A freshened Sy Dog wins Transylvania

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Sy Dog got a freshening over the winter months while some of his opponents for Friday's Grade 3, $400,000 Transylvania Stakes were knocking heads in Florida. He uncorked his season with a solid rally to win the opening-day event for 3-year-olds on the turf, remaining unbeaten in three career starts.

Sy Dog ($13.40) was a four-length debut winner in October at Belmont Park, then rallied for a narrow victory in the Central Park Stakes on Nov. 27 at Aqueduct. After that bright beginning, trainer Graham Motion and owner Sol Kumin's Head of Plains Partners gave him a winter break. He returned to the work tab in late February at Motion's Fair Hill Training Center base in Maryland.

“We made the decision not to send him to Florida, just to freshen him up a bit,” Motion said pre-race. “He never left the barn . . . This has always been our goal."

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Sy Dog was last of six on the backstretch, but less than three lengths covered the Transylvania field as Credibility led Coinage, winner of the Palm Beach Stakes last out, through a pressured opening half of 50.16 seconds on turf officially rated good.

The condition of the turf after wet weather throughout the week in Lexington, which persisted during Friday's card, was of some concern -- particularly as an added fitness hurdle for horses coming off a layoff, such as Sy Dog. But Alice Clapham, Motion's assistant who deputized in saddling Friday's runners, was pleasantly surprised by the conditions.

“It’s firmer today than I thought," Clapham said. "With all the rain, I thought it was gonna be really soft, but actually, it’s just getting a nice cut into it.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. began urging Sy Dog around the far turn, and made a bid in earnest wide and in the clear once straightened away. Sy Dog came willingly to Coinage, who briefly inherited the lead, and had the measure of that colt. He then held off a rally from Grand Sonata, who came in off a pair of stakes wins at Gulfstream, for a three-quarter-length triumph.

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“My horse was traveling perfect the whole race," Ortiz said. "At the three-eighths pole, I thought it was time to pick it up. I had [Grand Sonata] on the inside of me looking for some room, and I knew [Tyler Gaffalione] had a lot of horse, so I decided to move a little early, take him out and go from there. He did everything I asked for. He was ready."

Grand Sonata edged Coinage by a half-length for second. Coinage was followed, in order, by Napoleonic War, the 2-1 favorite Verbal, and Credibility.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:45.38.

Clapham said the connections had not yet discussed a next start for Sy Dog, but the colt's promising start to his 3-year-old campaign will give him options moving to the second start off his winter layoff.

"He’s filled out and grown," Clapham said of changes to the Slumber colt over the winter. "The biggest thing is he’s very laid back. That’ll help him along with everything."