Firenze Fire on top of his game for Vanderbilt

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Firenze Fire came up on the short end of a thrilling seven-furlong battle with Mind Control by a head in the Grade 2 John Nerud Stakes at Belmont on July 4.

While Mind Control will wait for the Grade 1 Forego on Aug. 28, Firenze Fire will run back in a salty renewal of Saturday’s Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga.

The Vanderbilt, run at six furlongs, drew a nine-horse field including reigning sprint champion Whitmore and Grade 1 winner Mischevious Alex.

“It’s almost four weeks, I don’t think it’s out of the norm for him,” trainer Kelly Breen said when asked about coming back on relatively short rest off a tough race. “He’s good. If he wasn’t good we wouldn’t be running.”

Firenze Fire won the Grade 3 Runhappy and Grade 2 True North before his narrow loss to Mind Control in the Nerud. Firenze Fire won the Grade 3 Sanford here as a 2-year-old in 2017, but has lost his last six starts at Saratoga, including fourth-place finishes in each of the last two runnings of the Vanderbilt.

How Firenze Fire fares in the Vanderbilt could determine if he runs back in the Forego or awaits the Grade 2 Vosburgh at Belmont.

Jose Ortiz, who filled in for Irad Ortiz Jr. when he was injured and couldn’t ride in the True North, is back on Firenze Fire Saturday. Irad Ortiz will ride Mischevious Alex, on whom he won three races during the winter and spring, including the Grade 1 Carter at Aqueduct.

Whitmore, the popular 8-year-old gelding who won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint, is winless in three starts this year, including runner-up finishes to C Z Rocket in the Hot Springs and Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn and a head loss when third to Flagstaff in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs.

Others entered in the Vanderbilt include Churchill Downs runner-up Lexitonian, Miles Ahead, Montauk Traffic, Special Reserve, Strike Power, and Three Technique.