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Doctor Jeff Faces 11 Talented Juveniles In Saturday’s Saratoga Special

Doctor Jeff, fresh off his debut win last month at Belmont Park, will take the step up in class and face stakes company for the first time as part of a 12-horse field of talented juveniles in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special presented by Miller Lite at Saratoga Race Course.

The 116th running of the Saratoga Special, contested at 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track in Race 9, is one of two stakes on the 11-race card that will be bolstered by the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap for 3-year-olds up going one mile on the inner turf in Race 10 that is a “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile.

Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso's Doctor Jeff won first out in a six-furlong sprint taken off the turf at Belmont on July 10. The Street Boss colt earned a Saratoga Special field-high 78 Beyer Speed Figure for his 2 1/4-length victory for trainer Rudy Rodriguez and subsequently shipped to Saratoga, where he recorded three breezes over the main track, including a bullet five-furlong work in 59.61 seconds on Sunday.

“I'm just very happy with the way he's training over here,” Rodriguez said. “He beat some tough horses the first time and he did it the right way. We just take it day-by-day, but he's been training over here for a while. If he doesn't like the track now, he's never going to like it.”

Joel Rosario, aboard for Doctor Jeff's win and the winner of last year's Saratoga Special riding Jackie's Warrior, will have the return call from post 8.

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, fresh off a whirlwind week in which he broke the record for most wins by a North American thoroughbred trainer, will have a strong chance to add to that total in saddling a pair of Winchell Thoroughbred homebreds in Gunite and Red Run.

The duo are both sons of Gun Runner, who Asmussen also trained during a stellar career that netted two Eclipse Awards, including 2017 Horse of the Year honors as well as that year's Champion Older Dirt Male.

“It's extremely exciting. All a part of what makes racing great,” Asmussen said. “We're fortunate to have horses like that and then have the chance for them to prove it. It's amazing how he stamps them just with their attitude. Obviously, he gave them a tremendous amount of ability to find more than what matters. Winning and losing is usually the amount of effort willing to be applied.”

Gunite has given that effort through his first three starts, improving in each race, culminating with a maiden-breaking win last out on June 26 going six furlongs at Churchill Downs. Gunite ran third on debut in April over a sloppy and sealed track at five furlongs and stayed at the same distance in following with a runner-up effort on a fast Churchill course in May.

Asmussen said stretching Gunite out in his last start was beneficial.

“The distance had everything to do with it,” Asmussen said. “Going from five-eighths, five-and-a-half, three-quarters and go third, second and first. That's how it felt to us.”

Ricardo Santana, Jr. will have the mount for a third consecutive time, drawing post 2. Gunite will add blinkers.

Red Run also could be a colt who might appreciate added distance. He boasts an impressive pedigree out of the Tapit mare Red House, who is a full-sister to 2014 Kentucky Oaks winner and Champion 3-Year-Old filly Untapable.

Red Run won going five furlongs on a sloppy Churchill track on May 9 before running fifth in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor on June 26 at Churchill stretched out to six furlongs.

“He's going to need considerably further. The pedigree suggests it also with his female side of the family,” Asmussen said. “I chose him to run here for his next step; he's needing one.”

Manny Franco will be in the irons from the outermost post 12.

Fellow Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will also send out a couple of talented colts, including Phoenix Thoroughbreds' Double Thunder, who won the Bashford Manor by 4 3/4 lengths under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez. The son of Super Saver is 2-for-2 to start his career, winning on June 5 at Monmouth before graduating against stakes company later in the month.

After drawing away at Churchill and improving his career earnings to a field-high $116,850, Double Thunder will compete at Saratoga for the first time, teaming again with Velazquez in breaking from post 7.

Pletcher's other contender, Repole Stable's Midnight Worker, showed an affinity for Saratoga already, edging Bourbon Heist by a head for a debut win going six furlongs at the historic track on July 24.

Midnight Worker, a son of Outwork, will pick up the services of jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., departing from post 5.

Nakatomi added to trainer Wesley Ward's ever-growing list of first-out winners in April at Keeneland with a victory in a 4 1/2-furlong contest over a sloppy and sealed track. That set up the Firing Line gelding's cross-Atlantic trip to Ascot, where he ran eighth in the Group 2 Norfolk going five furlongs on June 17.

Owned by Qatar Racing, M. Detampel and D. Howden, Nakatomi registered a breeze on the Saratoga main track on Thursday and will see Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will pick up the mount for the first time, exiting the inside post.

Greg Tramontin's Ottoman Empire was a debut winner, topping an 11-horse field in a five-furlong sprint on June 20 at Churchill Downs. Trainer Tom Amoss then moved the son of Classic Empire up in class early in the Saratoga meet, where he ran fourth in the six-furlong Grade 3 Sanford over a main track rated good on July 17.

Ottoman Empire, a $120,000 purchase at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale, will look to parlay his graded stakes experience into black type, picking up the services of jockey Dylan Davis from post 3. He will also add blinkers.

Robert Masterson's Glacial won his first race for trainer Norm Casse in May at Churchill before running third in the Bashford Manor in his previous start. The son of Frosted, a $140,000 purchase at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training will pick up the services of Tyler Gaffalione in breaking from post 10.

Rounding out the field is High Oak, a first-out winner for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott on June 26 at Belmont [post 11, Junior Alvarado]; Stolen Base, a debut victor on July 23 at Saratoga for meet-leading trainer Mike Maker [post 6, Jose Ortiz]; Dance Code, third in the Grade 3 Sanford after winning his debut in June at Parx for conditioner Juan Vazquez [post 9, Jose Lezcano]; and Kitodan, who broke his maiden at fourth asking in July at Gulfstream Park, for trainer Jorge Delgado [post 4, Chantal Sutherland].

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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Sea Foam Goes Gate To Wire In Evan Shipman; First Win For Trainer Michelle Giangiulio

Ten Strike Racing and Four Corners Racing Stable's Sea Foam made every pole a winning one to provide trainer Michelle Giangiulio her first career win in Wednesday's $100,000 Evan Shipman Handicap, a nine-furlong test for New York-breds 3-years-old and up at Saratoga Race Course.

Claimed for $45,000 out of a winning effort in a nine-furlong state-bred optional-claiming route on July 30 at Saratoga, Sea Foam provided Giangiulio her first win in just her sixth career start.

“My mind is blown right now,” Giangiulio said. “It's just epic. My first starter was in [February]. I actually got my trainer's license right at the end of 2020. This is only my sixth start; I have five horses. I've had one win, three seconds and two thirds, so they've been running really, really good.”

Sea Foam broke sharply from post 3 under Joel Rosario and led the five-horse field into the first turn with 3-2 mutuel favorite Mr. Buff pinned to the rail by Three Jokers as the opening quarter-mile elapsed in 24.10 seconds on the fast main track.

Sea Foam dictated terms down the backstretch through a half-mile in 48.10 and three-quarters in 1:12.27 as Three Jokers continued to press with Mr. Buff unable to stretch his significant frame.

Danny California, an optional-claiming winner on Saturday at the Spa, advanced outside rivals through the final turn, but Sea Foam opened up a two-length lead at the stretch call and drew off to a five-length score in a final time of 1:50.91.

Three Jokers completed the exacta by three lengths over Danny California. Rounding out the order of finish were Winston's Chance and Mr. Buff.

Giangiulio said the classy Sea Foam exited his recent win in good order.

“He came out of his last race really well and this race came up a light field. We said we might as well take a shot,” Giangiulio said. “I figured we'd have a huge chance and we might as well run him if he's good, and it worked out.

“I just told Joel to break and go,” she added. “The horse runs best on the lead and that's how he wins. He gave him a perfect trip.”

Giangiulio said she was impressed with the way Sea Foam extended his advantage out of the final turn.

“I didn't think he was going to open up like that,” Giangiulio said. “With Three Jokers coming up to him a little, I guess he just needed to see another horse to kick back in, and he did. It was awesome.”

A 6-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro, out of the graded-stakes winning Unbridled's Song mare Strike It Rich, Sea Foam captured the 2017 Notebook at Aqueduct and a year later won the New York Derby at Finger Lakes and the Albany at Saratoga.

Rosario said Sea Foam was traveling comfortably throughout.

“He took the lead and he likes to do that. He was going nice and easy and past the three-eighths [pole], he kind of got away a little bit and he ran big again,” Rosario said. “He showed that he improves when he goes to the lead. He's a really nice horse and he tries hard all the time.”

A former assistant to trainers such as Joe Sharp and Tom Morley, Giangiulio boasts a perfect in-the-money record though six starts, sporting a ledger of 6-1-3-2, dating to a third-place finish by Parade Field in February at Aqueduct.

Subsequent starters for Giangiulio include Easy Shot [2nd, June 17 at Belmont Park], True Castle [2nd, July 4, Belmont], Wagon Boss [3rd, July 15, Saratoga], and Joey Loose Lips [2nd, August 5, Saratoga].

Bred in the Empire State by Waterville Lake Stables, Sea Foam banked $55,000 in victory while improving his record to 23-9-3-2. He paid $12 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Thursday with a 10-race card highlighted by the 17th running of the $100,000 Saratoga Dew. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

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Barn Buddies: Like His Namesake, Firenze Kitten Is Full Of Fire

Summer at Saratoga is heaven for the writer of a series on barnyard companion animals. Kitten season has just happened, people staying in town bring their dogs to morning barn walks, and there are bound to be goats. Each summer has its star, and this year's star is bright enough that I couldn't resist a special edition of Barn Buddies to spotlight him.

(Our Barn Buddies series is a long-running reader favorite. Check out the archives here. If you'd like to bring back this monthly series as a sponsor, please call our director of advertising.)

Everywhere I've gone this week, people have asked whether I have met Firenze, and they don't mean Kelly Breen's multiple graded stakes winner Firenze Fire. They're referring to a four-month-old tabby cat named Firenze, referred to in some circles by Firenze Kitten.

“I asked the guys in the barn what they wanted to call him, and of course the first thing that came out of their mouths is Firenze,” said John Attfield, assistant to Breen.

Attfield, who is the son of Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield, said that perhaps surprisingly, he has not been a lifelong cat person. Firenze is his second cat, and he has taught Attfield a lot. Firenze knows his name, but unlike many felines, will actually come trotting when his name is called. He will not, however, come when called away from the Oklahoma Training Track, which is steps away from his barn and where he tried galloping on the outside rail a couple of times. (He had to be more closely monitored after that outburst.)

Firenze climbs trees, chases blades of grass, and will alternately accept admiration and tussle with whichever visitors come by to see him — and there are many.

Firenze pauses from a play session to snap a selfie

Attfield picked Firenze and a littermate up from a fellow horseman on the backstretch, who insisted he had to take two kittens from a feral cat.

“He was literally as big as my hand,” recalled Attfield. “He was too little to be in the barn, so he lived in my office at Belmont.”

To Attfield's relief, another assistant fell in love with Firenze's sibling and relocated him, so Firenze has the Breen shedrow to himself.

John Attfield and Firenze Kitten

It remains unclear if Firenze will be an efficient mouser; he was too little at Belmont to catch much of anything, and Attfield says there are no mice or rats at Saratoga for him to practice on, but he does pursue birds with enthusiasm, much to Attfield's dismay. If he isn't much of a hunter though, it won't matter — Attfield brings him canned food in a wide variety of flavors, so that he can choose whatever suits his fancy on a given day.

Firenze Kitten and Firenze Fire

Breen is mainly based in New Jersey, so his interactions with the famous Firenze have been limited, but Attfield reports the spunky kitten has made quite the impression. Breen was headed out one afternoon and had the kitten draped around his neck.

“I said, 'Where are you going with my cat?'” said Attfield. “They're bloody amazing animals. I didn't realize how cool they were.”

If ever Attfield can't find his little companion, he just peeks into the back of Firenze Fire's stall, the first one next to the barn office. Firenze [Kitten] will nap there when things are quiet, and has a little hole back there that he can use to move between the office and his namesake. Attfield isn't sure what the cat may get up to in the evenings, but during the day Firenze Fire is the only horse who gets a visit from Firenze.

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‘I Know How Bad I Want This’: Keithan Starting Training Career With Grit, Hard Work

Rachael Keithan can feel the skepticism as she tries to establish herself as a female trainer in what remains a male-dominated realm.

Keithan, 32, oversees a fledgling operation of seven 2-year-olds. She awakens before dawn and toils until dark as she grooms and feeds them herself due to financial constraints. She does all of this with her left ankle in a walking boot, the result of a fracture in a riding accident last September that never healed properly.

She is driven by a me-against-the-world attitude.

“It's ridiculously harder because everyone assumes just because I'm a female, I'm just going to quit and go away,” Keithan said. “They're just waiting to see how long it is going to take. I'm not going to.

“Things are so negative here all the time, but I'm not negative. I'm positive. I know where I'm at, and where I'm going.”

Keithan looks to the example of Margie Stone, her stepmother. Stone asserted herself in other male-dominated spheres. She drove a tractor-trailer for many years before she joined the Coast Guard.

“We are a family of norm-breakers,” Stone said.

Keithan grew up in Maryland and began riding when she was five. She learned the basics by working as a hotwalker and groom at old Bowie Race Track in Maryland before she began to gallop horses. She received early lessons from John Salzman, a Maryland trainer who excels at developing juveniles, before becoming a traveling assistant to highly-regarded Christophe Clement. She gained a deeper understanding of the claiming game while she worked for Danny Gargan for the last two years before striking out on her own.

Keithan saddles a horse at Saratoga, boot and all

She owns two victories through 11 starts this year with one runner-up finish and a third-place effort for earnings of $51,380. Two horses account for her limited success. Survey (IRE), a 6-year-old gelding, finally broke through in a Jan. 27 maiden race at Tampa Bay Downs for $16,000 claimers and brought home $7,250 of a $13,350 purse. He built on his new-found confidence by taking a March 12 race for non-winners of two races lifetime to bank $8,845 of a $16,100 purse. Trainers customarily receive 10 percent of purse money in addition to their day rate.

Landslid is the most precocious of her 2-year-olds and has shown she belongs on a major circuit. After a fifth-place debut at Keeneland, she placed second and then third in maiden special weight dirt races at Belmont Park to boost her earnings to $30,600. Landslid is ready to run at Saratoga, but it has been difficult finding a suitable spot.

Through the first three weeks of the Saratoga meet, R Doc, a 2-year-old ridgling by turf star Gio Ponti, had provided her only two starts. Those were not good. In a maiden special weight race at 1 1/16 miles on the turf on July 17, he was bumped at the start and lagged seventh of nine. When he was brought back two weeks later at the same level and distance, things went from bad to worse. He was fractious at the gate and then Jalon Samuel, chasing his first win, attempted a six-wide move at the quarter pole. R Doc ran last of eight.

Keithan knew it was a reach when she left behind a basement apartment in Brooklyn to move her stable to Saratoga and rent a room outside of town.

“I didn't expect to have a superstar meet because I don't have any superstars in my barn yet. But I do know what I've got can hit the board and what I aim to accomplish,” she said. “Next year will be a different story because I will have a variety of stock.”

Despite that, she decided she had to do whatever she could to assert herself at such a demanding meet. “People assume that when you go to a lesser track, you are a lesser trainer,” she said. “I can train with all of the big boys.”

Keithan at Saratoga

She yearns for owners who will give her a shot by claiming horses for them.

“My strong suit is with the claimers and I don't have any claimers in my barn,” she said, adding, “I have relationships with people. But when you first go out on your own, everybody is a little reluctant. They want to see what you can do.”

Despite lack of financial support, she continues to scrutinize the claiming ranks, confident her opportunity will come.

“You've got to understand the breeding. You've got to understand how every barn works,” she said. “There are certain barns I won't touch because of practices they use. I pay attention to everything.”

When Keithan reaches the point of exhaustion and needs emotional encouragement, she turns to a stepmother who has known her since she was 15. Stone could not be more confident that Keithan will ultimately overcome her initial struggles and establish herself.

“When Rachel puts her mind to doing something, she will do what it takes to get there,” Stone said. “She is an exceptionally hard worker. She gives her all when she is doing this.”

For now, she has seven horses in her barn that she describes as projects, lack of financial support and a bum ankle. She also has a dream she insists will not be denied.

“I know how bad I want this,” she said. “It's something I'm willing to fight for.”

Tom Pedulla wrote for USA Today from 1995-2012 and has been a contributor to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Blood-Horse, America's Best Racing and other publications.

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