Moscato, Optimus Prime square off again in New York Turf Writers
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – If the second meeting between Moscato and Optimus Prime is anything like the first, Thursday’s $100,000 New York Turf Writers Handicap at Saratoga should be among the more memorable in the history of the event, first run here in 1938. The Grade 1 New York Turf Writers, to be decided at 2 3/8 miles over National fences, is traditionally the highlight of the steeplechase season each summer at Saratoga.
Moscato outsprinted Optimus Prime to the wire to register a three-quarter-length decision in the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial here four weeks earlier. Both horses were assigned co-highweight of 160 pounds for the Turf Writers, a two-pound weight swing in Optimus Prime’s favor for the rematch.
Moscato was passed by Optimus Prime on the final turn only to run down that rival under a rousing ride by jockey Michael Mitchell through the final furlong of the 2 1/16-mile Smithwick. Trainer Jack Fisher makes no bones about who his chief rival will be in his quest to sweep the two major steeplechase events of the Saratoga season.
“Optimus Prime worries me the way he cantered up to me the last time,” Fisher said. “Having not run in a year, I figured he might need a race, might have come up a little short in their first meeting. That won’t be the case this time.”
Fisher said the imposing weight assignment doesn’t worry him, even though Moscato will be conceding as much as 20 pounds to some of the others.
“I don’t think the weight should hurt him,” Fisher said. “I think he’s as good as he ever was at the moment.”
Fisher also will send out Gibralfaro and Pravalaguna in the New York Turf Writers Cup. Gibralfaro finished third in the Smithwick, another 2 1/2 lengths behind Optimus Prime after racing within striking distance through midstretch. He’ll be in receipt of 18 pounds from the two favorites on Thursday.
Pravalaguna, a winner of six hurdle races in Europe, was eased to the wire in the Smithwick while making just her second U.S. appearance and first since joining Fisher’s barn. She is the only mare in the eight-horse field. Fisher said he hadn’t planned on running Pravalaguna at Saratoga, but those plans changed with the cancellation of the Far Hills fall meeting.
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Optimus Prime was an easy winner of his only two starts in 2019 before taking a one-year sabbatical prior to the Smithwick due to a torn suspensory. The eight-year-old French-bred gelding won the 2018 New York Turf Writers in his U.S. debut.
“In the back of my mind, I thought he might need a race and he just got a little tired at the end,” trainer Ricky Hendriks said of Optimus Prime. “He looks a little tighter and is doing great since the race. It’s all on the line for us now, and I’m really looking forward to coming back up there Thursday.”
Hendriks also entered Zanjabeel, the 2018 steeplechase champion, for the New York Turf Writers but remained undecided regarding his status for the race as of Monday.
Trainer Leslie Young will send out a pair, Rashaan and Redicean, the latter finishing a tiring fourth after opening a long lead shortly after clearing the final hurdle in the Smithwick. Belisarius, who finished a distant third in the 2019 Turf Writers, completes the field.