Old pros Stallwalkin' Dude, Weekend Hideaway tangle in Tale of the Cat Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There’s nothing like a trip to Saratoga to perk a horse up, and this bucolic setting seems to agree with the veteran sprinters Stallwalkin’ Dude and Weekend Hideaway, who head a field of seven entered to run in Friday’s $100,000 Tale of the Cat Stakes.

Stallwalkin’ Dude has won the last two runnings of the six-furlong Tale of the Cat, and both times he entered the race off a loss. Stallwalkin’ Dude has dropped his last two starts, but both came in Grade 2 stakes, including the True North two back, where he ran second to Roy H.

“On numbers, that was the fastest race he ever ran,” said David Jacobson, the trainer and co-owner of the 7-year-old gelding.

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In his last start, Stallwalkin’ Dude finished fourth, 9 1/4 lengths behind winner Mind Your Biscuits, in the Belmont Sprint Championship.

“It was a dull race,” Jacobson said. “Now that he’s up in Saratoga, he loves it up here, and we’re looking for a big race out of him to bounce back.”

Jacobson also entered the speedy Chief Lion but was not certain he would run since there is plenty of other speed in the field.

Weekend Hideaway is 4 for 8 at Saratoga and will be making an appearance here for the sixth straight summer. He was scheduled to run in the John Morrissey Stakes for New York-breds here on July 27 but was scratched due to a foot abscess. Trainer Phil Serpe said Weekend Hideaway missed only three days of training and had a sharp workout Sunday.

Loose On the Town, Cadeyrn, Candid Desire, and Candip round out the field for the Tale of the Cat, which goes as race 8 on a 10-race program.

KEY CONTENDERS

Stallwalkin’ Dude, by City Place

Last 3 Beyers: 88-105-97

◗ Since being claimed by Jacobson for $16,000 in September 2014, he has won 14 of 39 starts and banked more than $1.3 million.

◗ Jacobson said he likes having Stallwalkin’ Dude drawn in post 6, which allows jockey Joe Bravo to see how things play out inside of him from a pace perspective.

“I like the post position,” Jacobson said. “This way, he can sit, take a good look, and do whatever he wants to do.”

Weekend Hideaway, by Speightstown

Last 3 Beyers: 99-90-93

◗ He is coming off a front-running victory in the slop in the Commentator at Belmont on May 29.

◗ Has proven effective from a stalking position as well, winning an allowance here last summer in such a manner.

“Personally, I think his best races on a fast racetrack are when he sits off it a little bit,” Serpe said. “I love it when he sits third and makes his move at the top of the stretch.”

Cadeyrn, by Malibu Moon

Last 3 Beyers: 96-85-96

◗ Came off a seven-month layoff with a sharp front-running allowance win at six furlongs.

◗ Has a win and a third over the main track here, albeit both at 1 1/8 miles.

◗ Could be the speed of the speed under Manny Franco.