Quick Call Preview: Jack and Noah Seeking Third Stakes Score

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Gary Barber’s Jack and Noah is seeking his third stakes-level score as he headlines Friday’s $100,000 Quick Call Stakes (G3) at Saratoga.

The Quick Call is a 5 1/2-furlong outer turf sprinted restricted to 3-year-olds. This year’s edition attracted a field of eight (including five stakes winners) and has a local post time of 5:46 PM Eastern as the penultimate event on a 10-race Friday card.

Here is a look at the full field for the Quick Call:

1. High Cruise 20/1 – After failing to menace as the 2/1 favorite in his debut at Churchill Downs, he strutted his stuff stylishly with a 7 1/2-length romp at Thistledown in his second start. He has yet to race competitively on turf, but he fired a 4-furlong bullet in :48.60 over the local lawn on July 19 (best of 52 going that distance), so he may take to it just fine.

2. Jack and Noah 1/1 – He is one of two in the field with multiple stakes scores on the resume, courtesy of the Sir Cat on June 19 and last November’s Atlantic Beach. Mark Casse conditions the French-bred colt, who knows one thing: go straight to the front and try to hold them off late. 

3. Flap Jack 12/1 – He broke his maiden with an impressive 4-length romp in last September’s Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes on the synthetic surface. After running poorly in 3 Kentucky Derby (G1) prep races, he was a 4-length clear winner on the Thistledown dirt last time out and looks best suited in one-turn sprints.

4. Old Chestnut 6/1 – The “other” Casse entry won his first 2 turf starts, including last September’s Ontario Racing Stakes at Woodbine, while running on the front end. He failed to hit the board in 4 subsequent starts (all against stakes rivals) before finishing third (beaten 2 lengths) in the Sir Cat behind a pair of familiar rivals, including his stablemate.

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5. Fore Left 8/1 – The other entry with multiple stakes scores on his resume, he took home the Tremont and the Sunny Slope as a juvenile, then won the UAE 2000 Guineas (G3) in his 2020 debut. His lone prior turf attempt saw him finish 10th in the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes (G3) last December, but that was a two-turn mile; he looks much better when sprinting.

6. Sky of Hook 8/1 – The lone Main Track Only entry won his first 2 starts, including a sloppy (sealed) edition of the Rick Violette Stakes against fellow New York-breds. He is unraced since August 23 when he was a well-beaten eighth in the Funny Cide Stakes, but trainer Rudy Rodriguez wins 17% with horses returning from layoffs of over 180 days.

7. Power Up Paynter 12/1 – One of two Linda Rice-trained entries, he returned from a slight layoff to beat New York-bred allowance rivals in a 6-furlong turf sprint at Belmont Park on June 20. He most recently was sixth when competing over this same course and distance on July 19, but Rice wins 37% with horses running back after less than 1 week’s rest.

8. Turned Aside 2/1 – The second Rice runner nearly toppled Jack and Noah in the Sir Cat, finishing second by 1 length in a career-best effort. The American Pharoah colt was making his first start after nearly seven months away and has not lost a step in his morning works, so any expected improvement could help him turn the tables on the favorite.