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$35,000 Claim Dancing Kiki Handles Stretch Out With Ease In Saratoga Dew

Trainer Mike Maker continued his stellar start to the summer meet, racking up his second consecutive win on the card when Michael Dubb's Dancing Kiki set the pace and then drew away for a 4 1/2-length victory in Thursday's $100,000 Saratoga Dew for New York-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at the Spa.

The 17th running of the Saratoga Dew – contested at 1 1/8 miles on the Spa main track – saw Maker extend his meet-leading win total to 19 as Dancing Kiki broke sharp from the inside post under Jose Ortiz, leading the five-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 23.73 seconds and the half in 48.48 on the fast surface.

Simply Ravishing, the Kenneth McPeek-trained 3-2 favorite under Luis Saez, tracked in second position and made a bid from the outside in the final turn along with Maiden Beauty. But Ortiz kept Dancing Kiki to the inside, where the 4-year-old Blame filly deftly handled the final turn and then closed strong to the wire in outkicking runner-up Maiden Beauty, completing the course in 1:51.71.

“I knew I had speed, the only question was if she would handle the mile-and-an-eighth, and she did it nicely,” Ortiz said. “She had plenty left late in the last eighth of a mile, she was still running pretty decently.”

Claimed for $35,000 out of a 5 1/4-length victory going seven furlongs on the Saratoga main track on July 22, Dancing Kiki handled the stretch out to nine furlongs with aplomb. Three of her four career victories in 23 starts have come in her last six races.

“She was doing well. I claimed her on Michael Dubb's recommendation and I ran her here on Michael Dubb's recommendation,” Maker said. “I wasn't really concerned [about stretching out.] Jose seemed to make an easy lead, so that added to the confidence.”

Dubb won his eighth race of the meet to tie Three Diamonds Farm for the lead among owners.

“When I handicapped the race, I thought McPeek's horse would be aggressive going for the lead,” Dubb said. “When I didn't see McPeek's horse on the lead, I felt pretty comfortable. I thought the fractions were reasonable.”

Off at 7-1, Dancing Kiki returned $16 on a $2 win wager. Bred in the Empire State by Dutchess Views Farm and SGO Thoroughbred, Dancing Kiki improved her career earnings to $256,230.

“It was a little bit the breeding, by Blame,” Dubb said on the decision to claim Dancing Kiki. “The horse had been running at various distances and I have had luck with Mike stretching horses out. I think he's known, whether it's turf or dirt, for stretching horses out. It seemed like a horse you could stretch out.”

Maiden Beauty, claimed for $45,000 last out by trainer Robert Falcone, Jr. for owners John Grossi's Racing Corp, finished as the runner-up for the second consecutive time, besting Mrs. Orb by a half length.

“I thought the break was the key,” said Maiden Beauty jockey Joel Rosario. “She had to sit behind the front two a little bit, but she ran well. She was just second-best today. She seemed like she handled it great. We tried to make a move, we just couldn't catch the winner.”

Espresso Shot and Simply Ravishing completed the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Friday at Saratoga with a 10-race card that start at 1:05 p.m. Eastern. The $120,000 Tale of the Cat, a six-furlong main track sprint for 4-year-olds and up who have not won a graded stakes this year, is carded as Race 9 at 5:39 p.m.

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Got Stormy Again Faces Males In Fourstardave; Casse’s Only Concern Is ‘Weather’

Got Stormy used a strong effort in last year's Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave to facilitate a successful initiative that led to a pair of graded stakes wins. Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said he's hoping for a similar trajectory this year, as the 6-year-old will compete in Saturday's 37th running of the Fourstardave going one mile on the inner turf course in Race 10.

Got Stormy, owned by MyRacehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm, has a strong connection to this prestigious turf tilt for 3-year-olds and up. Her sire, Get Stormy, won the race in 2010 and finished third in 2012. In 2019, Got Stormy bested males to win the Fourstardave by 2 1/2 lengths in a course record 1:32 flat, earning a 109 Beyer Speed Figure that is still a personal best in a 29-race career.

Last year, Got Stormy ran second, 1 1/4-lengths back to Halladay, in the race and subsequently won the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Lady Spirit and the Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County before capping her campaign with a fifth-place effort in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in November at Keeneland.

On Saturday, Got Stormy will look to become the first dual Fourstardave winner since two-time Horse of the Year and recent Hall of Fame inductee Wise Dan [2012-13]. She drew post 6 in the eight-horse field.

“I think she's training well and similar to when she ran a big race last year,” said Casse, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame across Union Avenue from the Spa last week. “I was just going over the similarities from one year to the other. She kind of struggled early on and then came here and ran a big race in the Fourstardave. She's happy and she's ready. We just have the same concern we always do about the weather.”

Got Stormy will stretch back out to one mile after running fifth in the six-furlong Grade 1 Jackpocket Jaipur on Belmont Stakes Day June 5 on a course rated good. Casse said Got Stormy's preferred track is a firm surface but he added the eight furlongs also should play to her strengths.

“She loves the mile on the inner turf, it's her best [distance] and she likes the sharp turns,” Casse said.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione, aboard for her last seven starts, will have the return call. Got Stormy is 10-1 on the morning line, with 9-5 favorite Raging Bull drawing the inside post and 5-2 Set Piece breaking from post 5.

Casse said both of his runners in last Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Test – runner-up Souper Sensational and eighth-place finisher Make Mischief – exited the seven-furlong sprint for sophomores in good order.

Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational ran second, 4 1/4-lengths back to much-the-best winner Bella Sofia, to earn a 93 Beyer one race after posting a personal-best 95 number for her 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Victory Ride on July 10 at Belmont. In eight career starts, the Curlin filly has already earned stakes black type at four different tracks [Woodbine, Fair Grounds, Belmont and Saratoga].

“She's doing well. I haven't really decided what I'm going to do with her next,” Casse said.

Gary Barber's Make Mischief has already made eight starts in her 3-year-old campaign and has spent the spring and summer facing top-flight competition, starting with a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Eight Belles in April at Churchill before running third in the Grade 1 Acorn going a one-turn mile on Belmont Stakes Day. Returning to Big Sandy for the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Mother Goose three weeks later, Make Mischief ran fourth before finishing last-of-eight in the Test.

Casse said the daughter of Into Mischief, bred in the Empire State by Avanti Stable, could be targeting the $200,000 Fleet Indian for state-bred 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on August 27 at Saratoga.

“Make Mischief will probably go back against New York-breds,” Casse said. “I want to just see how hot it is and how they respond to the heat. But she has quite a resume, so we're very proud of her.”

Casse said John Oxley's Palazzi, who ran seventh in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational in the second leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series on August 7, will now likely run in a stakes at Kentucky Downs next out.

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All Graded Stakes Cross Country Pick 5 Features Races From Saratoga, Arlington

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 encompassing all graded stakes with racing action from historic Saratoga Race Course and Arlington Park on Saturday. The sequence will include four Grade 1 contests and a Grade 2 event.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Juveniles will take centerstage to start it off as a 12-horse field will compete in the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special presented by Miller Lite in Race 9 at 5:39 p.m. Eastern. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds will see Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen saddle a pair of talented Winchell Thoroughbred homebreds – and sons of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner – in Gunite and Red Run. Trainer Rudy Rodriguez will see if Doctor Jeff, who won a first-out six-furlong sprint at Belmont Park last month, can handle the step up in stakes company, while Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher will have two contenders as well with Midnight Worker, who won at Saratoga already in July, and Double Thunder, who won the Bashford Manor last out in June at Churchill Downs.

Action then shifts to Arlington, located in Arlington Heights, Illinois, for the Grade 1, $400,000 Beverly D. for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 3/16 miles on the turf in Race 7 at 5:49 p.m. Trainer Chad Brown, a six-time Beverly D.-winner who has won the last five editions of this race, will look to extend his streak by sending out the Irish-bred Lemista, who will look to rebound off an eight-place finish in the Grade 1 Diana on July 17 at Saratoga. Lemista, listed at 5-1 on the morning line, will face a strong seven-horse field that includes 9-5 morning-line favorite Mean Mary for trainer Graham Motion. Santa Barbara, conditioned by renowned international trainer Aidan O'Brien, is 2-1.

Saratoga's featured race, the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave for 3-year-olds and up going one mile on the inner turf, will go off in Race 10 at 6:13 p.m. Brown will have another strong contender in this prestigious turf race as well, with Raging Bull facing an all-graded stakes winning field as he looks to take the next step in a race in which he ran second in 2019 and fifth last year. Brown will be looking for his first career victory in the Fourstardave, which is a “Win And You're In” event for the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile on November 6 at Del Mar. Mark Casse, inducted into the Hall of Fame last week, will send out Got Stormy, the winner of the 2019 Fourstardave, and she seeks to become the first dual Fourstardave winner since two-time Horse of the Year and recent Hall of Fame inductee Wise Dan [2012-13].

Arlington will close the sequence with two Grade 1s, starting with the $300,000 Bruce D. for 3-year-olds going one mile on the turf in Race 8 at 6:28 p.m. Trainer Jack Sisterson, who has amassed four Grade 1 wins since 2020, will look to sustain his run by sending out Tango Tango Tango. The race, formerly named the Secretariat, will see Tango Tango Tango, winner of the American Derby at the same track on July 17, face a field that includes Mystic Lake Derby-winner King of Miami and Like a Saltshaker.

Concluding the Cross Country Pick 5 will be the $600,000 Mr. D. for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/4 miles on the turf in Race 9 at 7:13 p.m. Formerly the Arlington Million, the Mr. D. will see the O'Brien-trained Armory, under jockey Ryan Moore, look to parlay strong international efforts into success in North America. Armory was the runner-up in the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia last year and third in the Group 1 Prince of Wales at Royal Ascot two months ago and fourth last out in the Group 2 York on July 24. Brown will have strong representation in this race as well, with Domestic Spending carrying a four-race winning streak into the weekend. Domestic Spending has won six of seven starts overall.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, August 14:
Leg A: Saratoga – Race 9, G2 Saratoga Special presented by Miller Lite (5:39 p.m.)
Leg B: Arlington – Race 7, Beverly D. (5:49 p.m.)
Leg C: Saratoga – Race 10, G1 Fourstardave (6:13 p.m.)
Leg D: Arlington – Race 8, Bruce D. (6:28 p.m.)
Leg E: Arlington – Race 9, Mr. D. (7:13 p.m.)

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First Captain to Skip Travers

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–Four-time GI Runhappy Travers S.-winning trainer Shug McGaughey said Thursday that First Captain (Curlin) will not run in Saratoga's signature race Aug. 28.

Godoplphin's Essential Quality (Tapit), the winner of seven of eight career starts, including the GI Belmont S., is the headliner for the 152nd running of the $1.25 million Travers.

Though the chestnut colt is fine following his third-place finish in the Curlin S. July 30, McGaughey decided to pass on the Travers and point to the GI Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 25.

“I just don't think he's ready for a mile and a quarter,” McGaughey said. “Essential Quality is pretty good.”

McGaughey said he thinks the 'TDN Rising Star' will benefit from having more time between races. Sent off as the 6-5 favorite in the 1 1/8 miles Curlin at Saratoga, First Captain ended up 8 3/4 lengths behind the winner Dynamic One (Union Rags) in third. First Captain entered the Curlin unbeaten in three career starts.

“I didn't think he ran that bad,” McGaughey said. “He was wide the whole way. He was seven-wide turning for home. First time around two turns. It was a little deeper water. These horses had a lot of races, a lot of experience.”

Bred by Bobby Flay, First Captain sold for $1.5 million, the co-topper at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. He is owned by the partnership of West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Flay and Woodford Racing. He debuted Apr. 24 with a seven-furlong victory, and picked up a one-mile allowance win May 29. First Captain captured the GIII Dwyer S. prior to the Curlin.

McGaughey, 70, has won the Travers with Easy Goer (1989); Rhythm (1990); Coronado's Quest (1998) and Code of Honor (2019). He said First Captain is short on seasoning for the Travers.

“I look back to Code of Honor,” McGaughey said, “and he won the Dwyer and he won the Travers, but he had run as a 2-year-old and all winter as a 3-year-old and had run in the Kentucky Derby. He had a lot of experience. This horse didn't. He lost his whole 2-year-old year, so he's really playing catch-up, I think.”

Other Travers prospects are Keepmeinmind (Laoban), runner-up to Essential Quality in the GII Jim Dandy S., and the second-place horse in the Curlin, Miles D (Curlin).

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