Domestic Spending makes strides with Saratoga Derby victory

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Domestic Spending has come a long way in a short time.

Unraced until mid-February of his 3-year-old campaign and with only two starts under his belt when the meet began, Domestic Spending jumped to the upper echelon of his division Saturday when he registered a head victory over a fast-closing Gufo in the $500,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational.

Decorated Invader, acknowledged by most to be the leader of the 3-year-old turf division, finished a tiring fifth as the 4-5 favorite.

Domestic Spending, who rallied from far back to finish third behind Decorated Invader in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame four weeks earlier, raced closer to the early pace set by Get Smokin in the 1 3/16-mile Saratoga Derby. Domestic Spending commenced his bid while racing four wide into the stretch, rallied down the center of the course to overtake the leader passing through the furlong grounds, then held off Gufo’s final surge.

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Gufo raced near the rear of the field for nearly a mile, eased well outside for the stretch run, ducked in briefly from a right-hand stick losing key momentum while full of run inside the sixteenth pole, and fell just short with the bid. No Word slipped up the rail to close contention near midstretch, but could not quite sustain the bid, finishing another half-length farther back in third.

Domestic Spending is a gelded son of Kingman. Owned by Klaravich Stable Inc., he returned $16.40 after completing the distance in 1:52.52 over a firm course while giving jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. his third of four wins on the card.

“We were hoping he’d break a little bit better than last time, that was our plan,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He was out of position last time. Fortunately the horse cooperated and Irad rode a great race.”

Brown said he had to make the tough decision to geld the extremely well-bred Domestic Spending during his 2-year-old campaign due to his quirky nature.

“He took a little while to mature and we had to geld him early on, which is a hard thing to do with well-bred horses like him,” Brown explained. “But he really wouldn’t train willingly. He was a bad actor. But that helped him a lot and with racing experience the horse has really matured. Irad and I talked in the paddock about how well behaved he was today. And between his last start and today, he’s been more focused in his works. Together we were pretty confident he’d run his best race to date.”

Trainer Christophe Clement saddled both Gufo and Decorated Invader in the Saratoga Derby.

“Gufo ran a very good race, unfortunately the wire came up a little early and the horse in front of him ran very well,” Clement said. “Decorated Invader was a little bit aggressive in the first part of the race and he probably paid for it a little bit at the end. They went a little bit quicker than I expected the first part.”