Magna Light can make amends in Hopeful
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There has not been a 2-year-old male who has distinguished himself this summer as the clear leader of the division on the East Coast. That makes for an extremely wide-open Grade 1, $350,000 Hopeful Stakes on Monday’s closing-day program at Saratoga.
Eight 2-year-olds were entered in the seven-furlong race, and a case could be made for any of them, including the maidens Set the Trappe and Tom’s Ready.
Magna Light appeared headed to an open-length victory in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes here July 25 when he drifted out five paths under Jose Ortiz’s left-handed whip. Ortiz tried to correct the horse, and he came back over toward other horses while finishing first by three-quarters of a length. The stewards disqualified Magna Light from first in a controversial call, however, and dropped him to third behind Uncle Vinny and Percolator.
“I turned the page right away,” trainer Rudy Rodriguez said. “You can’t think about things you cannot control; you got to put it behind you and keep going.”
Magna Light has trained forwardly and looked good during a three-furlong blowout in 35.27 seconds Saturday.
Set the Trappe showed good speed in his debut, though he blew a two-length lead in the stretch and finished second behind Economic Model. Trainer Tony Dutrow said he would like to see his horse come from off the pace Monday.
“In a perfect world, we’re going to try and take a hold of him and finish up,” Dutrow said. “He makes us feel that he’s a kind enough horse to cooperate.”
Ricardo Santana Jr. rides Set the Trappe. Javier Castellano, who rode Set the Trappe in his debut, rides Southern California invader Ralis, who pinch hits for stablemate Mrazek, who is sidelined due to body soreness.
Uncle Vinny, who is 2 for 3, is the 5-2 morning-line Hopeful favorite for Todd Pletcher, a three-time Hopeful winner.
Sticksstatelydude comes off a solid maiden win in his second career start. Sallisaw was a perfect-trip winner of his debut. Tom’s Ready lugged in when fourth in his only start. Bullet Gone Astray is 2 for 2 and comes off a nine-length victory in the Mountaineer Juvenile.
The Hopeful and the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch will be shown live on FOX Sports 1’s “Jockey Club Racing Tour” in a one-hour broadcast beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern.
KEY CONTENDERS
Magna Light (Last 2 Beyers: 77-60)
◗ Likely will try to wire this field after breaking from the rail.
“I’m going to let Jose ride his race and take it from there,” Rodriguez said. “He knows the horse, he knows what he has to do. Hopefully, he shows up the right way. He’s coming along very good. I’m not confident, but he’s training very good. The competition is tough; the 1 hole is going to be tough.”
Sticksstatelydude (Last 2 Beyers: 69-77)
◗ After chasing a horse around the track when running second in his debut at Churchill Downs, this colt came from off the pace, altering course twice in the stretch to win by two lengths.
“He likes a little tighter track. He gets over this track all right, he handles it well enough,” trainer Greg Burchell said. “I think the further he goes, the better he gets.”
Uncle Vinny (Last 3 Beyers: 75-58-75)
◗ A sharp debut winner at Belmont on May 21, he came back to finish sixth in the Tremont Stakes 15 days later.
“He didn’t break well, and he got in behind a wall of horses, was very green. He was bouncing back and forth, never got real comfortable,” Pletcher said. “It was a rough trip for a second-time starter.”
Set the Trappe (Last Beyer: 74)
◗ Was pointed to a maiden race Saturday but was two deep on the also-eligible list. Even so trainer Dutrow is looking forward to running him in the Hopeful.
“Now that we’re seeing all the elements together, we’re feeling good about our horse,” Dutrow said.
– additional reporting by Mike Welsch