Backyard Heaven looks to regain top form in Alydar Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The jury is still out on whether Backyard Heaven will ever get back to his Grade 2-winning form of last season. But the answer to that question should become a lot clearer after Backyard Heaven takes on eight other older horses, including likely favorite Tom’s d’Etat, going 1 1/8 miles in the $100,000 Alydar Stakes on Friday at Saratoga.

Backyard Heaven earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure in just his third start, winning an allowance race at Aqueduct when launching his 2018 campaign. He returned six weeks later at Churchill Downs with a 4 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2 Alysheba, posting a 105 Beyer.

But in two subsequent starts, Backyard Heaven finished sixth in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill and seventh over a sloppy track here in the Grade 1 Whitney. Following the Whitney he was sidelined 11 months due to an ankle injury. Backyard Heaven finally returned to action on July 7 at Belmont Park, finishing a tiring third in the State Dinner, an overnight stakes.

“He had a minor ankle issue, we did some surgery, and it took a while to get him back,” trainer Chad Brown said. “But he’s got a race under his belt – he seems to have taken it well – and he should move forward on Friday. He’ll need to. At this point, it’s hard to stay whether he’ll be able to return to his form from last year. I’m curious to see how he moves along, but I’m hopeful.”

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In his last two starts, Tom’s d’Etat finished second in the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill and third behind winner Seeking the Soul in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster there.

Trainer Al Stall Jr. resisted the temptation to run Tom’s d’Etat in the Whitney on Saturday for this easier spot. Aside from having a class edge on much of the field, Tom’s d’Etat also has won his only two starts at Saratoga by a combined margin of 13 lengths.

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens is excited about the prospect of running Candygram on Friday off his second-place effort in the 1 1/16-mile State Dinner, for which he received a career-best 99 Beyer Figure.

“It’s a tough spot for a little hundred-thousand-dollar stakes, but that’s what you get here,” Jerkens said. “In his last race, he really showed me a lot because he ran kind of spotty, but at the end he made another run at the leader, which makes me feel a little more comfortable about the mile and one-eighth. Even though he did win going a mile and one-eighth at Aqueduct, it was against a bad bunch, and I really didn’t know how to rate that. And he’s trained great since his last start.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher will send out Wooderson, American Tattoo, and You’re to Blame, in the Alydar.

Wooderson had a two-race win streak snapped when 10th in the Grade 2 Suburban. American Tattoo, an import from Argentina, steps into stakes company for the first time in the United States off a second-level optional-claiming win at Belmont Park. You’re to Blame gets some class relief after taking on graded stakes company in his last two starts, including a second as the favorite, beaten a neck, in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special in May.