Volatile | Horse Racing Free Tips

Violence’s Volatile Takes Care of Business in Vanderbilt

Sent off the prohibitive 2-5 chalk while making his first appearance in Grade I company, Three Chimneys Farm and Phoenix Thoroughbreds’ Volatile (Violence) fell out onto the lead, enjoyed a soft time of things on the engine and turned it on late to post a 1 1/4-length victory in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga.

The Vanderbilt was reduced to a field of four by the gate scratching of Lexitonian (Speightstown), who was unlikely to have a say in the finish, but who may have set or otherwise impacted the pace. The start of the race was further delayed by Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), who broke through the gate, but was pulled up after galloping about a furlong and was passed fit to run. The quartet broke as one, but with none of the horses showing particularly keen early interest, Ricardo Santana, Jr. took the bull by the horns and led the field through an opening quarter in :23.46, a nearly unheard-of split for this level of competition.

Chased around the turn by dual Saratoga Grade I winner Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) and GISW Firenze Fire (Poseidon’s Warrior) farther out, Volatile turned for home after a half in :46.67 and dared them to match strides with him late. But as he had done in previous victories in Oaklawn allowance company Apr. 24 and in the Listed Aristides S. at Churchill June 6, he delivered a quick turn of foot and covered the final two furlongs in a career-best :22.94 to defeat a very game Whitmore. Mind Control held for third over Firenze Fire, the four horses covered by two lengths at the wire.

“For a Grade I sprint race to be allowed that first quarter [:23.46 seconds] was very fortunate,” said trainer Steve Asmussen, winning the Vanderbilt for the third time (Majesticperfection, 2009; Justin Phillip, 2013). “I think the anxious moments were all pre-race with the incident at the gate. Once he was away from the gate smoothly and they threw up the first quarter, he would be awfully hard to beat from there.”

Added Phoenix Thoroughbreds’s Amer Abdulaziz: “We’ll need to see how he comes out of this, but the future looks exciting. Today’s win was an important one for his value as a stallion, but he also proved he is one of the best sprinters in the country. We’d love to give him a chance to prove that. This is our first Grade I winner with Steve and we are delighted for him and his team. Also massive congratulations to our very good friends and partners Three Chimneys.”

Volatile, his sire’s most expensive horse sold at public auction when hammering for $850,000 at Keeneland September in 2017, was a debut winner at Ellis Park last August and was second in Churchill allowance company the following month before closing the season with a victory in Louisville Nov. 3. He posted stalk-and-pounce successes in his two aforementioned appearances this season while running up the score to the tune of 15 1/2 lengths combined.

Pedigree Notes:

Volatile is the second Grade I-winning sprinter for his sire in the last five weeks, joining ‘TDN Rising Star’ No Parole, who earned his wings in the Woody Stephens S. in similar front-running fashion.

Volatile, also the 24th top-level winner produced by a daughter of the late Unbridled’s Song, is out of a stakes-winning daughter of Lady Tak, who was conditioned by Steve Asmussen to wins in this track’s GI Test S. and GI Ballerina S. Lady Tak is also the dam of Japanese SW & GSP A Shin Spartan (Zensational) as well as the very promising 3-year-old filly Casual (Curlin).

Melody Lady is the dam of the 3-year-old colt Soccer Dad (Bayern), a $260,000 KEESEP yearling who was second in a Del Mar maiden turf sprint in his lone trip to the races. Her 2-year-old of this year is the Bayern colt Grendel and she produced a filly by Army Mule this season.

Saturday, Saratoga
ALFRED G. VANDERBILT H.-GI, $232,500, Saratoga, 7-25, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:09.61, ft.
1–VOLATILE, 121, c, 4, by Violence
                1st Dam: Melody Lady (SW), by Unbridled’s Song
                2nd Dam: Lady Tak, by Mutakddim
                3rd Dam: Star of My Eye, by Lucky North
   1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($850,000 Ylg
’17 KEESEP). O-Three Chimneys Farm and Phoenix
Thoroughbred III; B-Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings, Inc & Stretch
Run Ventures, LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Ricardo
Santana, Jr. $137,500. Lifetime Record: 6-5-1-0, $341,040.
*Full to Buy Sell Hold, SW & GSP, $125,520. Werk Nick Rating:
   A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Whitmore, 123, g, 7, Pleasantly Perfect–Melody’s Spirit, by
Scat Daddy. O-LaPenta, Robert V., Moquett, Ron and Head of
Plains Partners LLC; B-John Liviakis (KY); T-Ron Moquett.
$50,000.
3–Mind Control, 123, c, 4, Stay Thirsty–Feel That Fire, by
Lightnin N Thunder. O-Red Oak Stable (Brunetti) & Madaket
Stables, LLC; B-Red Oak Stable (KY); T-Gregory Sacco. $30,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, HF, NK. Odds: 0.40, 4.30, 6.00.
Also Ran: Firenze Fire. Scratched: Lexitonian. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree

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Fleet-Footed Volatile Goes for Grade I Glory in Vanderbilt

Of the five horses signed on for Saturday’s GI A. G. Vanderbilt H., two are already winners of Grade I races at Saratoga, and a third has been successful at Grade III level while placing in Grade I company. In a different year, any of the three could go favored in the six-furlong dash, but not this one, as they all have the very exciting and very fast Volatile (Violence) to beat.

His sire’s priciest offspring, having fetched $850,000 as a Keeneland September yearling nearly three years ago, the gray colt hinted at a fair bit of ability last season, winning two of his three starts with an upward Beyer trajectory. He has been nothing short of sensational in two outings this season, good for a 7 1/2-length allowance victory at Oaklawn Apr. 24 before rolling home to score by eight lengths in the June 6 Aristides S. at Churchill. In the latter event, Volatile was just off a half-mile split of :44.38, but nevertheless sprinted his final two panels in a spectacular :23.19 to earn a 112 Beyer. A repeat or even a slight regression will make him his sire’s second Grade I-winning sprinter in the last month (No Parole, Woody Stephens S.).

The evergreen Whitmore (Pleasanty Perfect) scratched from a Keeneland allowance in favor of this spot. The 7-year-old made the most of his lone Spa appearance to date, coming from off the pace to win the 2018 GI Forego S. The chestnut was typically brilliant over the winter at Oaklawn, where he won the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. for the third time in four years Apr. 18. The in-form Joel Rosario takes over at the controls.

Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) is a dual Grade I winner at the Spa, having annexed the Hopeful S. in 2018 and last year’s H. Allen Jerkens S. Winner of the GIII Toboggan S. and GIII Tom Fool H. at Aqueduct over the winter, the bay may not have handled the off track when a well-beaten sixth to subsequent GI Runhappy Met Mile hero Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) in Belmont’s GI Carter H. June 6.

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Equibase Analysis: Volatile Poised To Dominate Talented Vanderbilt Field

The Grade 1, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap is a showcase for some of the best horses in the Breeders' Cup Sprint division each summer and this year's edition is no exception. Three millionaires are among the quintet who entered the race – Whitmore ($3.1 million), Firenze Fire ($1.9 million) and Mind Control ($1 million).

In spite of this, young upstart Volatile is the one to beat. Lexitonian rounds out the field and can't be totally counted out either based on his best prior efforts.

In somewhat similar fashion to the COVID-19 delayed 3-year-old division in the run-up to the Kentucky Derby, some horses' 2020 campaigns were delayed this winter and spring as tracks around the country were closed. The same thing has happened in other divisions, such as the sprint division, in which Volatile, who was off from November to near the end of April, returned to put in two powerhouse performances worthy of top billing in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap. Volatile debuted as a 3-year-old last July and won at first asking before finishing second then winning again, all at six furlongs.

Those efforts were nothing compared to his 2020 debut in April at Oaklawn when he dueled with another horse on sizzling early fractions (21.6, 44.8) then, in a field of 11, he still drew off by seven and one-half lengths to earn a stakes quality 119 Equibase Speed Figure. To put that in perspective, the best figure Whitmore has ever earned throughout his stellar career is 121 and the best figure Firenze Fire has ever earned is 119. After the decisive win, Volatile returned the first week of June and this time exploded to win by eight lengths with a 118 figure. Since then he's come back to work well, including three workouts at Saratoga, so we know he's holding his form. Making only his third start of the year and with improving to do as a 4-year-old, Volatile could put on a display of speed today which is on par for the kind of superb performances the Saratoga meeting has to offer every year.

Whitmore finished second in February in his 2020 debut and has won both starts since, in March and April. His trainer was planning to run him in an allowance race at Keeneland on July 12 as a prep for this race but decided to just train him up to it, and that's fine as Whitmore has won off short layoffs before. In his only previous foray to Saratoga, Whitmore won the Forego Stakes in 2018 and this six furlong trip is his forte, evidenced by a record of 12 wins in 21 starts. However, this year his three efforts yielded 111, 113 and 114 figures, which arguably are shy of what Volatile has earned in his last two races.

Firenze Fire won a stakes race as a two year old at Saratoga back in 2017, and he's won a lot of races in between in amassing a record of 11 victories from 26 starts. Last month at Belmont, Firenze Fire won the True North Stakes rather easily with a 111 figure which may seem low but being as it was only his second start after four months off, there is potential to improve back to the level when he won the Fabulous Strike Stakes last fall with a 119 figure, or when second in the 2019 Vanderbilt with a 117 figure.

Mind Control is another classy horse, with a seven for 13 career record including two wins at Saratoga in two tries. One of those came in the Hopeful Stakes in only the third start of his career in 2018. The other came last August in the H. Allen Jerkins Stakes. After five months off, Mind Control returned to win his first two races of 2020, with a career- best 113 figure effort in the Tom Fool Handicap at this distance in March. Returning on a sloppy track in June, Mind Control was no factor in the Carter Handicap and I have no issue drawing a line through that race. Like Volatile, Mind Control is a 4-year-old who can improve and contend in this race.

Lexitonian won the Concern Stakes last July and the Chick Lang Stakes on Preakness weekend last May but has only won one time in five races since. That win came at the end of May and although he beat Hog Creek Hustle, who had finished second to Mind Control in last year's Jerkins Stakes at Saratoga, the figure was just 101. As such, I think it's asking a bit too much of Lexitonian to beat any of the other four top sprinters in this race.

Win Contender:
Volatile

Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap – Grade 1
Race 10 at Saratoga
Saturday, July 25 – Post Time 6:16 PM E.T.
Six Furlongs
Three Years Olds and Upward
Purse: $250,000

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7-Year-Old Whitmore Returns To Saratoga For ‘Tough’ Edition Of Alfred G. Vanderbilt

Six-time graded stakes-winner Whitmore will return to historic Saratoga Race Course for the first time since winning the 2018 Grade 1 Forego when the veteran son of Pleasantly Perfect looks to notch his third straight victory during his 2020 campaign in the Grade 1, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Owned by Robert LaPenta, Southern Springs Stables and Head of Plains Partners, Whitmore has been a model of consistency in a career that started with a debut win in the fall of 2015. The 7-year-old is 14-10-3 with earnings of more than $3.14 million in 34 starts for trainer Ron Moquett. He came to prominence on the 2016 Kentucky Derby trail, where he ran second in both the Grade 3 Southwest and the Grade 2 Rebel while finishing third in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby before a 19th-place performance in that year's Run for the Roses.

As he's gotten older, Whitmore has earned repeated trips to the winners' circle and has come close on other occasions, such as his runner-up effort to Roy H in the 2018 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint, and third behind champion male sprinter Mitole and Shancelot in last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita.

Whitmore enters the Vanderbilt off back-to-back wins in the Hot Springs [which he captured for the fourth consecutive time] and a three-quarter length score last out in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint in April at Oaklawn Park. Moquett said the layoff's benefit could be more pronounced near the end of the campaign with what he hopes is another Breeders' Cup appearance, scheduled for November in Keeneland.

“I don't think it's as beneficial for this race as the rest of the year,” he said. “It'll show up that we gave him a breather around October or November. He's doing good, now. He looks happy.”

Competing at the Vanderbilt's six-furlong distance, Whitmore is 12-6-2 in 21 career starts, with his only off-the-board finish coming when eighth in the 2017 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar. He will carry the co-highweight of 123 pounds on Saturday.

“Options are limited for a sprinter in North America this year due to the COVID-19 and all the changes, so we're adjusting. We always wanted to compete in this race with him,” Moquett said.

Whitmore's 2018 Forego win featured him besting City of Light, who would come back to win the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and the Grade 1 Pegasus the following January.

“It was a great race and one my favorite races of all time,” Moquett said. “I'd really would like to win the Vanderbilt now. There's a ton of quality horses running in it, so it's going to be a tough, but fun, race.”

Joel Rosario, aboard during Whitmore's runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Phoenix in October at Keeneland, as well as his seventh-place effort in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile in December at Aqueduct Racetrack, will return to ride from post 2.

“I try to stick with familiarity with him as much as I can, and Joel is a quality rider,” Moquett said.

Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire has four wins in his last five starts dating to November. Off a nearly four-month layoff, and with Kelly Breen taking over the training duties, the 5-year-old son of Poseidon's Warrior ran fourth in the Grade 1 Carter, a seven-furlong sprint on Belmont Park's main track on June 6, before roaring back three weeks later to win the Grade 2 True North on June 27.

After registering his 10th career stakes win, Firenze Fire, who ran fifth in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint, will get another crack at the Vanderbilt after running fourth in last year's edition won by Imperial Hint. He will carry 122 pounds.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has won his last three starts aboard the veteran with $1.93 million in earnings, having piloted him to the True North score as well a four-length win in the Grade 3 in February at Laurel Park and the Fabulous Strike in November at Penn National. He will exit from post 3 on Saturday.

“We got Irad back, everything is doing well,” Breen said. “We just need things to keep going smooth. I believe the distance will suit him really well. He's doing as well as he was into his last race.”

Volatile has shown the form that made him a big-priced purchase for the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, winning four of his first five career starts. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen saw the Violence colt win two of his three starts as a sophomore. After a 7 ½-length win against allowance company started his 4-year-old year on April 24 at Oaklawn, the $850,000 purchase was moved up to stakes company for the first time, where he dominated the six-horse field for an eight-length win in the Aristides at the Vanderbilt distance on June 6 at Churchill Downs, garnering a 112 Beyer Speed Figure.

Owned by Phoenix Thoroughbred Partners and Three Chimneys Farm, Volatile will make both his Saratoga and graded stakes debut, carrying 121 pounds from post 4 with Ricardo Santana, Jr. retaining the mount for the fifth straight start.

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' Mind Control has the potential to post a Grade 1 win as both a juvenile, 3-year-old and now a 4-year-old if he can win the Vanderbilt for trainer Gregg Sacco.

Both of the Stay Thristy colt's Grade 1 scores have come at Saratoga, starting with the seven-furlong Hopeful in 2018 and last year when he edged Hog Creek Hustle by a nose in the H. Allen Jerkens on Runhappy Travers Day. After starting 2020 with back-to-back Grade 3 wins at Aqueduct in the Toboggan and Tom Fool, respectively, Mind Control returned off a three-month layoff to run sixth in the Grade 1 Runhappy Carter.

Sacco will ship him up from his base a Monmouth Park to the friendly confines of Saratoga. Drawing the outermost post 5 carrying the co-highweight of 123 pounds, Mind Control will look to reach a special accomplishments for his connections, including the Brunetti family and Sol Kumin.

“He's 2-for-2 there, so he does have an affinity for Saratoga and we're excited to get him back there and hope he performs well,” Sacco said. “To go for Grade 1 wins at 2, 3 and 4 would be special for him and our team and the Brunettis and Sol Kumin. It's very exciting to bring him back, but we expect a very tough race and we're just hoping Mind Control gives us his top performance.”

Hall of Famer and three-time Vanderbilt-winning jockey John Velazquez will be in the irons.

Calumet Farm's Lexitonian, winner of the 2019 Grade 3 Chick Lang at Pimlico, will be making his first Grade 1 appearance since running 10th in the 2019 Woody Stephens at Belmont.

Trained by Jack Sisterson, Lexitonian defeated optional claimers last out on May 29 at Churchill and will cut back from seven furlongs. The 4-year-old Speightstown colt will carry 116 pounds, drawing post 1 with Tyler Gaffalione aboard.

The 36th running of the Vanderbilt is slated as Race 10 on Saturday's 11-race card, which will also offer the Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa for older fillies and mares on the turf in Race 3. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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