John's Call turns into Maker vs. Maker stretch battle

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - As Girl Dad and Bluegrass Parkway began to pull away from the other three horses in Wednesday’s off-the-turf John’s Call Stakes at Saratoga, it was only a matter of which Mike Maker-trained horse was going to win the marathon race.

Watching it from the grandstand, Maker said “I don’t think I could mess this one up.”

Though Bluegrass Parkway, under Tyler Gaffalione, poked his head in front inside the eighth pole, it ultimately turned out to be Girl Dad, under a persevering Luis Saez, who battled back to win the $130,950 John’s Call by a head. Bluegrass Parkway finished 6 1/4 lengths in front of favored Tide of the Sea.

Oceans Map and Sa’ad completed the order of finish. Hieroglyphics scratched.

The John’s Call was originally scheduled for 1 5/8 miles on the turf but was run at 1 1/4 miles on dirt after significant rains forced the transfer of all five scheduled turf flat races to the main track. Rain also forced New York Racing Association officials to cancel the $75,000 Michael G. Walsh Novice Steeplechase Stakes.

Though Girl Dad had never before raced on dirt, Maker said there was no discussion about scratching. In fact, in a post-race interview with NYRA, owner Kirk Wycoff, who claimed the horse for $35,000 out of a turf race on July 22, said he was going to scratch if the race stayed on the turf.

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Following the claim, Wycoff said Girl Dad shipped to Maker’s Belmont Park division where “he had a couple of really good works on the dirt and the training track isn’t easy,” Wycoff said. “That gave us some enthusiasm to run on dirt.”

While Tide of the Sea, under Javier Castellano, set the pace early, Girl Dad, along the inside and Bluegrass Parkway on the outside, passed him at the quarter pole.

In the stretch, Saez brought Girl Dad off the rail to engage with Bluegrass Parkway and the two duked it out to the wire with Girl Dad prevailing.

“When we came to the top of the stretch, we cut the corner and he just kept going,” Saez said. “He was really fighting. He liked to be with the competition.”

Girl Dad covered the 1 1/4 miles over a fast track in 2:06.34 and returned $13.40 as the second-longest shot on the board.