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Bound For Nowhere Pointing To Saratoga’s Troy Stakes

Bound for Nowhere, who finished third last out in the Grade 1 Jackpocket Jaipur on June 5 at Belmont Park, will pursue another graded stake on the NYRA circuit for owner-trainer Wesley Ward when he runs in the Grade 3, $200,000 Troy presented by Horse Racing Ireland on August 6 at Saratoga Race Course.

The seven-time winning millionaire broke sharply in the six-furlong Jaipur with some company from fellow graded stakes winners Sombeyay and Gregorian Chant to his outside. Bound for Nowhere maintained command until just past the sixteenth-pole when passed by Casa Creed, who notched a two-length score over Chewing Gum.

While pleased with the effort, Ward said he would rather see Bound for Nowhere convey a late-closing running style which he showed when conquering the Grade 2 Shakertown under Joel Rosario on April 3 at Keeneland.

“From behind I think he's better, especially as he gets older,” Ward said. “As luck would have it, he broke decent. He was kind of smoking out there the first part of the race. I was happy with the way he ran, but I would have rather seen him come from behind. It wasn't Joel's fault, I don't give riding instructions. I was just really happy with the way he rode him in the Shakertown, where he came from well out of it and showed one big punch. I loved that ride.”

Bound for Nowhere, a 7-year-old son of The Factor, breezed an easy five-eighths over the turf at Belmont Park on Thursday morning in his second work following the Jaipur.

“He worked at Churchill the day after closing day along with Golden Pal,” Ward said. “I like to keep them on the grass, so I shipped them to Belmont to work them on the grass at Belmont.”

Ward said Golden Pal will target the Grade 3, $120,000 Quick Call on July 15, Opening Day at the Spa. The son of Uncle Mo, out of 11-time stakes-winner Lady Shipman, last raced when capturing the Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on November 6 at Keeneland.

Golden Pal also worked five-eighths over the Belmont turf on Thursday morning.

“From what I see with him in the mornings, he's just extremely talented,” Ward said.

Golden Pal finished a close second as a maiden in the Group 2 Norfolk at Ascot last June at second asking. On his return to North America, Golden Pal graduated in style with a front-running score in the Skidmore in August at Saratoga.

Ward said Stonestreet Stables' Campanelle has returned from her recent Royal Ascot conquest in good order.

The Irish-bred daughter of Kodiac crossed the wire second in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup on June 18, but was elevated to first following the disqualification of Dragon Symbol. The victory marked a second straight Royal Ascot conquest for Campanelle, who won the Group 2 Queen Mary last summer at the prestigious race meet.

Campanelle is currently at Keeneland training for her next test which will likely take place in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest on August 8 at Deauville in France. Last year, she captured the Group 1 Prix Morny at the French racetrack.

“She's ready for a work,” Ward said. “We're in a little bit of a pickle because we're mandated to breeze on the dirt. That's her home track and that's where she thrives. Her race is about a month from now in France.”

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Orseno On Imprimis: ‘A Coach Is Only As Good As His Players,’ But ‘We Have The Right Player’

Breeze Easy LLC's Imprimis jogged twice around the training track at Keeneland Tuesday morning for a scheduled start in Saturday's Turf Sprint with a strong chance to give his trainer Joe Orseno a third career Breeders' Cup success.

“We're going to go to the gate tomorrow, which wasn't in my plans. Seeing we drew post three, I've decided to take him in the gate to stand him,” Orseno said. “I really wanted to be further on the outside. You can't do much about it.”

Imprimis was rated second in the morning line at 4-1 behind Got Stormy, the 7-2 favorite who finished second in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Mile last year at Santa Anita.

“I'm happy to have Irad [Ortiz Jr.] to ride him. He's a quality rider who knows the horse,” Orseno said. “He could get bottled up in there, but he has enough tactical speed for us to really do what we want.”

Imprimis, who has won eight of 15 career starts, finished sixth, beaten just four lengths, in last year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. After an extended break, the 6-year-old gelding has finished first in his only two starts this year in the Troy at Saratoga and the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint. The son of Broken Vow, however, was disqualified and placed third for drifting in during the stretch run of the Troy while making his first start in nine months.

“There was a lot of disappointment we didn't get the win. I never thought about the money. Yeah, I would have liked to get a bigger commission, but for me, it was: we did all that off that layoff; we got him ready and got him where we wanted him to be; shipped him to Saratoga and for him to win that way… ,” Orseno said. “They can't take that race away from him. They can take the first-place away, but the race was what I needed to get and that's what we got out of it. It definitely moved him forward for his next race.”

Imprimis was shuffled back in traffic in the stretch run at Kentucky Downs but recovered to mount an impressive drive to score by a neck under Ortiz Jr.

“I had no idea he was trapped down on the inside like that,” said Orseno, noting he didn't have a good vantage point while watching the race. “He just rode him out and around. That move he made doing that, picking up horses of that caliber, I told the owner, 'He has to be one of the choices for the Breeders' Cup off that race.' I think he'll peak for this race.”

Should Imprimis win the Turf Sprint Saturday, Orseno will enter a Breeders' Cup winner's circle for the first time since 2000, when he saddled Perfect Sting for a win in the Filly & Mare Turf and Macho Uno for a score in the Juvenile at Churchill Downs.

“It would mean a lot. When I went on that run with Stronach [Stables], it was five years and I was in it almost every year. We won two of them and were very competitive – we were third in the Classic with Golden Missile [in 1999]. I thought, 'I'll be doing this every year.' When you don't get to come back, you realize what it's about and what it takes,” Orseno said. “I have a conception of what it takes to get a horse ready to do this, but you have to have the horse. A coach is only as good as his players. Right now, we have the right player.”

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‘Couldn’t Dream Of Anything Better’: Wayne Potts Celebrates Memorable First Stakes Win

It wasn't conventional, but it was memorable. As the years go by, Laurel Park-based trainer Wayne Potts will have no trouble recalling the circumstances of his first career stakes win.

The milestone victory happened Aug. 8 in Saratoga, when Raj Jagnanan's 8-year-old gelding American Sailor finished second in the $200,000 Troy (G3) but had his number put up following the disqualification of first-place finisher Imprimis for interfering with Shekky Shebaz, who ran third.

Potts' breakthrough in the 5 ½-furlong turf sprint for older horses also came as part of Saratoga's Travers (G1) program, the biggest of its summer meet.

“I couldn't dream of anything better,” Potts said. “I've had 12 or 13 seconds … but this was my first one. To knock them both out at the same time, a stakes and a graded-stakes … at Saratoga … on Travers day … it's unbelievable.

“I had dinner [that] night and my phone was beeping and dinging. As I'm walking my horse around waiting for the decision by the stewards, my phone's going off non-stop,” he added. “I had an outpouring of support from everybody just for finishing second in the race, and then when they put us up it was such a different feeling. I wish the stands would have been packed to get that experience but to get national TV coverage and to have that happen, it's fantastic.”

Potts, a 39-year-old native of Rockville, Md. who went out on his own in 2004 after working four years for Charles Town-based trainer David Rose, said he received 374 text messages following the race.

“I was on my phone until almost midnight [that] night trying to respond to everybody and then [the next] morning. It was great. Trainers from Maryland messaging me … the support that I got was amazing,” Potts said. “To the guys in Maryland and where I started back at Charles Town and Shenandoah [Downs] I'd say, 'Guys, keep dreaming. It can happen.'

“I started with one $500 horse. I started from the ground up, cleaning stalls and hotwalking, and I got to where I am today,” he added. “Again, I can't take all the credit. My owners are behind me. My help at the barn, they work endless hours. My assistants, I couldn't do it without them. I give them just as much credit as I give myself.”

Potts hauled American Sailor from Laurel to Saratoga and back himself, giving his stable star a few days off before bringing him back to the track. After getting the winter off for the first time in three years, American Sailor returned with an optional claiming allowance victory June 8 at Laurel, more than seven months following his 2019 finale.

“That race made me feel really good about him. I fought tooth and nail. My owner at first didn't want to give him the time, he wanted to go to Sam Houston like we had been doing,” Potts said. “It took a good 30 days for it to finally sink in and he said, 'You know what, if that's what you want to do go ahead and do that,' so I turned him out.

“He told me [after the race] and he messaged me again [the next] morning and said, 'I have to tell you, the best thing you ever talked me into doing was giving the horse the time off,'” he added. “He came back and he looks fantastic. He looks so good after giving him the time to drop his head and be a horse for the 60 days we gave him. It was great to see the flesh on him coming back. He really filled out and he's really muscled up. It was the right thing to do.”

Jagnanan was also on hand at Saratoga for the win, the 15th of his career for American Sailor, who saw his career bankroll swell over $500,000. Potts claimed American Sailor for $25,000 in September 2017 at Suffolk Downs, lost him for a $7,500 tag the following summer and got him back shortly afterward when Jagnanan purchased him privately.

Since their reunion, American Sailor has put together a record of 5-3-1 from 13 starts for Potts with purse earnings of more than $400,000, the bulk of his races having come at Laurel or Pimlico Race Course.

“Maryland racing is no joke. Maryland racing is very, very tough. Lots of good horsemen, lots of quality horses, lots of good trainers. Maryland racing is very, very competitive,” Potts said. “This horse, he means a lot to me. I'm taking [the DQ win] and running with it. I've been disqualified from races before and I was a little upset about it and the guys that got the win were smiling and walking away, so that's what I'm going to do.”

Potts said he will take his time finding a spot for American Sailor to run back. Laurel will be hosting the $100,000 Laurel Dash for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs on its world-class turf course Monday, Sept. 7 during the extended summer meet.

“We're going to play it by ear,” he said. “I'm going to take the next week, week and a half to see how he comes back and then get him back on the racetrack and go from there. I'm in no rush to wheel him right back.”

Potts was quick to credit Maryland Jockey Club outrider and ex-jockey Kaymarie Kreidel and current Laurel-based rider Tais Lyapustina with American Sailor's development. Lyapustina is recovering from a spill at Laurel three hours before the Troy was run.

“Kaymarie gallops the horse for me and Tais works him all the time for me. The two have done a great job with him. Believe it or not, a guy cannot gallop him. He doesn't get along with them. He's a ladies' man. Both of those ladies have done a fantastic job,” Potts said. “I actually spoke to Tais [the next day]. She said she was a little sore but everything's well. Nothing was broken, which was great news for herself and me. I use her a lot at Laurel.”

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Desormeaux: Horse That ‘Changed My Life’ Continues To Pay Dividends

My Girl Red, who cruised to a 4 3/4-length victory in Friday's Grade 2, $150,000 Sorrento Stakes, is a daughter of 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red. Both were/are trained by Keith Desormeaux.

“Texas Red changed my life,” Desormeaux said after the Sorrento. “Texas Red was the culmination of a lifetime of telling myself, and other people, that you don't have to pay boxcar prices (for horses) to win major races.

“I'll always be appreciative of that, and it's icing on the cake to have the same ownership group breed this kind of mare in his first group. Hopefully, it's onwards and upwards for him.”

In making it 2-for-2 for her career, favored My Girl Red ($3.80), was in control virtually from the start without much encouragement and was merely taking stock of her surroundings during the final sixteenth of a mile.

“She's always shown that she has a lot of class and she has the physical attributes that I look for in a good horse,” Desormeaux said. “For her to win first time out is the (epitome) of class. It shows that you don't have to work forty-five and change in the morning to show that kind of speed in the afternoon.”

Like father, like daughter? Not around the barn.

“Texas Red didn't want you to touch him. He's was pretty ornery,” Desormeaux said. “He wasn't a lovable type. This filly really seems to like to be around people. None of those ornery traits for her.”

Asked if the Grade I, Del Mar Debutante (September 6) was next, Desormeaux didn't hesitate. “Oh, of course,” he said.

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