Turned Aside Turns the Tables in Quick Call

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – A sharp stretch effort helped Turned Aside turn the tables on the favored Jack and Noah and the rest of the field as he won Friday’s $100,00 Quick Call Stakes (G3) at Saratoga.

Turned Aside exited the far outside 8 post under Jose Lezcano as the 2/1 second choice and sat off while Jack and Noah – the 4/5 odds-on top choice – set the early pace.

High Cruise refused to give Jack and Noah an easy lead and kept him company along the rail, and Turned Aside tracked closely in the clear while running three-wide.

Making his bid halfway through the far turn, Turned Aside took command with relative ease and straightened for home with a growing advantage.

Old Chestnut rallied on the far outside from last, but nobody was catching the Linda Rice-trained Turned Aside, who crossed 1 3/4 lengths clear in a final time of 1:01.99 for the 5 1/2-furlong firm outer turf sprint.

“I had a very good trip,” Lezcano said. “My horse broke very sharp and was right there when I asked him. (Jack and Noah) was lugging out a little bit, but I held my position, and when I asked him, he gave me everything.”

Old Chestnut beat Fore Left and Flap Jack to the wire, taking second by a neck and a head over the other two in third and fourth, respectively.

Jack and Noah faded in the stretch and outfinished only High Cruise to complete the order of finish.

Power Up Paynter scratched, having just recently run on Sunday. Sky of Hook was a Main Track Only entry.

Turned Aside’s victory was his first at the stakes level and his first against Jack and Noah, who previously defeated him in the Atlantic Beach Stakes and the Sir Cat Stakes. The 3-year-old American Pharoah colt improved his overall record to 7-3-2-1 with $179,992 earned for owner/breeder Paul Pompa, Jr.

“Paul and I discussed it, and we felt if we didn’t engage early, we were just going to hand it over to Jack and Noah, and we’ve done that enough already,” Rice said. “Sometimes, you change courses and one horse prefers Belmont (Park) and one horse prefers Saratoga, and I thought our horse has been training great all spring, and maybe we could turn the tables on him on a different course.”

Turned Aside returned $6.50 to win, $3.90 to place, and $2.90 to show. Old Chestnut brought back $5.90 to place and $4.10 to show, while Fore Left paid $4.50 to show.