Tony Dutrow | Horse Racing Free Tips

Dutrow Considering Stretching Un Ojo Out After Great White Way Effort

Trainer Tony Dutrow said Cypress Creek Equine's Un Ojo will target races going beyond a mile following his game runner-up effort going seven furlongs in Saturday's $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series for eligible state-sired juveniles at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Un Ojo, who made his first start for trainer Dutrow in the Great White Way, has shown improvement across his four starts this year, breaking his maiden at second asking and finishing fourth in the Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., in his first try at the stakes level.

“When I went over him this morning, he seemed very good,” Dutrow said. “I was extremely happy that he continues to improve. You can see in each race that he keeps getting a little better. And he continued that pattern yesterday. He was ridden impeccably too.”

The son of Laoban, who is missing his left eye, was piloted from the outermost post 11 by jockey Trevor McCarthy and raced three-wide down the backstretch before being swung to the center of the racetrack between rivals in the turn and making a bid for the lead at the top of the stretch.

With urging from McCarthy, Un Ojo closed the gap between him and pacesetter Unique Unions but lost momentum when eventual winner Geno drifted out and brushed up against Un Ojo's eyeless left side and defeated the gelding by a half-length. With both an objection from McCarthy and a steward's inquiry resulting in no change to the order of finish, Dutrow said he was not upset with the ruling by the stewards.

“At 63 and having done nothing but horse racing my entire life, I've seen those calls yesterday go either way,” Dutrow said. “The stewards don't have an easy job; nothing is easy with horses. Should the horse have stayed up? Sure. If the horse had been taken down, would that have surprised me? No. But I'm not complaining. I don't have a problem with them keeping the horse up.”

Dutrow believes that Un Ojo's lack of vision might have contributed to his loss of momentum.

“I strongly think that if Un Ojo had both eyes, that little bump wouldn't have done anything to him,” said Dutrow. “As I was watching it, I really thought he was going by [Geno]. Then we saw the head-on and at the bump, his momentum stopped. And I do think it's because he has no left eye. When he's bumped, he doesn't know what is going on. So he was startled and if he had been able to see the horse coming in, I don't think it would have been a problem.”

Un Ojo is out of the multiple stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Risk a Chance, who herself is out of graded stakes-winning mare Seeking the Ante. Dutrow said he is confident that the dark bay's pedigree will allow him to stretch out going forward.

“I think the horse is crying to go a mile or a mile and an eighth,” said Dutrow. “I don't think there's a question about that being out of an A.P. Indy mare. I believe strongly that he can't wait for that. We've got no plans for him to be a six- or seven-furlong horse. I did learn that he's a decent enough horse to overcome a distance he does not prefer.”

Dutrow said he does not have a specific race circled on the calendar yet for Un Ojo.

“We aren't going to make the Jerome [on January 1] and I haven't really looked into it yet or talked to the client,” said Dutrow. “We would have to consider something at a mile and an eighth in February next.”

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Upstart Colt Goes One Better at Saratoga

7th-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 9-6, 2yo, 6f, 1:10.53, my, 2 lengths.
DON'T WAIT UP (c, 2, Upstart–Lovely Marissa, by Proud Citizen) was sent off the even-money choice to build on a nose second to GI Hopeful S. starter Power Agenda (Nyquist) on debut Aug. 14. Scratched down into gate three, the bay colt, the subject of Steve Sherack's Second Chances column Sept. 3, veered sharply inward when the gates flew, causing Matt Doyle (Violence) and the well-backed Commandperformance (Union Rags) to take evasive action. From there Don't Wait Up was ridden aggressively to argue the pace from the inside of the rain-affected strip, turned for home with a clear advantage and proved two lengths superior in the finish. Commandperformance was taken to the outside in the stretch and finished with good energy to round out a chalky exacta. A claim of foul against the winner by the connections of the runner-up for interference at the break was disallowed and the result was allowed to stand as it. A $1,500 Keeneland November weanling, Don't Wait Up was a $23,000 purchase as a short yearling at OBS's Winter Mixed Sale in early 2020 and matured into a $200,000 OBS April juvenile after working an eighth of a mile in the bullet time of :9 4/5. He has a yearling half-brother by American Freedom and a foal half-brother by Warrior's Reward. His dam, who sold for $2,500 while in foal to American Freedom at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton February sale, was bred back to Tapiture. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, $75,000.

O-Cypress Creek Equine; B-Brereton C. Jones (KY); T-Anthony W. Dutrow.

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Second Chances: Don’t Wait Up

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.

Nominated to Monday's GI Hopeful S. after a too-good-to-lose second on debut at Saratoga Aug. 14, Don't Wait Up (c, 2, Upstart–Lovely Marissa, by Proud Citizen) will instead return in a maiden special weight on the closing day card.

Given a 7-1 chance to win at first asking going six furlongs, he was away last of 10 from post nine after veering in and bumping with a rival at the start.

The bay was on the move beneath Javier Castellano to race in an outside fifth through an opening quarter in :22.27 and made an eye-catching, four-wide bid to challenge for command approaching the quarter pole.

He set his sights on the pacesetting Power Agenda (Nyquist)–entered in a loaded renewal of the Hopeful–as they straightened from home, and, after racing shoulder to shoulder with that game rival down the stretch, just came up a nose short with heads bobbing up and down on the line. Don't Wait Up earned a 76 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

Don't Wait Up returned to the worktab with a four-furlong breeze in :48.12 (7/42) over the Oklahoma training track Aug. 28. Trainer Tony Dutrow has quietly enjoyed a nice meeting from limited action at the Spa, sporting a record of 12-3-4-2 at the stand.

“He's always trained very good and then he came up here to Saratoga for his first race and he ran very well,” Dutrow said. “We were very happy with him.”

He continued, “Personally, I like when some adversity happens– dirt hits them in the face, they're among horses, etc.–in a first-time starter's race. The more experience they can get out of their first race, the more they're gonna put that to use in the future.”

Bred in Kentucky by Brereton C. Jones, Don't Wait Up brought $200,000 from Bluewater Sales, agent, on behalf of Cypress Creek Equine after firing a :9 4/5 bullet from the Woodford Thoroughbreds, Agent CLV, consignment at OBS April. He previously was a $1,500 KEENOV weanling and a $23,000 OBSJAN short yearling. Don't Wait Up is the second foal out of the winning mare Lovely Marissa, a daughter of GI Spinaway S. third and blowout Saratoga debut winner Valiant Passion (Lion Heart).

Don't Wait Up takes on a full field of nine rivals going six furlongs for his second start.

“The first time horses run, it can be a very overwhelming experience for them, but Don't Wait Up took everything very well,” Dutrow said. “He certainly learned a great deal and went through a lot in the race. He came out of it very good, we gave him a workout back, and we're looking forward to getting him back out there on the track. We'll just have to see what exactly became of his experience in his next race Monday. It's his second start and we'll take it from there.”

Previous standouts featured in 'Second Chances' include: GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code), GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner and Royal Ascot G2 Norfolk S. runner-up Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GIII Las Virgenes S. heroine Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner and MGISP Spielberg (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway), and MSW and 'TDN Rising Star' Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

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Chad Brown-Trained Trio Headline Ballston Spa

Trainer Chad Brown will be represented by a trio of turf distaffers while seeking his sixth triumph in Saturday's 33rd running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Ballston Spa for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles over the Mellon turf at Saratoga Race Course.

Brown, a three-time leading trainer at the Spa, is the winningest trainer in the Ballston Spa, having saddled Zagora [2012] and Lady Eli [2017] to victories en route to Champion Grass Female honors in their respective years, as well as winning with Dacita [2015], Quidura [2018] and Significant Form [2019].

Juddmonte's Viadera, who arrives off nearly three week's rest, was a troubled fourth as the favorite in the De La Rose on Aug. 8 at the Spa, where she made her first start in over eight months. The 5-year-old daughter of Bated Breath will try to regain her winning form from last season, when she secured three stakes victories.

Following a triumph by a neck in the 2020 De La Rose, which was her second start in North America, she won by the same margin against stable mate Blowout in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel on September 26 at Belmont Park. Viadera brought her form to new heights when shipping to Southern California for the Grade 1 Matriarch on November 29 at Del Mar, besting Blowout once more under a well-timed ride by jockey Joel Rosario to win by a nose.

In the De La Rose last out, Viadera rated at the rear of the field along the rail, checked slightly down the backstretch, and lacked racing room in upper stretch to close late finishing 2 ¾ lengths behind stable mate Regal Glory.

“She had a lot of trouble last time, but she got something out of it and hopefully can move forward off short rest,” Brown said.

Rosario, the pilot in all five of her North American starts, will retain the mount from post 3.

Kalifornia Queen, owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and First Row Partners, arrives off a late-closing second to stable mate Great Island in the Grade 3 Matchmaker on July 17 at Monmouth Park.

A Group 2 winner in her native Germany, the 4-year-old daughter of Lope de Vega was unplaced in graded stakes in her first two starts in North America, but made her third effort stateside a winning one in an allowance optional claiming tilt at the Ballston Spa distance on July 13 at Belmont Park.

Brown said he was satisfied with the effort.

“She ran great last time. Cutting her back and taking the blinkers off have done her well,” Brown said.

Kalifornia Queen will leave post 6 under jockey Flavien Prat.

Swift Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables' Tamahere seeks her first victory since capturing her North American debut in the Grade 2 Sands Point on October 10 at Belmont Park.

The French-bred daughter of Wootton Bassett finished second in two of her three efforts this season. In her 2021 debut, Tamahere was second to Juliet Foxtrot in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on April 10 at Keeneland. After a distant ninth in the Grade 1 Longines Just a Game on June 5 at Belmont Park, she received a drop in class into allowance optional claiming company to run second on July 28 at Saratoga.

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride Tamahere from post 2.

Trainer Tony Dutrow will send out Woodford Racing's High Opinion, who bested winners last out on July 31 going one mile over Saratoga's inner turf.

The 4-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid lit up the tote board when breaking her maiden at 97-1 odds on October 10 at Belmont Park and validated the effort when finishing a close second in the next-out Winter Memories on November 15 at Aqueduct.

Jockey Luis Saez will pilot High Opinion from post 1.

R Unicorn Stable's New York Girl has been multiple graded stakes placed since joining the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott last year and will seek a breakthrough victory in the Ballston Spa.

The 4-year-old daughter of New Approach was beaten by one length or less in three graded stakes events to kick off her 2021 season. After losing by one length in the Grade 3 Endeavor on February 6 at Tampa Bay Downs, she returned to the Oldsmar oval to finish third beaten three-quarters of a length one month later in the Grade 2 Hillsborough. In the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile on May 1 at Churchill Downs, she closed late to finish second and miss by a half-length.

New York Girl arrives off a troubled fourth at allowance optional claiming level on August 1 over the Spa inner turf.

Breaking from post 4, New York Girl will be piloted by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, the winningest rider in the Ballston Spa with five victories.

Rounding out the field is Just In Time Racing's multiple stakes-placed Platinum Paynter, who was third in the Grade 3 Beaugay on May 8 at Belmont Park and in the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial on July 6 at Parx Racing. Trained by Juan Vazquez, the daughter of Paynter made her 5-year-old debut when second to Regal Glory in the Plenty of Grace on April 24 at Aqueduct.

Jockey Jose Lezcano will ride from post 5.

The Ballston Spa is slated as Race 4 on the 13-race card. First post is 11:35 a.m. Eastern. For the third consecutive year, FOX will air the Runhappy Travers as the centerpiece of a 90-minute telecast beginning at 5 p.m. The networks of FOX and FOX Sports will air 7.5 total hours of live racing and analysis on Runhappy Travers Day, with coverage scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on FS1. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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