A new challenge for Zavata

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Zavata, who has yet to be defeated by a colt, will have a fresh challenger in Lone Star Sky when the two juveniles head a short field set to contest 6 1/2 furlongs in Wednesday's $150,000 Saratoga Special.

Between Whywhywhy and Zavata, trainer Patrick Biancone has won all three of New York's stakes races for juvenile colts. Zavata, a son of Phone Trick, is coming off a 6 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Tremont Stakes in which he came within .10 of a second of Belmont Park's 5 1/2-furlong track record. Prior to that, Zavata won his maiden by 5 1/2 lengths after finishing second to the filly Holiday Runner in the Three Chimneys Juvenile on Derby Day.

"In the Tremont everything went wrong and he still won the race,' Biancone said. "He had to go four wide, [Jerry Bailey] had to move him at the wrong part of the race because he didn't want the speed horse to get too far away. He had to run one eighth in 10-flat because he was four or five lengths off it and at the quarter pole he was right there.'

Zavata has fired two bullet five-furlong workouts over Saratoga's main track since Aug. 1 and will be tough to beat from post 5 under Bailey.

If Zavata is to be upset, Kentucky shipper Lone Star Sky is the logical choice. A son of Conquistador Cielo, Lone Star Sky is 2 for 2 including a 3 1/2 length victory in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs in which he set a stakes record.

While trainer Tom Amoss was impressed with that effort, he said it was Lone Star Sky's maiden win at Arlington Park on June 10 that really impressed him. Breaking from post 10 in a 4 1/2-furlong race, Lone Star Sky made a four-wide move at the quarter pole and cruised home a 2 1/4-length winner.

"He's a horse that doesn't have any speed,' Amoss said. "The first two furlongs he wasn't enjoying being rushed. It was an indication that more distance was going to be good for him.'

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has won three Saratoga Specials, including last year's edition with Jump Start. Wednesday, he will send out Desert Warrior, who finished third in the Tremont and was fourth in an entry-level allowance race here on Aug. 1. He adds Lasix and will be ridden by Pat Day from the rail.

Spite the Devils, the third-place finisher in the Sanford, and Awesome of Course, an allowance winner, complete the field.

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