Finley'sluckycharm targets Ballerina after big win

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Bret Calhoun believes Finley’sluckycharm got the perfect prep for the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 25 in Wednesday’s Grade 2 Honorable Miss Handicap.

Finley’sluckycharm, under Brian Hernandez Jr., stalked Vertical Oak from the outside and edged away in the final sixteenth to win the Honorable Miss by 2 1/4 lengths.

“It was the kind of race you were hoping for,” Calhoun said Thursday. “Everything went our way, pretty smooth. She seemed to bounce back from it very well. It’s the kind of race that gives us the opportunity to come back in the Ballerina – not one of those gut-wrenching head-and-head grueling races like the Madison.”

Calhoun was referring to Finley’sluckycharm’s hard-fought victory in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland, which may have impacted her performance in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs four weeks later, when she finished fourth.

On Wednesday, Finley’sluckycharm ran six furlongs in 1:09.48 and earned a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure. Finley’sluckycharm is now 11 for 17 and has earned $913,068.

Before Finley’sluckycharm, one of the best sprinting fillies Calhoun trained was Promise Me Silver, who won her first eight starts and 10 of 14 for her career. On Saturday in the fifth race at Saratoga, Calhoun will send out Macho Citizen, a 2-year-old half-brother to Promise Me Silver.

“We like him,” he said. “Obviously, they’re all gorillas in that race, but we think he’ll perform well. First time out, you never know, but he seems like the kind that mentally and physically can do this early.”

◗ As part of Saturday’s Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund Day Across America, there will be a jockey signing ontrack from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the jockey silks room porch. A $5 donation to the PDJF is suggested.

Fans will also have the opportunity to play arcade games against the jockeys, with a $5 suggested donation to benefit the organization. The event will be held on the jockey silks room porch from 1 to 3 p.m. Fans can win premium Saratoga prizes if they beat the jockeys at this horse-themed activity.

◗ Due to rain that forced all of the scheduled turf flat races to be run on the main track Thursday, the Grade 1, $175,000 A.P. Smithwick Steeplechase was postponed and rescheduled for Monday.