Cutback, easier company the key for Chasing Liberty in Caesars Handicap
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A turnback in distance from 1 1/16 miles to one mile and easier competition mark Chasing Liberty as the horse to beat in the $150,000 Caesars Handicap on Wednesday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
Shorter distance, class relief, and the presence of jockey Luis Saez figure to make Chasing Liberty favored in the Caesars, a grass race for 3-year-olds.
The Caesars, a handicap in name only, drew just eight entrants. Three first-time turfers – Goldwyn, Smoken Boy, and Up to No Good – rate somewhere between no chance and the faintest of hope. Brodeur also makes his turf debut if this race remains on grass (there’s a decent chance of rain throughout mid-week), though he’s hit a higher level than the other three.
Brodeur was claimed for $125,000 out of his last race by the connections of Kentucky Derby runner Chunk of Gold, trainer Ethan West and owner Terry Stephens. Brodeur is by Nyquist, an average turf-route sire, and out of the Pulpit mare Tea Time, a dirt sprinter who has not produced a turf winner.
Discreet Dancer fits, though his nose loss last out in a first-level Churchill Downs grass allowance came with a favorable race flow. It also came this past Friday, May 9. His trainer, Antonio Sano, sends out an unusually high number of starters running back on less than 10 days’ rest, 148 over the last five years. He used to do well with this move, but over the last two years has gone 0-1-3 with 25 starters.
That leaves Sing Sing and Clocker Tower as Chasing Liberty’s main rivals. Making his third start last July, Sing Sing cleared the maiden ranks at Ellis Park in his turf and route debut, but didn’t race again until April. The Mark Casse-trained gelding was getting a good pocket trip in a Keeneland first-level turf allowance last month until he found himself blocked behind rivals for most of the homestretch. And when a hole finally opened at the sixteenth pole, fast-closing States’ Rights came crashing into it, impeding Sing Sing and forcing him down into an inside rival.
Clock Tower comes out of the same race as Chasing Liberty, the Grade 3 Transylvania, where Clock Tower checked in a fading eighth. He did so after pressing the pace, and all of Clock Towers top performances, including a pair of one-mile turf wins last year, came in front-running fashion. A clear lead Wednesday, however, is far from assured.
When Chasing Liberty bore down on Clock Tower at the eighth pole in the Transylvania it looked like he might win. Instead, Chasing Liberty flattened late and checked in fifth. The story had been similar in the 1 1/16-mile Black Gold at Fair Grounds, that after Chasing Liberty won two stakes over one mile.
“Luis gave him a perfect trip last time, he surged to the lead, and he just got late on us,”trainer Rob Atras said. “He’s run a mile and a sixteenth twice now and didn’t seem to finish quite the same as at a mile.”
The cutback could provide a road map back to the winner’s circle for Chasing Liberty.
Horseshoe Indianapolis Handicap
Sigh No More might win the $150,000 Horseshoe Indianapolis Handicap. She might not. But one thing that seems certain: Sigh No More will not be 10-1 as she’s listed on the morning line in this one-mile grass race for 3-year-old fillies. She might even be favored under Luis Saez.
The Horseshoe Indianapolis, a handicap in name only, drew an overflow field, a dozen in the main body and two also-eligibles. One of those, Irish import Bessie Abott, can contend.
Sigh No More, also is an Irish import, but where Bessie Abott raced last month at Keeneland, finishing an encouraging second in a first-level grass allowance, Sigh No More makes her North American debut. Purchased at auction last fall, Sigh No More raced seven times at age 2, winning three, the first two going seven furlongs on heavy ground, the third in her Ireland finale and career peak, a 1 1/8-mile Group 3 on Oct. 24.
“I had her all winter, and she’s had plenty of time to acclimatize,” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “As she’s gotten further along, her works have improved.”
Still, Sigh No More is no flashy horse in the morning. All her best races came on wet courses and, Walsh concedes, she probably needs distance for her best.
Walsh cross-entered Sigh No More and Play With Fire in the Hilltop on Friday at Pimlico. He’s monitoring Indiana weather, but one of two could be scratched even if the turf is in good shape Wednesday. Walsh is looking for firmer going with Play With Fire, who ran better than it looks on paper finishing fourth last out in a Keeneland first-level allowance. Caught three wide with no cover around the far turn, the filly moved too early into a strong pace in a race dominated by closers.
Running Away will try to wire the Horseshoe Indianapolis. Multiplication, coming off two blowout turf-route scores in Texas, will press the issue. Love You Anyway, a plausible winner, will try to work out a trip from post 12. And Sigh No More will not be 10-1.
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