Nitrous should get right setup in Amsterdam

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though he won a maiden race here on the lead last summer, Nitrous has developed into a closing sprinter. As such, his better races have come when there is a lively pace in front of him.

There appears to be plenty of early speed among the 12 horses entered in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga, where Nitrous will look to capture his first graded stakes.

Nitrous, a son of Tapit trained by Steve Asmussen for Winchell Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Stables, rallied from last to finish second, beaten a neck, to Hog Creek Hustle in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens on the undercard of the June 8 Belmont Stakes.

That race was at seven furlongs with an 11-horse field. The Amsterdam, the prep for the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens here Aug. 24, is run at 6 1/2 furlongs with a dozen runners.

“Seven-eighths of the Woody probably suits him a little better as far as distance,” Asmussen said. “The Amsterdam being run at 6 1/2, my biggest concern is the traffic that he’ll incur. He’s been a lot more effective as a closing sprinter, and we expect a similar running style from him Sunday. In a 12-horse field, he’ll have to work out a trip.”

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Nitrous has been in Saratoga for almost a month, getting four breezes over the Oklahoma training track.

“He trains very sharply,” Asmussen said.

Nitrous, who won the Bachelor Stakes two starts back at Oaklawn going six furlongs, will break from post 6 under Ricardo Santana Jr.

In the Woody Stephens, the early pace was provided by Strike Silver, with Wendell Fong among those chasing three wide. While both of those horses are back in this field, the primary speed in the Amsterdam is likely to come from Shancelot, who is making his stakes debut after winning his first two career starts.

Shancelot, trained by Jorge Navarro, shipped up from Monmouth Park last weekend and on Sunday he had a sizzling workout over the main track. As part of a six-furlong move that was timed in 1:11.10, Shancelot went his first five furlongs in 56.59 seconds.

“The workout didn’t surprise me at all, I’ve seen him do that before,” Navarro said. “I’ve trained a lot of good horses, a lot of horses with speed. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Navarro, who shipped Shancelot back to Monmouth before shipping him back here Friday, wasn’t upset that the colt drew post 12 since he’ll be among the last to load.

“With a big field, it takes forever to load, with a speed horse you don’t want him sitting in there for a long time,” Navarro said.

Strike Silver, who beat Nitrous in a maiden race at Churchill Downs in June 2018, set the pace in the Woody Stephens before finishing fourth, beaten 1 1/2 lengths. Last year, Strike Silver was beaten a neck in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes.

Breaking from the outside post in the 11-horse Woody Stephens, Wendell Fong chased the hot early pace – the fractions were 21.92 for the quarter and 44.53 for the half. Wendell Fong hung in until deep stretch, eventually finishing fifth, 2 3/4 lengths behind Hog Creek Hustle.

“In the Woody Stephens, he was outside and it seemed like he had to get inside at some point, so we were going to try and be aggressive and get to the lead,” trainer Jeremiah Englehart said. “All things considered, I thought he ran really well.”

Englehart said he would like to see a different trip Sunday and won’t be giving jockey Jose Vargas Jr. any instructions.

“I think he would much prefer coming off the pace,” Englehart said.

Honest Mischief came out of an eight-length maiden win at Keeneland in April to finish sixth in the Woody Stephens, a race in which he got away poorly from the rail, rushed up, and flattened out late, beaten only three lengths. With a cleaner break from post 5, Honest Mischief looks to be dangerous under Javier Castellano for Chad Brown and Juddmonte Farms.

The Big S, Achilles Warrior, Super Comet, Classy John, Garter and Tie, Bourbon Calling, and Lemniscate complete the field.

The Amsterdam goes as race 11 on a 12-race card that begins at 1 p.m.