Saratoga Picks | Caress Stakes 2024

R. Larry Johnson’s Maryland-homebred Future Is Now headlines a talented 11-horse field as the top-three finishers of last month’s Grade 2 Intercontinental reunite in Thursday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Caress presented by Albany Med Health System, at Saratoga Race Course.

The Caress is slated as Race 9 on Thursday’s 10-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Trained by Michael Trombetta, the 4-year-old Great Notion bay enters the 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint from a pace-pressing score in the Intercontinental presented by MTV Solutions on June 7 over the same Saratoga course and distance.

There, returning rival Kaufymaker established command through splits of 21.76 seconds and 44.42 over the firm footing before Future Is Now, under returning pilot Paco Lopez, made a timely three-wide move into the stretch run to take command with one furlong remaining. A stirring stretch run saw Future Is Now score by a head over the late charge of returning rival Roses for Debra with Kaufymaker a neck back in third. Future Is Now stopped the clock in 1:01.35 and garnered a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure.

“Her last couple of races she’s run with a little bit of a different dynamic,” Trombetta said. “She can sit off of a good pace and make a run at them, which maybe early on she didn’t do that so well. Now, she seems to have figured that out.”

Future Is Now has won 3-of-6 starts this year, including a frontrunning optional-claiming win in February at Gulfstream Park and a stalking 2 1/4-length score in the The Very One on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course with Lopez up for the first time ahead of her Intercontinental coup.

Trombetta credited Lopez for Future Is Now’s burgeoning adaptability.

“He noticed it when he rode her first time and was successful with her. He told me this filly would run whatever way you need her to,” Trombetta said.

Future Is Now worked a bullet five-eighths in 1:00.20 July 13 over the Fair Hill synthetic and is scheduled to breeze there again on Saturday.

“I put a pretty decent work in her,” Trombetta said. “I wanted to make sure she was up for this, and I was very happy with the way she breezed. One more easy breeze tomorrow and we’ll send her on up there.”

She is out of the Trombetta-trained Johnson homebred Past as Prelude, who also produced dual stakes-placed Continentalcongres and Call Another Play, who finished third in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan on the same Pimlico card as Future Is Now’s The Very One victory.

“She has two sisters that are basically two-turn dirt horses. It’s kind of strange – they’re a very good group of horses, but they are different,” Trombetta said.

Future Is Now, assigned 124 pounds, will exit post 3 in rein to Lopez.

Cheyenne Stable and John O’Meara’s dual graded stakes-winner Roses for Debra [post 10, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 124 pounds] will look to defend her Caress title for trainer Christophe Clement.

The 5-year-old Liam’s Map gray was a prominent winner of this event last summer at Saratoga, scoring by 2 1/4-lengths over Wakanaka ahead of a scintillating score in the Listed Smart N Fancy where she powered clear to a 3 1/4-length score to register a career and field-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

Roses for Debra closed out her 2023 campaign with an off-the-board effort against the boys in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November at Santa Anita Park but returned victorious in April with a stalking 1 1/4-length win in the Grade 3 Giant’s Causeway over good going at Keeneland. She made a wide bid last out in the Intercontinental and just missed.

“She is training remarkably well,” said Miguel Clement, son and assistant to Christophe Clement. “It was a heartbreaker the other day. Irad will be in the saddle, and we are expecting a winning performance.”

Roses for Debra, a half-sister to stakes-winner Rose’s Vision, is out of the Bernardini mare Essential Rose. She has banked $619,868 through a 13-8-2-1 record.

Clement will also send out West Point Thoroughbreds, Scarlet Oak Racing and Titletown Racing Stables’ multiple stakes-winner Dontlookbackatall [post 8, Joel Rosario, 122 pounds].

The 4-year-old Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Peace and Justice has won her last two outings, taking the six-furlong Listed License Fee against open company in May at Belmont at the Big A ahead of a narrow score in the state-bred Power By Far traveling five furlongs on June 24 at Parx.

“A very consistent filly,” Miguel Clement said. “She has been first or second in 10 of her 12 starts with a pair of stakes victories. It is the next logical approach to try and get graded stakes black type.”

Dontlookbackatall, out of the winning Arch mare Celtic Arch, is a half-sister to graded stakes-placed En Wye Cee. She worked back a half-mile in 50.25 Monday over the Belmont Park dirt training track.

“She is doing well. She had an easy work and she looks well,” said Christophe Clement.

The ultra-consistent dark bay sports a ledger of 12-5-5-0 for purse earnings of $377,290.

Gregory Kaufman’s Kaufymaker [post 4, Luis Saez, 118 pounds] won half of her four starts last year, taking a pair of optional-claimers in prominent fashion for trainer Wesley Ward.

The 5-year-old Jimmy Creed mare earned a graded placing when third against the boys in the 2021 Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar. She raced mainly in allowance company until an off-the-board effort in the Grade 2 Woodford in October at Keeneland to close out her 2023 campaign.

Ward said he was pleased with the Intercontinental effort, setting the pace and staying on gamely while racing from an eight-month layoff.

“She’s back in Saratoga and training well and we are ready to face the top two from the Intercontinental again,” Ward said. “I’m very happy with the way she is coming into it.”

Kaufymaker, a four-time winner of 11 starts for $457,330 in purse money, breezed back three times at Keeneland ahead of a five-eighths breeze in 1:00.90 this morning over the Oklahoma training turf at Saratoga.

NBS Stable and Elements Racing’s graded stakes-winner Danse Macabre [post 5, Adam Beschizza, 122 pounds] will return from an eight-month respite for trainer Kelsey Danner.

“It was just a minor issue. She’s probably been ready for the last month, but we’ve been waiting for this race at Saratoga. She’s well past ready to run,” Danner said.

The 4-year-old Army Mule chestnut boasts a perfect in-the-money record of 10-5-4-1 for purse earnings of $957,090 as she chases millionaire status. She won 3-of-5 starts last year, taking the one-mile Grade 3 Herecomesthebride in March at Gulfstream Park ahead of wins in the Listed Mamzelle at Churchill and the Glen Cove at Belmont at the Big A.

Danse Macabre added runner-up efforts in the Grade 3 Music City at Kentucky Downs and last out in the Autumn Days on November 17 at Aqueduct.

The $55,000 purchase from the 2022 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds-in Training Sale has worked steadily over the Turfway Park synthetic, including four bullet breezes as she readies for her return.

“She always runs well. She doesn’t care where she runs and probably doesn’t care that much about what surface she’s on either,” said Danner, with a laugh. “She handles the synthetic fine, too. She’s very straightforward. She knows what her job is, and she likes to do it and she goes out there and performs every time.”

Danse Macabre is out of the winning Blame mare Sylphide, who is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winner Cambodia.

Trainer Charlie Appleby will hope to be represented by Star Guest [AE 11, Flavien Prat, 118 pounds], who is first call on the also-eligible list.

She would enter her stateside debut from a close third-place finish traveling a straight six-furlongs in the Listed Ellen Chaloner on May 4 at Newmarket.

The 4-year-old Dubawi bay, out of the dual Group 2-winning Shamardal mare Usherette, boasts an 8-3-3-2 record led by a pair of prominent scores in six-furlong handicaps last summer at Newmarket.

Appleby’s traveling assistant Alex Merriam said he expects Star Guest will appreciate a race around the turn at Saratoga.

“She’s always shown plenty of speed back home. Most of her running has been over a straight trip, so I think a turn might suit her,” Merriam said.

A stacked field at Saratoga also includes:

• The Brendan Walsh-trained graded stakes-winner Secret Money [post 2, Tyler Gaffalione, 124 pounds]
• Graded stakes-placed Run for the Hills [post 7, Jose Ortiz, 120 pounds] for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse
• Multiple stakes-winner Zeitlos [post 9, Cristian Torres, 124 pounds] for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen]
• The Jose D’Angelo-trained stakes-winner Freedom Speaks [post 6, John Velazquez, 118 pounds] who is cross-entered in Wednesday’s Grade 2 Honorable Miss on dirt here
• Four-time winner Kerry [post 1, Dylan Davis, 118 pounds] for trainer Joe Sharp.

Hot Fudge and Everyoneloveslinda, who are both cross-entered in Wednesday’s Grade 2 Honorable Miss; and Speedy Traveler are entered for the main-track only.