Raging Sea to scratch from Frizette to go in Alcibiades
Raging Sea will scratch from Sunday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes at Aqueduct and instead will run in the Grade 1, $500,000 Alcibiades next Friday at Keeneland, trainer Chad Brown said Saturday.
Brown said the combination of a likely wet track in New York on Sunday and the presence of several quality speed horses in the Frizette, a one-turn mile, made him call an audible.
“She doesn’t strike me as a horse that’s going to be effective in a big race like that [in the slop] with some real horses in there ahead of her,” Brown said. “I don’t like the way the race sets up for her; salty race especially if it’s a tight, or sealed track. They’re quality horses with speed, I don’t think they’re coming back.”
Raging Sea, a daughter of Curlin, won her lone start from off the pace by a neck going seven furlongs at Saratoga on Aug. 7.
On Saturday, Raging Sea worked a half-mile in 51.87 seconds over a sealed, sloppy Belmont Park training track.
“Happy with how she’s moving,” said Brown, who typically doesn’t work horses over off tracks. “Now, she has a little experience to run over a wet track in case she has to face that down the road. Very pleased we called an audible.”
The scratch of Raging Sea leaves the Frizette with a six-horse field that includes Grade 1 Spinaway winner Leave No Trace and sharp maiden winners Chocolate Gelato, The Great Maybe and You’re My Girl as well as Sorortity winner Vedareo and American Rockette, fourth in the Spinaway after a solid debut victory.
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