Saratoga Report #4

Three Stars of the Week

– 1st Star: Wise Dan (KY) – The defending Fourstardave winner was back to defend his title, and he was simply brilliant in winning it for the second straight year on Saturday.  Carrying ten or more pounds than every other runner in the field, Wise Dan easily defeated his five rivals like they were a bunch of 5k claimers.  The win was his eighth in a row, and his seventieth win in twenty-four starts.  It’s obvious that last year’s Horse of the Year hasn’t lost a step, and should be right on track to become a back to back Breeders Cup Turf Mile Champion.  His race schedule is under much scrutiny, but lets all just enjoy this great champion while we have the chance!

– 2nd Star: Corfu (KY) – After digging down deep just 17 days ago to break his maiden, Corfu returned Sunday to win the Saratoga Special…and he had to DIG DEEP again to get the job done!  After setting blistering early fractions, Corfu stubbornly held off a pesky Wired Bryan and a let charge from his stable mate Danza.  The win makes Corfu 2 for 2 on his career, and also makes him a very early leader of the two-year old division.  Corfu reminds me a lot of Pletcher’s dominant two-year old of last year; Shanghai Bobby.  With his early turn of foot, he should be very hard to beat in one turn races.

– 3rd Star: Designer Legs (LA) – It took a disqualification, but it was still a tally in the win column for Designer Legs in the Adirondack Stakes.  She was actually beaten by a neck by Who’s in Town, but Who’s in Town interfered with favorite Fiftyshadesofgold in he stretch run and was disqualified.  The win was a fascinating one considering Designer Legs was coming off a maiden win at Canterbury and a small stakes win at Prairie Meadows.  Those two tracks and Saratoga don’t usually mix, but it’s obvious that this horse can run with anyone in the division right now.  She ended up being the second longest price on the board, and paid $35.00 to win.  She’s now three for three lifetime, and will most likely be pointed towards graded stakes for the rest of the season.

Flop of the Week

– Candy Dandy (KY) – There was much hype for Candy Dandy leading up to the Saratoga Special, but things didn’t work out like most expected on Sunday.  After being bet down to the even money favor based on several solid Saratoga workouts, Candy Dandy was a well beaten fifth, beaten by over nine lengths.  It’s hard to get too down on a two-year old this time of year, however disappointing they might be.  I’d say there was some sort of problem, and he’ll come back running next time out.

Trainer Standings

Rank	Trainer Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $		Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Todd A. Pletcher	63	23	5	10	$2,473,366		37%	38	60%
2	Chad C. Brown	51	13	8	9	$1,057,906		25%	30	59%
3	David Jacobson	45	9	5	7	$493,113		20%	21	47%
4	Steven M. Asmussen	32	8	6	3	$687,156		25%	17	53%
4	Michael J. Maker	51	8	7	10	$533,619		16%	25	49%
6	William I. Mott	45	7	7	4	$588,142		16%	18	40%
6	George Weaver	21	7	3	3	$512,658		33%	13	62%
6	Dominic G. Galluscio	24	7	6	2	$319,555		29%	15	63%
9	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	33	5	6	3	$434,236		15%	14	42%
9	Rudy R. Rodriguez	43	5	7	7	$317,625		12%	19	44%
11	Christophe Clement	32	4	5	11	$390,640		13%	20	63%
11	Claude R. McGaughey III	14	4	1	4	$290,050		29%	9	64%
11	John P. Terranova, II	13	4	0	2	$192,463		31%	6	46%
14	Albert M. Stall, Jr.	13	3	2	2	$265,794		23%	7	54%
14	Bruce N. Levine	29	3	5	4	$243,735		10%	12	41%
14	Dale L. Romans	26	3	3	2	$238,923		12%	8	31%
14	Wesley A. Ward	21	3	3	2	$197,805		14%	8	38%
14	Anthony W. Dutrow	13	3	3	2	$189,445		23%	8	62%
14	Michael E. Hushion	11	3	2	1	$187,366		27%	6	55%
14	Nicholas P. Zito	27	3	3	3	$183,671		11%	9	33%
14	Michael R. Matz	10	3	0	1	$181,721		30%	4	40%
14	Eddie Kenneally	12	3	1	0	$134,075		25%	4	33%
14	Mitchell E. Friedman	11	3	0	1	$127,152		27%	4	36%
14	Richard Metivier	10	3	0	2	$109,970		30%	5	50%

Jockey Standings

Rank	Jockey Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $		Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Joel Rosario	170	32	32	24	$2,577,697		19%	88	52%
2	Javier Castellano	169	31	30	34	$2,392,388		18%	95	56%
3	John R. Velazquez	131	28	16	19	$2,891,701		21%	63	48%
4	Jose Lezcano	116	15	14	17	$1,494,930		13%	46	40%
5	Jose L. Ortiz	98	13	8	10	$785,620		13%	31	32%
6	Junior Alvarado	83	11	9	4	$857,749		13%	24	29%
7	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	130	10	15	23	$950,067		8%	48	37%
7	Joseph Rocco, Jr.	76	10	5	1	$709,887		13%	16	21%
7	Cornelio H. Velasquez	91	10	11	11	$686,693		11%	32	35%
10	Luis Saez	124	9	13	13	$926,819		7%	35	28%
11	Rosie Napravnik	93	8	14	10	$729,826		9%	32	34%
12	Rajiv Maragh	87	7	6	16	$484,528		8%	29	33%
13	Alex O. Solis	50	5	5	5	$393,259		10%	15	30%
13	Abel Lezcano	46	5	1	3	$230,740		11%	9	20%
15	Edgar S. Prado	59	4	11	9	$565,633		7%	24	41%
15	Robby Albarado	32	4	5	3	$337,389		13%	12	38%
15	Jose L. Espinoza	56	4	4	3	$241,699		7%	11	20%

Preview to Next Week

– Wednesday: The Troy Stakes – 3 year olds and upward – 5 1/2 Furlongs (Turf) – Purse: $100,000

– Thursday: The West Point Stakes – New York bred 3 year olds and upward – 1 1/16 Miles (Turf) – Purse: $150,000

– Friday: The Yaddo Stakes – New York bred Filly and Mares 3 Year olds and upward – 1 1/16 Miles (Turf) – Purse: $150,000

– Saturday: The Sword Dancer Stakes (Grade 1) – 3 year olds and upward – 1 1/2 Miles (Turf) – Purse: $600,000

– Saturday: The Alabama Stakes (Grade 1) – 3-year-old fillies – 1 1/4 Miles – Purse: $600,000

– Sunday: The Lake Placid Stakes (Grade 2) – 3-year-old fillies – 1 1/8 Miles (Turf) – Purse: $200,000

– Monday: The Union Avenue Stakes – New York Bred Fillies and Mares 3 year olds and upward – 6 furlongs – Purse: $100,000