Craftsman’s new style could benefit him in Better Talk Now Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Of course Graham Motion was going to run a horse in Wednesday’s $100,000 Better Talk Now Stakes at Saratoga. But Craftsman isn’t just a token entry; he is among the bevy of contenders in a fairly wide-open running of this one-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds.
Motion trained Better Talk Now through a marvelous career that included nine graded stakes victories from 14 wins and earnings of $4.3 million. That included a victory in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Sword Dancer, a race Motion won again Sunday with Main Sequence.
Craftsman will not be confused with either Better Talk Now or Main Sequence, but he was a Group 3 winner in Ireland last year and is coming off a victory in the Nick Shuk Memorial Stakes at Delaware Park in his first start for Motion. Craftsman showed a different dimension that day under Alex Cintron, coming from off the pace. That style might suit him well again Wednesday in a race with plenty of speed.
“He ran a big race last time, obviously against lesser horses than this,” Motion said. “I give Alex a lot of the credit. Alex changed up the way he rode him that day. He worked him a couple of times, and he said, ‘I’m going to take him back,’ and really, it made a big difference.”
Cintron, the second-leading rider at Delaware Park this meet, will make his Saratoga debut Wednesday.
Storming Inti, trained by Chad Brown, is the horse to beat. He reeled off four consecutive victories from last September through January, including three stakes similar to this. He has lost his last five starts but against superior competition than what he faces here. Most recently, Storming Inti was third behind Tourist in the Sir Cat Stakes here on opening day, a race, like this one, run at a mile and restricted to 3-year-olds. Tourist finished second in Saturday’s Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Storming Inti. Trainer Chad Brown is 14 for 38 with a $2.69 ROI over the past five years at Saratoga in turf races following an in-the-money finish last out.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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KEY CONTENDERS
Storming Inti (Last 3 Beyers: 91-85-90)
◗ His best races have come when on or near the lead, but he could find several others who want that early position in this spot.
◗ He chased the speedy Tourist to no avail when finishing third in the Sir Cat Stakes here July 18.
◗ He is reunited with Alan Garcia, who was aboard for two stakes wins at Gulfstream last November and January.
◗ FORMULATOR FACT: Chad Brown is 8 for 30 with a $1.40 return on investment in non-graded turf stakes at Saratoga over the past five years.
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Craftsman (Last 3 Beyers: 82-58-84)
◗ He rallied from off the pace to win the Nick Shuk Memorial at Delaware Park on July 10, his first start for Motion.
◗ Craftsman won a Group 3 stakes over soft ground in Ireland as a 2-year-old when trained by Aidan O’Brien.
◗ FORMULATOR FACT: Motion is 6 for 31 with a $2.79 ROI in non-graded turf stakes at Saratoga over the past five years.
Pure Sensation (Last 3 Beyers: 90-90-94)
◗ He made a successful turf debut when coming from off the pace to win the Quick Call Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs here July 24.
◗ He was rated off stablemate Summer Front in a five-furlong workout that went in 1:02.60 over the Oklahoma turf course last Friday.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Pure Sensation. Trainer Christophe Clement is 1 for 16 with a $1.25 ROI over the past five years at Saratoga stretching from sprint to route on turf.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Los Borrachos. Trainer Bill Mott is 1 for 19 with a $0.40 ROI over the past five years at Saratoga when moving horses from dirt to turf and stretching from sprint to route.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan