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Con Lima Box to Wire in Saratoga Oaks

Sunday, Saratoga
SARATOGA OAKS INVITATIONAL S.-GIII, $700,000, Saratoga, 8-8, 3yo, f, 1 3/16mT, 1:54.42, fm.
1–CON LIMA, 121, f, 3, by Commissioner
1st Dam: Second Street City (SW, $209,843), by Consolidator
2nd Dam: Trix City, by Carson City
3rd Dam: Always Nettie, by Vice Regent
($15,000 Wlg '18 KEENOV; $19,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP;
$22,000 RNA 2yo '20 OBSMAR). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred
Partners, Joseph F. Graffeo, Eric Nikolaus Del Toro & Troy
Johnson; B-Lisa Kuhlmann (TX); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Flavien
Prat. $375,000. Lifetime Record: 13-7-5-0, $884,865. Werk
Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross
pedigree.
2–Higher Truth (Ire), 121, f, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Wannabe Better
(Ire), by Duke of Marmalade (Ire). (500,000gns Ylg '19
TATOCT). O-Michael J. Ryan, Jeff Drown, & Team Hanley;
B-Churchtown House Stud (IRE); T-Chad C. Brown.
$130,000.
3–Creative Flair (Ire), 121, f, 3, Dubawi (Ire)–Hidden Gold
(Ire), by Shamardal. O/B-Godolphin, LLC (IRE); T-Charles
Appleby. $70,000.
Margins: 3/4, 1 1/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 3.05, 7.40, 3.20.
Also Ran: Plum Ali, Gam's Mission, Out of Sorts, Messidor (Ire), Rocky Sky (Ire).

Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Con Lima was afforded an easy lead under Flavien Prat, opened up in the stretch and held sway late to annex the GIII Saratoga Oaks Sunday at the Spa.

Originally just a $15,000 Keeneland November weanling buy, the dark bay was privately purchased out of a sharp main-track graduation for trainer Carlos David last July at Gulfstream and was runner-up in the off-turf P.G. Johnson S. and Our Dear Peg S. Scoring a wire-to-wire 5 1/4-length success in her grass bow Dec. 12 at Gulfstream, she repeated in the Ginger Brew S. and was second in the GIII Sweetest Chant S. before being elevated into a GIII Herecomesthebride S. victory via disqualification. Taking one more crack on dirt in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, she faded to fourth after setting a slow pace, her only finish out of the exacta thus far, but bounced back when returned to the lawn with triumphs in the Honey Ryder S. and GIII Wonder Again S.

Just run down late when second in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. last out, Con Lima was made a narrow favorite over Godolphin invader Creative Flair here and broke a bit outwardly. Easing her way to the front as no one else took the initiative, she clicked off comfortable fractions of :23.64, :50.02 and 1:14.34 with ears pricked. Turning aside a brief bid from Gam's Mission (Noble Mission {GB}) past the three-sixteenths pole, she skipped clear into the final furlong as Higher Truth came off the rail to take her shot. Jumping back to her left lead at the sixteenth marker, it briefly appeared that Con Lima was in danger, but Prat kept her to task to score by a fairly comfortable margin in the end.

“I was analyzing the race beforehand and we were the only speed but I wasn't 100% sure with a couple of the Euros if they would show some initiative,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher, capping off a weekend that started with his Hall of Fame induction. “I left it in Flavien's hands and Plan A was to break well and see if anybody would try to take the lead away from us and if they didn't, we'd be happy to have it. It worked out really well. He just gradually got up there instead of having to hustle her and use her. She relaxed really well. You could see when she turned up the backside and her ears were flicking back and forth that she was in a happy zone.”

“The speed was pretty much me and the Godolphin filly and it seems she broke a step slow,” said Prat. “I broke better than her and I ended up on the lead. Going to the first turn I felt really comfortable. I was really pleased with the way she was traveling and I felt we were doing some easy fractions. She really kicked on well. I got her ready to kick and she really did. When she swapped leads, she responded well from that point.”

Pedigree Notes:

One of nine stakes winners and three graded stakes winners for 2014 GI Belmont S. runner-up Commissioner, Con Lima is the first foal to race out of her stakes-winning dam. She is followed by a yearling Point of Entry colt named Pico de Gallo and a weanling colt by Lord Nelson. Second Street City was bred to Game Winner this spring.

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Con Lima Heads Competitive Bunch in Saratoga Oaks

Freshly minted Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher sends GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. runner-up Con Lima (Commissioner) to target the GIII Saratoga Oaks Invitational S., the middle jewel of NYRA's Turf Tiara Series and upgraded in its third edition this year to graded status. At 1 3/16 miles, Sunday's Saratoga Oaks is just a hair shorter than the July 10 Belmont Oaks, in which Con Lima led but yielded in the final strides to Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who hailed from the powerful Aidan O'Brien barn with Group 1 form just two weeks prior in Ireland.

Coming off consecutive victories in Belmont's June 3 GIII Wonder Again S. and Gulfstream's May 1 Honey Ryder S. prior to the Belmont Oaks, Con Lima has the highest Beyer–89–of the American runners in the field. Her record stands at a stellar 11 first- or second-place finishes from 12 starts for her ownership group–Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Joseph F. Graffeo, Eric Nikolaus Del Toro, and Troy Johnson–but she's up against a couple of formidable Europeans in this spot.

Creative Flair (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) hails from the Charlie Appleby stable with three wins from her last five starts. After consecutive mile scores and a mile listed stakes placing in England, she stretched out to 10 furlongs and promptly notched her first stakes win. She shortened up to nine furlongs for the G3 Prix Chloe in France, getting run down at the end for a third. The Godolphin homebred gets Mike Smith in the irons to share morning-line favoritism with Con Lima. Godolphin won this race last year with Antoinette (Hard Spun).

Peter Brant's Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) has done little wrong, never off the board in four starts in Ireland and now makes her first appearance since a 1 1/4-mile win in a listed event Apr 25. She makes her American debut for new trainer Chad Brown, who has a stunning record with European imports on the stateside lawn.

Lightly raced Higher Truth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is Brown's other runner here and has improved with every race. A second-out maiden win in April gave way to an allowance victory in June. She parlayed those two victories into a nose third behind Con Lima in her first stakes try in the Belmont Oaks.

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Swiss Skydiver To Try Open Company Again In Whitney

Trainer Kenny McPeek said he will look to give his superstar filly Swiss Skydiver a second triumph against males in the $1 million Grade 1 Whitney on August 7 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The historic nine-furlong event offers a “Win And You're In” berth to the $6 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic on November 6 at Del Mar.

Owned by Peter Callahan, the 4-year-old daughter of Daredevil bested the boys in last year's Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, where she became only the sixth filly to win the American Classic.

Swiss Skydiver has registered two starts this year, shipping to the West Coast to capture the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 13 at Santa Anita ahead of a distant third to Letruska in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 17 at Oaklawn Park.

Initially entered in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park, Swiss Skydiver scratched from the race when spiking a temperature. With sights set on the Grade 3 Shuvee on July 25, McPeek had to alter course when NYRA and the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) placed Barn 86 at Saratoga under a precautionary quarantine on July 15 due to a positive case of Equine Herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) in that barn.

McPeek said Swiss Skydiver is ready for a second triumph against males.

“She had some hiccups in the spring,” McPeek said. “She had a hind leg infection which contributed to her uncharacteristic run at Oaklawn, and she had a fever when we shipped to Belmont. We're hoping to get into a little rhythm with her and I'm looking forward to running her.”

Swiss Skydiver has notched six graded stakes victories, dating back to last March when taking the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks in gate-to-wire fashion. From there, she added miles to the tank with triumphs in the Grade 3 Fantasy at Oaklawn Park last May and the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks last June.

After making her first start against males with a game second in the Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland Race Course last July, she recorded her first triple-digit Beyer with a 3 ½-length win in the Grade 1 Alabama in August in her lone start at the Spa, where she posted a 102 Beyer.

“Throughout the time I've had her, she's gone from a girl to a woman. She's as attractive as ever and maybe more so now,” McPeek said. “From two to three to four, you never know how they're going to evolve but she's doing everything right. She's bigger in her shoulder and her hip at this stage. She's always been an extremely intelligent filly. She's a happy horse and still loves her job.”

A Whitney triumph would make Swiss Skydiver the seventh female to strike gold in the prestigious event for older horses. The most recent Whitney victress was Ogden Phipps' undefeated Hall of Famer Personal Ensign in 1988.

McPeek selected Swiss Skydiver for $35,000 from Select Sales consignment barn at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Through a career of 14-7-3-2, she has amassed $2,125,480.

“We'll see if she can pull it off. I think she should have a real good second half of the year,” McPeek said. “She's already got a Grade 1 this year which is good. Good horses ship well. Trainers like Todd [Pletcher] do it a lot, but good horses can and will ship well. We're blessed to have some quality stock in the barn.”

McPeek said Phoenix Thoroughbred III's Crazy Beautiful is likely to bypass the $700,000 Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational on August 8 in favor of the $600,000 Grade 1 Alabama on August 21 at the Spa.

The gray or roan daughter of third-crop sire Liam's Map worked five furlongs in 1:01.87 Saturday over the Oklahoma training track.

“I'm leaning against it today, but I have a couple weeks,” McPeek said of the Saratoga Oaks. “They are inviting her, but we need to make sure she's on tilt before committing to anything. I thought she'd work better than she did yesterday. I want to give her a few days. She will be nominated to the Alabama, but I just need to make sure she's 110 percent.”

Crazy Beautiful has already taken down three graded stakes events this season, capturing the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 27 before running tenth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. She returned to action with style when taking the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks on May 30 at Santa Anita Park before a six-length romp over a good and sealed track at Delaware Park in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks on July 3.

While Crazy Beautiful appears unlikely for the Saratoga Oaks, McPeek plans on running King Fury in its male counterpart race – the $1 million Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 6.

Owned by Fern Circle Stables and Three Chimneys Farm, King Fury was a last out second beaten a half-length in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby on June 26 at Thistledown after an 18-1 upset win in the Grade 3 Lexington on April 10 at Keeneland.

King Fury blitzed through five furlongs Saturday over the Oklahoma training track in :59.86 seconds, the fastest of 19 recorded works at the distance.

King Fury has yet to race on turf, but McPeek said he should handle it well.

“His work was awesome yesterday. He was really impressive,” McPeek said. “He definitely will run in the Saratoga Derby. I think he can handle the turf. We'll give him a work over the grass next week and that ought to have him ready.”

King Fury boasts a royal pedigree being by multiple champion-producing sire Curlin out of Grade 1-winner Taris.

McPeek selected Curlin as a yearling for $57,000 and the talented chestnut went on to be named two-time Horse of the Year.

“They're a little different bodied horses, but he certainly his father's son,” McPeek said. “Curlin was a little heavier; this one is a little more finesse which is why I think he'll handle the grass.”

McPeek said graded stakes winner and dual Grade 1-placed Envoutante, a last-out third to Letruska in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis on June 26 at Churchill Downs has been given a break with sights set on the $500,000 Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster on October 10 at Keeneland.

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Pletcher Plans Saratoga Starts For Con Lima, Malathaat

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher saddled Con Lima and Sainthood for formidable efforts in Saturday's opening legs of the Turf Triple series with the former a front-running second in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks and the latter a close fifth in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Joseph Graffeo, Eric Nikolaus Del Toro, and Troy Johnson's Con Lima, who entered the Belmont Oaks from a prominent win in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Wonder Again, set a smart pace under Flavien Prat in the 10-furlong test over good going. The Commissioner filly opened up a 1 1/2-length lead at the stretch call and fought bravely to the wire, falling just a half-length short of the rallying Santa Barbara.

Pletcher said Con Lima will likely progress to the 1 3/16-mile $700,000 Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“She ran her heart out. It was a big effort from her,” said Pletcher. “She handled the distance fine and ran well enough to give her another shot.”

CHC and WinStar Farm's Sainthood, a dark bay son of Mshawish, enjoyed a ground-saving trip under Joel Rosario in his turf debut in the G1 Belmont Derby.

Sitting just off a moderate pace, Sainthood progressed along the inside down the lane, but failed to make up the needed ground en route to a fifth-place finish, just 2 1/4-lengths back of the victorious Bolshoi Ballet.

“He ran well. He had a good trip but just couldn't quite polish it off,” said Pletcher. “I thought he ran a respectable race.”

Pletcher said Sainthood, who graduated on the Fair Grounds dirt in February and won the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on the Turfway Park synthetic in March, could turn back in the one-mile $200,000 Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame on August 6 at the Spa.

“He's versatile enough and proven he can run well on three different surfaces. It leaves us with a lot of different options,” said Pletcher. “We'll see how he bounces out of it, but something like the Hall of Fame might make sense.”

WinStar Farm's Country Grammer, last-out winner of the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup in May at Santa Anita Park, breezed a half-mile in :49.22 in company with Grade 3 Peter Pan-winner Promise Keeper on the dirt training track on Sunday.

Country Grammer is working towards a start in the nine-furlong $1 million Grade 1 Whitney on August 7 at the Spa, which offers a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6.

“He's an honest workhorse but the more we're around him it seems he's really good at just clicking off those 12s,” said Pletcher. “We'll put a couple more good works into him and have him ready for the Whitney.”

Pletcher said Woodford Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm, and Rock Ridge Racing's Promise Keeper, a sophomore son of Curlin, will target either the $600,000 Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 31 at Saratoga or the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby on August 7 at Mountaineer.

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat worked a half-mile in :49.96 on the dirt training track in company with Dynamic One on Saturday in preparation for the $500,000 Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks, a nine-furlong test for sophomore fillies on July 24 at Saratoga

“She went great. I'm really pleased with the way she's doing,” said Pletcher. “She worked well with a big, strong gallop out. We'll probably have one breeze at Saratoga and she'll be ready to go.”

Undefeated in five starts, Malathaat won the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks last out on April 30 on the heels of a head score in the Grade 1 Ashland on April 3 at Keeneland.

Out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Dreaming of Julia, Malathaat has worked consistently with Dynamic One, runner-up in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino in April, who finished 18th last out in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

“They've been workmates coming off similar schedules from the Oaks and Derby. They make good mates. She doesn't have any trouble holding her own,” said Pletcher, who noted that Dynamic One is probable for the $120,000 Curlin on July 30 at Saratoga.

Pletcher said the connections had contemplated starting Malathaat against the boys in the 12-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Stakes in June, but that the filly has flourished with time between starts.

“We were strongly considering the Belmont, but my biggest concern was we had the two races back-to-back with the Ashland and the Oaks,” said Pletcher. “I was afraid a gut-wrenching mile and a half could set her back and it's paid off. She's gained some weight and trained very well. Hopefully, it sets her up for a good Saratoga. She's pretty special. We're blessed to have her. You don't come across many like her.”

Pletcher said if all goes well in the Coaching Club American Oaks, a start in the $600,000 Grade 1 Alabama on August 21 is likely.

Pletcher will saddle a pair of Shadwell Stable homebreds in Ajaaweed and Arham in a nine-furlong allowance event on the main track on Thursday, Opening Day of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course.

Slated for Race 7 on the 10-race card, Ajaaweed will exit post 12 under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, while Arham will leave from post 4 under Luis Saez.

The multiple graded stakes-placed Ajaaweed worked a bullet half-mile over the Belmont turf in June, but Pletcher said he preferred to re-group on the main track after the colt's off-the-board effort last out in the Grade 2 Brooklyn.

“It didn't seem to me like he relished the turf even though the time seemed good,” said Pletcher. “He was kind of all-in I thought, so we'll give him another shot on the dirt and see how it goes. Dropping back into an allowance race should help him. I'm not crazy about the 12 post, but we'll do the best we can with it.”

Arham, a 4-year-old son of Union Rags, matched a career-best 91 Beyer last out with a runner-up effort in a 1 1/16-mile first-level allowance on June 19 at Belmont. He added blinkers for a bullet half-mile breeze in :48.62 on July 8 on the Belmont dirt training track.

“The horse is doing really well,” said Pletcher. “His last race was good and we're adding blinkers because he seemed a little unfocused. I thought he worked well with the blinkers and I expect him to take a step forward.”

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