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Saratoga Report #4

Saratoga Report #4

Wise Dan Just Keeps Winning
Wise Dan Just Keeps Winning

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

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