saratoga special | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gormley’s High Oak Fells Favorites in Special

High Oak was let go at double-digit odds off a narrow victory downstate June 26 that earned just a 57 Beyer Speed Figure, but he took a serious step forward Saturday to become freshman sire Gormley (Malibu Moon)'s first black-type winner.

Having signaled his readiness with a :48.11 bullet breeze last week on the Oklahoma Training Track in company with his older Grade I-winning stablemate Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed), who would finish third in the GI Fourstardave H. one race later, the bay stalked out wide behind splits of :21.82 and :44.93 set by Gunite. He ranged up in the clear to challenge at the top of the lane, wore down the pacesetter past the eighth and poured it on from there to prove clearly best.

“He broke very sharp today,” noted winning rider Junior Alvarado. “He was a whole different horse today. He was mentally prepared and sharp. To be honest, I was just a passenger today. He put me in the spot that I wanted and he took me all the way around. When I turned for home, I just had to ask him a little bit and he took off.”

Hall of Famer Bill Mott was winning his first Saratoga Special.

“We were just off the pace so he was right behind them,” Mott said. “He was running plenty fast enough himself. When they hung up those fractions, I thought he'd have to be pretty good to hang in there himself.”

As for working the youngster with 5-year-old Casa Creed, who is also owned by Lee Einsidler's LRE Racing and Mike Francesa's JEH Racing: “If they're going to run in these kind of races they better be able to do that. We just gave him some company to go with and thought they looked like a good pair. He was very professional today. We were very pleased. He's been a little tough to handle, but great in the paddock, great on the race track. He did everything right.”

The GI Champagne S. Oct. 2 appears a logical next step.

“You certainly would look at him and say that a one-turn mile is going to be okay,” Mott said. “I guess you find all those things out as you go along. It's usually guesswork until you do it… I'm sure there will be plenty of discussion with Lee. He's probably not going to want to pass up too many spots, but we'll talk and figure out a game plan.”

Saturday, Saratoga
SARATOGA SPECIAL S. PRESENTED BY MILLER LITE-GII, $200,000, Saratoga, 8-14, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:16.53, ft.
1–HIGH OAK, 120, c, 2, by Gormley
                1st Dam: Champagne Sue, by Elusive Quality
                2nd Dam: Golden Tiy, by Dixieland Band
                3rd Dam: Tiy, by Nalees Man
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($37,000
Wlg '19 KEENOV; $70,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-LRE Racing LLC &
JEH Racing Stable LLC; B-Catherine Parke (KY); T-William I.
Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $110,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$159,500. *1st black-type winner for freshman sire (by Malibu
Moon). Werk Nick Rating: B+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Gunite, 120, c, 2, Gun Runner–Simple Surprise, by Cowboy
Cal. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen. $40,000.
3–Nakatomi, 120, g, 2, Firing Line–Applelicious, by Flatter.
($18,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $25,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT). O-Marc
Detampel, Qatar Racing & Tim O. Banker; B-Arnold Zetcher LLC
& Crestwood Farm (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward. $24,000.
Margins: 4 1/4, 3 1/4, 3. Odds: 10.20, 4.70, 5.90.
Also Ran: Double Thunder, Doctor Jeff, Stolen Base, Ottoman Empire, Glacial, Dance Code, Red Run. Scratched: Kitodan, Midnight Worker. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

High Oak is one of six winners for Spendthrift freshman Gormley, a debut winner late in the Del Mar meet as a juvenile who stretched out to take the GI FrontRunner S. in 2016 and added the GI Santa Anita Derby the following year. Gormley was also represented last month by GIII Sanford S. runner-up Headline Report.

Fellow Mott trainee Elusive Quality has been represented by the dams of 61 graded winners, including last year's champion juvenile and leading sophomore Essential Quality (Tapit).

Dam Champagne Sue was an $80,000 KEENOV '10 purchase by Catherine Parke while in foal to Seeking the Dia. The Oaklawn maiden special weight and Fair Grounds allowance winner is a half to GSWs Golden Itiz (Tiznow) and Sapphire n' Silk (Pleasant Tap)–also a graded stakes-winning produer–as well as the dam of GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf heroine Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect). Champagne Sue produced a Super Saver filly in 2020. She was barren to West Coast the following season, and was bred to Instagrand for 2022.

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Ottoman Empire Has Additional ‘Education’ Ahead Of Saratoga Special

Greg Tramontin's Ottoman Empire will look to benefit from the experience of his race last month at Saratoga when he returns as part of a 12-horse field of juveniles in tomorrow's Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special presented by Miller Lite contested at 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track.

The Tom Amoss trainee won his debut in a five-furlong sprint on June 20 at Churchill Downs, rallying from seventh to best next-out winner Texas Red Hot by one length. Stepping up to stakes company next out, the Classic Empire colt ran fourth in the Grade 3 Sanford at six furlongs at the Spa in a race won by Wit.

“He won his first start at Churchill and there's absolutely no doubt he's a talented horse,” Amoss said. “In his first start, it was strictly on raw talent. He made a lot of mistakes. He didn't break well, he didn't like being crowded, he didn't go around anybody. But it was a very good race as far as watching a horse that doesn't have a really good understanding of competition yet but still being able to win a race.”

Amoss said an equipment change could continue to be beneficial to Ottoman Empire, who was a $120,000 purchase at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“Since his first start, we thought we had educated him pretty well entering the last stakes race here. We did add blinkers to him, which isn't a move I often make this early in a horse's career,” Amoss said. “I like them to learn through racing, but we're going to go ahead and run with the blinkers. I just feel he needs a little jump-start in the education process.”

Ottoman Empire drew post 3 with Dylan Davis in the irons. He is listed at 15-1 on the morning line.

“His understanding of competition and what he needs to do to win is still not where it needs to be, but you tend to get a little bit of a better understanding through racing, so we're back in tomorrow and we feel good about it,” Amoss said.

Joel Politi's Li'l Tootsie will make a surface change after going 3-1-0 in first seven career starts on dirt when she competes in Sunday's $120,000 Galway for 3-year-old fillies going 5 1/2 furlongs on Saratoga's Mellon turf course.

Li'l Tootsie, who ran ninth last out in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks on July 7 at Indiana Grand Race Course, registered her first breeze on the grass with a five-furlong work in 1:03.66 on the Oklahoma training turf July 31 and Amoss said he was impressed with the effort.

“She's a very talented sprinter,” Amoss said. “She's never raced over the grass before, but the pedigree suggests it'll work. We breezed her over the Oklahoma turf course and we thought she worked very well. This race gives us the opportunity to see if we can make her anything other than a dirt sprinter and broaden our horizons.”

Li'l Tootsie, bought for $105,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is a daughter of Tapiture out of the Dayjur mare Informative Style. She drew the inside post in the Galway with Eric Cancel aboard and is 12-1 on the morning line.

“You always prefer to be further outside with a chance to position and make a late run without any traffic,” Amoss said. “The one-hole, it's the shortest way home, but it presents potential problems for a horse who comes off the pace. We have to work out a trip from there and see what happens.”

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Weekend Lineup Presented By NYRA Bets: Femme Fatale? Tough Trio Takes On Males In Fourstardave

The Grade 1 Fourstardave highlights this weekend's racing action at Saratoga, with a trio of mares scheduled to line up against five male rivals in the one-mile turf contest. The heavy favorite is Chad Brown trainee Raging Bull, but he faces no easy task in Saturday's feature race. To the winner goes the spoils: an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Mile in November at Del Mar.

Also at Saratoga, the G2 Saratoga Special has drawn a full field of 12 juveniles in what shapes up as an intriguing contest over 6 1/2 furlongs. Doctor Jeff is the morning-line choice at 2-1, but both Hall of Famers Steve Asmussen and Todd Pletcher have entered a pair of rapidly-improving colts that ought to have a say in the outcome. In addition, top 2-year-old trainer Wesley Ward enters a first-out winner off a tough trip at Royal Ascot, who has been training well for his return.

In the Midwest, Arlington Park will play host to a trio of Grade 1 turf stakes topped by the Mr. D., formerly the Arlington Million. Trainer Chad Brown will be seeking his fourth straight win (excluding 2020, when it was cancelled) in the race with divisional leader Domestic Spending.

The New York Racing Association has planned an all graded stakes cross country pick 5 for Saturday, encompassing four Grade 1 contests and a Grade 2 event from Saratoga and Arlington Park. Past performances are free here for this 50-cent base wager.

Here's a quick snapshot of this weekend's graded stakes schedule, starting with Saratoga's big races (all times Eastern):

Saturday

5:39 p.m. – $200,000 Grade 2 Saratoga Special Stakes at Saratoga

Morning line favorite Doctor Jeff won first out in an off-the-turf sprint at Belmont Park on July 10, recording a field-high 78 Beyer for the effort, and has been working well at Saratoga since then. However, others in the full 12-horse field have more race experience, including the Steve Asmussen-trained Gunite, a son of Gun Runner who has three starts under his belt and seems to be putting all the pieces together at the right time.

Another potential upsetter is the Todd Pletcher-trained Double Thunder, already a winner of the G3 Bashford Manor. He may not have earned a particularly high speed figure for that effort, but he didn't need to; the son of Super Savor won by 4 3/4 lengths.

A pair of longshots are especially intriguing in the wide-open juvenile field. First, Nakatomi, the Wesley Ward-trained first-out winner who had a tough trip in his second outing at Royal Ascot. The colt has been working well since his stateside return, and it's hard to count out Ward with 2-year-olds. Secondly, Dance Code, the last-out third-place finisher behind the highly-talented Wit in the G3 Sanford. The colt stumbled badly at the start and was as far back as ninth early on, but was still able to rally for third.

Saratoga Special Entries

6:13 p.m. – $500,000 Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga

Already a Grade 1 winner over the mile trip in 2021, Raging Bull is a deserving favorite for trainer Chad Brown in the Fourstardave. His two starts this year have both seen him record triple-digit Beyers, and it's hard to knock his current form.

Bill Mott trainee Casa Creed will stretch back out to the mile after a big performance last out over six furlongs to win the G1 Jaipur, and the Brad Cox-trained Set Piece should be feeling confident as he enters this race off three back-to-back victories on the turf.

Of course, Got Stormy made headlines when she won this race in 2019 and subsequently went on to finish a close second in that year's Breeders' Cup Mile on the West Coast and to win the G1 Matriarch. She didn't have quite as spectacular a season in 2020, though she did finish second in this contest and recorded a pair of G3 wins when backed up to sprint distances. If the turf is firm on Saturday, Got Stormy's fondness for this course at this distance can't be denied.

The other two mares taking on the boys are: Blowout, trained by Chad Brown and never worse than third in her 12-race career, and Daddy Is A Legend, the best of the U.S. contingent when third last out behind Althiqa and Summer Romance in the G1 Just A Game.

Fourstardave Entries

5:49 p.m. – $400,000 Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park

A field of seven fillies and mares has been entered for this 1 3/16-mile contest, headed by Graham Motion trainee Mean Mary, who is two-for-two this season and 7 for 11 overall. The biggest challenge comes from the yard of Aidan O'Brien in Santa Barbara, last-out winner of the G1 Belmont Oaks and the half-sister to Breeders' Cup winners Iridessa and Order of Australia.

The top local challenger is Naval Laughter, trained by Chris Davis, a lightly-raced 4-year-old making just her fifth career start. Since Davis has overseen her training, the filly is two-for-three this year and won her first graded stakes race in her most recent outing over the Arlington lawn.

Chad Brown has sent out the winner of the Beverly D. each of the past five times it has been run, and six times overall. He'll saddle Lemista for this edition, a filly who finished second behind Harvey's Lil Goil in the G3 Beaugay in her stateside debut, but faded to eighth last out in the G1 Diana.

Beverly D. Entries

6:28 p.m. – $300,000 Grade 1 Bruce D. Stakes at Arlington Park

Formerly run as the Secretariat Stakes, this one-mile contest for 3-year-olds features nine entrants for the 2021 edition. Leading the charge is Jack Sisterson trainee Tango Tango Tango, who owns a win over the Arlington turf in his most recent outing. The lightly-raced Point Me By appears to have some talent for trainer Eddie Kenneally, though a firm turf would suit him best.

Ginsburned is also lightly raced, though definitely moving in the right director for veteran Rusty Arnold. Therideofalifetime will be making his first start on the turf for trainer Ignacio Correas, but if the son of Candy Ride takes to the surface, his numbers definitely put him in the mix.

Bruce D. Entries

7:13 p.m. – $600,000 Grade 1 Mr. D. Stakes at Arlington Park

Divisional leader Domestic Spending will try to give Chad Brown his fourth straight in the race formerly known as the Arlington Million, in what may be the last edition ever held at the Chicagoland racetrack. With a dead-heat win in the G1 Turf Classic and a splashier win last out in the G1 Manhattan, the 4-year-old Kingman gelding is a deserving favorite in this 1 1/4-mile contest.

Aidan O'Brien sends over Armory, a multiple Group 1-placed son of Galileo, to form the international challenge. The 4-year-old has proven his ability to travel well with a second-place finish in Australia's Group 1 Cox Plate, and has improved his numbers this season, finishing a good third behind Love and Audarya in the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Bizzee Channel has won two in a row over the Arlington lawn for trainer Larry Rivelli, but will have to step up here. The 8-year-old Zulu Alpha ran an even fifth in his first start off a 10-month layoff, but trainer Mike Maker's ability with older horses over turf routes can't be ignored.

Mr. D. Entries

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Doctor Jeff Steps Up in Saratoga Special

Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso's Doctor Jeff (Street Boss), a first-out winner in a six-furlong off-turf maiden special weight at Belmont Park July 10, will step right up to graded company as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special S. The chestnut colt earned a Special field-high 78 Beyer Speed Figure for his 2 1/4-length debut win and he has recorded three breezes over the main track at Saratoga, including a bullet five-furlong work in :59.61 Sunday, for trainer Rudy Rodriguez.

“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 aboard Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music), will have the return call from post eight.

Freshman sire Gun Runner, who was represented by a pair of graded winners last weekend, has two chances to keep the streak going in the Special. Winchell Thoroughbreds' Gunite (Gun Runner) adds blinkers Saturday following a maiden-breaking score going six furlongs in his third lifetime start at Churchill Downs last time out June 26. The dark bay colt hit the board in both previous five-furlong outings in Louisville.

Another Winchell homebred, Red Run (Gun Runner), was a first-out winner over a sloppy Churchill strip May 9 and was a late-closing fifth in the June 26 GIII Bashford Manor S.

Steve Asmussen, who trained champion Gun Runner, also trains both Winchell colorbearers.

“It's extremely exciting. All a part of what makes racing great,” Asmussen said of Gun Runner's fast start at stud. “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. Winning and losing is usually the amount of effort willing to be applied.”

Phoenix Thoroughbred's Double Thunder (Super Saver) comes into the Special with a perfect two-for-two record. A debut winner going 4 1/2 furlongs at Monmouth Park June 5, the Todd Pletcher trainee closed from well back to score a 4 3/4-length victory in the Bashford Manor.

Pletcher also saddes Repole Stable's Midnight Worker (Outwork), a debut winner over the Special's six-furlong trip at the Spa July 24.

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