Bauer sets sights on graded stakes with top runners
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It has been another good Saratoga meet for Phil Bauer and the Kentucky-based trainer hopes he’s not done yet.
Bauer has won four races from his first eight starters at Saratoga and has his eyes set on at least two upcoming graded stakes before this meet ends.
Bauer plans to run Xigera in the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign on Aug. 23 followed by Angkor in the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego on Aug. 24.
Xigera ended her 3-year-old campaign with a trio of stakes victories including the Grade 2 Mother Goose at Aqueduct last October and the Grade 3 Falls City at Churchill in November. With expectations set high for her 4-year-old season, Xigera finished last in the Grade 1 La Troienne run over a sloppy track on May 3, second in the Grade 3 Shawnee on June 1, and fifth of six with a troubled trip in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis on June 29.
“She hated the slop and then the race after that, I only gave her one breeze in between,” Bauer said. “I was really pleased with the way she ran that day. It signaled to me we were back and pointed in the right direction. The trip in her last was just hellacious.”
In the Fleur de Lis, Xigera got bounced around in the stretch between Scylla, the eventual winner, and Occult, and had to be taken up in midstretch.
The last few weeks, Xigera has been working with Angkor, who is coming off a solid second to Closethegame Sugar in the Kelly’s Landing Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 29. Bauer said he had considered the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt for Angkor, but prefers the seven furlongs of the Forego.
“I think he’s the type of horse if you don’t have to run him off his feet early. He comes running, so that’ll be the plan,” Bauer said. “I think it’ll be a short field but you hope for a good draw and a good trip.”
Bauer has a trio of 3-year-old fillies that he is trying keep away from each other. Halina’s Forte just got up to win Sunday’s off-the-turf Galway Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs. He has Two Sharp and Princess Madison, winners of a maiden race and a first-level allowance, respectively, at this meet. Bauer said he would like to run Princess Madison in the Charles Town Oaks on Aug. 23 and Two Sharp in the Grade 3, $200,000 Prioress here on Aug. 31.
Two Sharp, who earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for her 11 1/4-length maiden win on Aug. 2, “might be more talented than them all, it’s just taken a little longer to get started,” Bauer said. “It’s hard to take a step forward off [the Beyer] they gave her but I thought there was more in the tank that day. It’ll be a tougher race but I think she’s cut out for it.”
Bauer still has some 2-year-olds to run, including the first-time starter Jonathan’s Way, a son of Vekoma who is entered in Saturday’s first race against a few horses who have already made at least one start.
“He’s a pretty nice horse,” Bauer said. “I thought there might be more first-time starters in the race. I always feel like horses have an advantage with a start.”
Bauer’s four wins so far at this meet follow prior success here the last two summers, when he won five and six races in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
“Hopefully, we can get a few more, but I don’t think you can get greedy up here,” Bauer said. “We’ll go home happy if this is it and go from there.”
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