SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As well as Drew’s Gold has run winning four of his five career starts, trainer and part-owner James Chapman expects his best performance to date when he sends him out in Friday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters at Saratoga. “He’ll run better than he’s ever run,” Chapman said Wednesday. “If there’s something that’s going to jump with him then so be it. I know he ran a big Beyer number last time, but he’ll move forward again.” Drew’s Gold earned a career-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure running second behind Arabian Lion on June 10 in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park. Drew’s Gold had won his previous four starts by a combined 14 lengths, including the Jimmy Winkfield and Gold Fever, a pair of listed stakes. What gives Chapman so much confidence in Drew’s Gold now is his recent unimpeded racing and training schedule. Hindered by a tibia injury and then an illness early in his career, this will be Drew’s Gold’s third race in a form cycle that began May 12. :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  “As far as a horse being ready to run, he’s as ready as I’ve led one over there in the last whatever years,” said Chapman, who 20 years ago trained the multiple stakes-winning sprinter Caller One. “He’s as well prepared and he’s better than he’s ever been. By saying that, I respect the lead ponies at Saratoga.” Drew’s Gold will have a new rider in Jose Ortiz, who was expected to return to riding Wednesday after suffering bruised ribs in a spill last Friday that prompted him to take off over the weekend. Drew’s Gold will break from the rail in the Amsterdam. “He breaks good now and the speed’s all to the outside of him,” Chapman said. “He’s really good right now. If that’s an excuse then he’s not what I thought.” Steve Asmussen has won the last three runnings of the Amsterdam and six overall. Friday, he’ll send out Ryvit, who, after losing the first three starts of his career, brings a five-race winning streak into the Amsterdam. The streak has coincided with the addition of blinkers and, for the most part, him getting out of the gate better than earlier in his career. “He’s a very hearty horse, obviously,” Asmussen said. “Personality-wise he reminds us of [2022 Amsterdam winner] Gunite. He’s that compact, very attractive horse. This is a new test for him being Saratoga and Drew’s Gold is probably the fastest horse he’s run with, but he’s been running.” Ricardo Santana Jr. will be the fourth straight different rider to climb aboard Ryvit, who is coming off a sharp three-length victory July 2 in the Maxfield at Ellis Park run over a sloppy track. Gilmore was three-quarters of a length behind Drew’s Gold when finishing third in the Woody Stephens. Before that, he was third behind General Jim and Fort Bragg in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs. He will benefit from a speed duel and a six-pound weight break from Ryvit and Joey Freshwater. Joey Freshwater beat Gilmore in the Grade 3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct in April. Deer District is coming off a powerful victory in a first-level allowance on May 28 at Churchill. New York Thunder is 3 for 3, but this will be his first start on dirt. The Amsterdam, run at 6 1/2 furlongs, is the local prep for the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens here Aug. 26. The Amsterdam goes as race 10 on an 11-race card that begins at 1:10 p.m. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.