the victorious first-time starter Becky's Joker.

“She looks good. She was just kind of one-paced down the lane and I thought she recovered and galloped out really well,” said Pletcher. “She is a filly that we've always thought would be better going longer. It was just a little disappointing that she didn't finish up a little better than she did yesterday, but she came back well and looked good this morning.”

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