Call Paul shrugs off bumpy ride to win Saratoga Special

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Jason Servis had been teaching Call Paul to sit off horses in the likely event that one day he will not find himself on the lead early in a race.

Servis thought that situation would be in play in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special. But after the scratch in the paddock of Stage Left - the horse Servis thought would be on the lead - plans changed.

Instead of stalking the pace, Call Paul was part of it in a scratched-reduced field of four. It mattered little, as Call Paul shrugged off some early pressure and then a bump in upper stretch from Tight Ten to win the Saratoga Special by a length at drying-out Saratoga.

Tight Ten finished second by 1 3/4 lengths over Spinoff, who was 4 3/4 lengths in front of Meade.

Sir Truebadour scratched to run in next Friday’s Skidmore Stakes on turf. Stage Left scratched in the paddock after trainer Wesley Ward noticed the colt’s left hind ankle had filling in it and alerted a track veterinarian, who recommended the scratch.

Call Paul, breaking from post 2, was jostled at the start by Meade. But he took jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. to the lead and had a half-length advantage through a quarter-mile in 22.48 seconds and a half-mile in 45.98.

At the three-sixteenths pole, Tight Ten, under Ricardo Santana Jr., veered in and bumped Call Paul. But Call Paul never lost momentum and, despite brushing with that horse again at the eighth pole, held Tight Ten at bay.

“He really took off when he felt the other horse,” Ortiz said.

Call Paul, a son of Friesan Fire owned by Michael Dubb, David Simon, and Michael Caruso’s Bethlehem Stable, covered the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.55 and returned $3.70 as the favorite.

“We were thinking we were going to be on heels laying second or third, but I’m glad Irad went,” Servis said. “We always thought he was a nice colt. When it works out, it’s great.”

Though Call Paul has been based at Monmouth and won his debut at Delaware Park, he will most likely stay in New York for the immediate future. Servis said he would likely skip the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 3 and point Call Paul to the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park on Oct. 6. Servis won last year’s Champagne with Firenze Fire.

Tight Ten, a son of Tapit trained by Steve Asmussen, ducked in when he won his debut at Churchill Downs in June. He did it again Sunday in the stretch.

“He’s a quality horse with a lot of talent; he got beat by a very talented horse,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “But he is young mentally and stuff, he’ll get a lot better. We can lose his mind if we want to teach him a lesson. Teach a Tapit a lesson, you don’t win much.”