Pletcher's 2-year-olds should be prominent at Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Even in what was perceived as a down year for his 2-year-old crop, Todd Pletcher managed to win 14 races for juveniles last summer at Saratoga en route to winning his sixth straight training title.

Entering the 2015 Saratoga meet, Pletcher had won with just 5 of 12 2-year-old starters, backing up his claim that his young horses were late to get started. Entering this summer’s Saratoga meet, which commences Friday, Pletcher has already won 11 races for 2-year-olds, evidence that he could once again have a stellar summer at the Spa.

“Last year, our best colts were New York-breds; this year, we’re a little deeper, more balanced,” Pletcher said. “Last year, I knew we didn’t have a real strong group of colts. Horses like Destin, Stradivari, they were late coming in. I feel like it’s a stronger group than we had last year.”

Among the first colts Pletcher is likely to unveil is One Liner, a son of Into Mischief who comes from the family of Grade 1 winners Albertus Maximus and Daredevil. Pletcher has an unnamed son of Medaglia d’Oro out of the dam Indian Vale for owner Mike Repole. Indian Vale won two races at Saratoga by a combined 26 3/4 lengths.

Tapwrit, a son of Tapit out of 2006 Spinaway winner Appealing Zophie, sold for $1.2 million across the street at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton yearling auction. It’s possible he could run here later in the meet. Theory (by Gemologist) and Kahramani (by Haynesfield) are others likely to get started here.

Pletcher will find out early about his fillies as he entered Jumby Bay and Seam in the same 5 1/2-furlong maiden race on opening day. However, he named John Velazquez on both, so only one will be permitted to run. Seam could scratch to run in a six-furlong race next week.

Jumby Bay is by City Zip and is a half to debut winner Royal Obsession. Seam (by Union Rags) is from a family that produced graded stakes winners Overanalyze and Meadow Breeze.

Pletcher said Jumby Bay “has a bit of a turf pedigree but has pleased us on dirt. She seems precocious, so we’ll get her started on Friday.”

Other fillies to watch for include Cherry Lodge (by Bernardini) and Lights of Medina (by Eskendereya).

Pletcher isn’t the only one seemingly loaded with a barn of talented 2-year-olds. A perusal of work tabs shows that trainer Chad Brown has a plethora of babies gearing up for starts at this meet. Three colts to look for are Minsky Moment, a New York-bred son of Flatter who sold for $250,000; Favorable Outcome, a $300,000 Kentucky-bred son of Flatter; and Oiseau de Guerre, a son of War Front and a half-brother to My Man Sam.

As far as fillies go, Blue Watch is a Juddmonte Farms homebred daughter of Tapit out of a two-time Group 1 stakes winner, Transaction Tax is a $300,000 daughter of Gemologist, and Devine Union is a daughter of Union Rags out of a four-time stakes-winning mare.

Steve Asmussen unveiled several good-looking 2-year-olds at Churchill Downs, including Made Me Shiver, who likely will be favored in Friday’s Grade 3 Schuylerville. He has a first-time starter, Bowie, entered in Friday’s fifth race who shows a bullet work out of the gate at Saratoga, and Runway Doll, a daughter of Majestic Warrior who blew out nicely Tuesday over the Oklahoma training track.

Zartera was a two-length debut winner at Churchill on June 16 and will run in Saturday’s Sanford Stakes.

Perhaps the most intriguing colt on the grounds from a pedigree standpoint is Brooklyn Bobby, trained by Brian Lynch. Brooklyn Bobby, named in honor of the late Bobby Frankel, is a son of the undefeated European champion Frankel out of the Grade 1 winner Balance, who is a half-sister to Zenyatta. Brooklyn Bobby has worked well on dirt and had a decent work on turf this week.

Lynch said Brooklyn Bobby could debut on turf Aug. 6.

“He’s the sort of a horse if he was guy, you’d want to hang out with him because he’s a cool, cool horse,” Lynch said. “He’s got a great demeanor, and he’s very unexcitable. He seems to take everything in.”

Lynch has a large string of 2-year-olds, and among those he expects to start here are Bravely Andrightly, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Coffee Clique; Dream Passage, a New York-bred daughter of Stormy Atlantic and a full sister to Stormy’s Majesty; and Now in a Drive, a son of Tiznow out of the graded stakes winner Ocean Drive.

Trainer Barclay Tagg went 3 for 4 in races for 2-year-olds last year and has a nice colt in Avail Ekati, a full brother to Saratoga debut winner Tale of S’avall, and Tale of Silence, a full brother to Tale of Ekati. Raging Town, a daughter of Jersey Town, finished second in her debut to Libby’s Tail.

Libby’s Tail is trained by Rudy Rodriguez, who is planning to run that filly in the Adirondack Stakes on Aug. 13. Rodriguez has won nine juvenile races over the last two Saratoga meets. His runners at this meet should include Everybodyluvsrudy, a fast-closing second in his debut; Cha Cha Heels, a daughter of Mission Impazible who is entered Friday; and In it for the Gold, who was third to Libby’s Tail in her debut.

Linda Rice, who won four races for 2-year-olds at Saratoga last year, has Modest Maven, a $1 million daughter of Uncle Mo who was the sale-topper at the Timonium sale of 2-year-olds in training; Littlefirefighter, a daughter of Into Mischief; and Duquesne Whistle, a full brother to Young Anna Lee, who won a maiden race last Sunday at Belmont.

Trainer Shug McGaughey has some powerful pedigrees among his 2-year-olds, including Strident (Street Cry-Storm Flag Flying); Classic Move, from the family of Pine Island and Point of Entry; and the fillies Gloaming, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Hymn Book, and Recollection, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Imagining.