Kandoo brings Florida form to Adirondack

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After the Gulfstream Park invader Off the Tracks ran away to a 3 1/4-length victory on opening day in the Schuylerville Stakes, it was only logical that others from south Florida might try to follow in her footsteps. So while Off the Tracks cools her heels until the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sept. 5, another filly who won her maiden impressively at Gulfstream Park this summer, Kandoo, will try to win Saturday’s Grade 2 Adirondack, the second of three graded stakes at the meet for 2-year-old fillies.

Kandoo and Dancie were nominated by trainer Ralph Nicks to the Adirondack. Each won her only race race by better than five lengths 24 hours apart last month at Gulfstream. Kandoo’s victory came in one of the two “no Lasix” races run there this summer. She will compete on Lasix here Saturday.

Nicks had originally planned on running both fillies on Saturday but had to back off a bit on Dancie after she “came up with a little issue,” he said. But he is confident Kandoo will give a good account of herself.

“She’s not eligible for the Florida Stallion Series, so it was kind of a no-brainer to bring her here,” said Nicks. “She’s sound, smart, and very precocious-minded. She’s had two easy breezes over the tracks, seems to handle it okay, and is naturally fast, so I’d expect to see her forwardly placed.”

Nicks said the fact one Florida-based horse has already won a race in this series gives him a little more confidence going in on Saturday.

“Knowing something like that never hurts your opinion,” said Nicks. “But this is Saratoga.”

Nicks, a regular here for three years before skipping last summer, has seen his business flourish since becoming a year-round resident at Gulfstream Park, where he has 55 horses bedded down along with the dozen he has brought to Saratoga.

Cornelio Velasquez will ride Kandoo in the Adirondack.

A second Gulfstream-based filly, Come to Mischief, was also nominated to the Adirondack but will not run. Come to Mischief was purchased privately by Loooch Racing Stable and turned over to trainer Peter Walder after winning her career debut in Woodbine’s My Dear Stakes in June.

“She worked this morning at Gulfstream and didn’t quite go like I wanted,” said Walder. “We had a van all ready to go but I’ll just give her a little extra time and maybe think about sending her there for the Spinaway.”

A small field is likely for the Adirondack and also figures to include the Todd Pletcher-trained pair of Tonasah and Delicate Lady, Just Wicked, Decked Out, and Lookout Sister.

◗ A field of only six was drawn for Friday’s Grade 2 Lake Placid for 3-year-old fillies on the turf, led by the Chad Brown-trained duo of Consumer Credit and Strict Compliance. Completing the lineup are Heath, runner-up to Lady Eli in her last start on May 31; Miss Temple City, making her first appearance since finishing fourth in the Coronation Stakes at Ascot; Sentiero Italia; and main-track-only entrant Embellish the Lace.