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Calhoun Readies By My Standards For Whitney, Mr. Wireless for West Virginia Derby

Trainer Bret Calhoun is poised for an action-packed weekend with Allied Racing and Spendthrift Farm's By My Standards lined up to start in the $1 million Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The four-time graded stakes winner has accumulated earnings in excess of $2.2 million with two Grade 1-placings on the NYRA circuit, including a runner-up effort in last year's Whitney to Improbable. He was a late-closing second to fellow Whitney contestant Silver State last out in the Grade 1 Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 5 at Belmont Park.

By My Standards has posted all four of his graded stakes victories over two turns, capturing the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds Race Course during his 3-year-old year following a third-out maiden score. As a 4-year-old, the son of Goldencents captured the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds, the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, and the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs.

Prior to the Met Mile, By My Standards made a triumphant 5-year-old debut in the Oaklawn Mile at Oaklwan Park in Hot Spring, Ark., on April 10. The Whitney will be By My Standards' first start this year going nine furlongs, which Calhoun says is the horse's best distance.

“That's one of the things that impressed me about his last race, he ran so well and it wasn't his ideal distance,” Calhoun said. “A one-turn mile is a little shorter for him, but he definitely can move forward off that race. He ran a nice race in the Met Mile. He got ran over at the gate a little bit, but he bounced back and trained very well since. I like the good spacing between his races. He'll go an easy half-mile Sunday at Colonial and will arrive at Saratoga Wednesday morning. Hopefully, everything goes well between now and then.”

Gabriel Saez, who has piloted By My Standards in 14 of his 16 starts, will return to the irons.

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Calhoun could also garner prosperity in West Virginia on Saturday with Mr. Wireless in the $750,000 Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park in New Cumberland, W.Va. The Jon Lapczenski and JIL Stable-owned sophomore son of Dialed On won the Grade 3 Indiana Derby on July 10 at Indiana Grand Race Course in Shelbyville, Ind. last out over Sermononthemount and graded stakes winner Fulsome.

Calhoun also could have Tom Durant's graded stakes-winning veteran Silver Dust target the $200,000 Grade 3 West Virginia Governor's Cup. The four-time graded stakes-winning son of Tapit won the Governor's Cup in 2019 and captured the Grade 2 Ben Ali on April 10 at Keeneland two starts ago.

Calhoun said Silver Dust would prefer a cooler climate.

“It's under consideration,” Calhoun said of the nine-furlong event. “He's a lot better in the cooler weather. He just seems to thrive in cooler weather. His energy level isn't near as high in heat. We'll watch the weather and see what happens.”

Calhoun saddled Ain't No Elmers to a second placing at graded stakes level in Wednesday's Grade 2 Honorable Miss at the Spa, where she set the pace and held on gamely for third behind graded stakes-winners Bell's the One and Lake Avenue.

“I thought she ran great. She battled all the way down the lane and never gave up,” Calhoun said. “She was outrun by two very high-quality fillies, so kudos to them. Elmers bounced back good and hopefully, there's a graded stakes with her name on it in the future.”

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Jockey Club Gold Cup The Next Stop For Lightly-Raced Forza Di Oro

Don Alberto Stable homebred Forza Di Oro made a splash in a Saratoga allowance race last week, coming off an eight-month layoff to win by three lengths while geared down at the wire. Trainer Bill Mott plans to point the lightly-raced 4-year-old son of Speightstown to the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 4 at the Spa, according to the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Classic this fall at Del Mar.

The colt has only started six times in his career. Forza Di Oro broke his maiden in his second start as a juvenile, then ran a disappointing eighth in the G2 Remsen. Mott brought him back off a 10-month layoff to win an allowance race and the G3 Discovery last fall, the latter with a 101 Beyer figure, but the colt went back to the sidelines for another eight months.

Forza Di Oro's allowance win was his fourth from six starts, and improved his earnings to $209,375.

“Bill is a Hall of Famer,” Don Alberto stable manager Matt Hogan told the TDN. “This is what he does. He's phenomenal at that. A big horse like this, as Bill said, he's been a little bit of a project, but any little setback is obviously poorly timed. Giving him the time off and bringing him back this year, he just seemed a big, happy, fresh, sound animal that was ready to get out there and rock and roll when we put him back under tack here at the farm. To bring a horse off such a long layoff– yet again to such an impressive performance–just goes to show the capabilities of Bill and his team.”

Out of the graded stakes-placed Hard Spun mare Filare l'Oro, Forza Di Oro is a half-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Silver Dust from the family of Grade 1 winners Stop Traffic and Cross Traffic.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Maxfield the One to Beat in Stephen Foster

The talented Maxfield (Street Sense) headlines a field of nine slated for Saturday's GII Stephen Foster S. at Churchill Downs, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

After suffering his first career defeat finishing third in the GI Santa Anita H. Mar. 6, the Godolphin homebred got back on track with a strong performance in Churchill's GII Alysheba S. on the GI Kentucky Oaks undercard. It was 3 1/4 lengths back to Twinspires Kentucky Cup Classic S. winner Visitant (Ghostzapper) in second that day and another 4 1/4 lengths back to Chess Chief (Into Mischief) in third.

“We shipped him up from Keeneland last week and worked an easy half-mile [in :48 4/5 at Churchill Downs June 19],” trainer Brendan Walsh said of the 4-5 morning-line favorite. “He did most of his work at Keeneland prior to the Foster. He's a fit and happy horse. We're ready to go and excited to get this race underway.”

Maxfield's six-career victories include a win in the 2019 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland.

Warrior's Charge (Munnings), winner of the 2020 GIII Razorback H. and GIII Philip Iselin S. via disqualification, looks to right the ship following a disappointing beginning to his 5-year-old campaign. He was sixth after a slow start in a sloppy renewal of the GIII Steve Sexton Mile S. at Lone Star last time May 31.

The 7-year-old gelding Silver Dust (Tapit), third in this race last year, enters off a win in the GIII Ben Ali in the Keeneland slop Apr. 10.

The post Maxfield the One to Beat in Stephen Foster appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Equibase Analysis: Silver Dust Could Upset Maxfield In Stephen Foster

This Saturday's Grade 2, $600,000 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs brings together a field of nine horses in the Breeders' Cup Classic division trying to earn a “Win and You're In” spot into the big race in November. Leading the field in terms of recent accomplishments is Maxfield, an earner of more than $900K in his career and the winner of six of seven lifetime races who enters the Stephen Foster off a win in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes in April at Churchill.

Chess Chief won the similar Grade 2 New Orleans Stakes in March, before a non-threatening third-place effort behind Maxfield in the Alysheba. Warrior's Charge is another who has had an excellent career, banking $887K, but his most recent win came in February of 2020 when victorious in the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap. Visitant finished second in the Alysheba following a win in the Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes and will certainly be on many a contender list.

South Bend won the Street Sense Stakes over the track as a two year old in 2019 and was winless in 12 straight before a strong allowance win in April. Sprawl just missed by a head in a three horse photo in the Blame Stakes over the track in his most recent race. Necker Island won his most recent race, also over the track just 20 days ago, but had not won prior to that since November, 2019 and has never won a stakes race. Empty Tomb rounds out the field, also going for his first stakes win and also having just won a race at Churchill Downs last month.

I'll start my win contender list with Silver Dust, who has a lot of mental ability to go along with his physical ability. This has resulted in 14 first or second place finishes in 31 dirt races and earnings of $975,677. Perhaps better still, Silver Dust has finished in the top three in eight of 10 career starts at Churchill Downs, winning twice. His best effort ever came over the track and was not a win but occurred when leading late and coming up a neck short of victory in the Lukas Classic Stakes in the fall of 2019, earning a very strong 113 ™ Equibase® Speed Figure in the process.

Putting that into perspective among the rest of the field, favorite Maxfield earned a 115 figure winning the Alysheba Stakes in his most recent race. In April, 20 days before Maxfield won the Alysheba, Silver Dust won the Ben Ali Stakes at the distance of the Stephen Foster even after a slow start and having to battle with two other horses the entire length of the stretch. Jockey Adam Beschizza rode Silver Dust to that victory and rides again which in my opinion gives Silver Dust a chance at posting the upset over likely heavily favored Maxfield in the race.

Maxfield won the first five races of his career including four stakes, the biggest of which was the 2019 Breeders' Futurity. Last season as a three year old Maxfield won the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs in May but was unable to make the rescheduled Kentucky Derby in September. He returned off a layoff last December to win consecutive races including the Mineshaft Stakes with a then career-best 111 ™ figure. After a disappointing third-place finish as the heavy favorite in the Santa Anita Handicap in March of this year, Maxfield won the Alysheba Stakes on April 30 at Churchill Downs with authority, establishing a new career-best 115 figure while pulling away at the end to suggest he can run even better in the Stephen Foster.

Visitant won three of four races to start his career including the Alcatraz Stakes in the spring of 2019, then after two poorer efforts and a setback took 13 months off. Returning in the fall of 2020, Visitant got back into top form in his first two-turn race and second start of his comeback last December, then two races later in March won the Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes at the distance of the Stephen Foster. Earning career-best 107 ™ figures in the comeback win in March and in the Kentucky Cup Classic, Visitant next squared off against Maxfield in the Alysheba and wasn't disgraced a bit when settling for second after leading for the first six furlongs in the race. The 110 figure earned in the Alysheba was a new best figure and he was four lengths clear of the third horse in a solid effort. Having run three “A” races in a row as a five year old, Visitant must be respected as a strong contender in this year's Stephen Foster Stakes.

The rest of the field, with their best ™ Equibase Speed Figures, is Chess Chief (106), Empty Tomb (100), Necker Island (99), South Bend (102), Sprawl (111) and Warrior's Charge (110).

Win Contenders:
Silver Dust
Maxfield
Visitant

Stephen Foster Stakes – Grade 2
Race 11 at Churchill Downs
Saturday, June 26 – Post Time 5:59 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Eighth
Four Year Olds and Upward
Purse: $600,000

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