Rhyme Schemes draws perfect outside post for Saratoga Special

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rhyme Schemes not only ran fast when he won his maiden by 9 1/2 lengths July 15 at Ellis Park. The field he beat that day seems to be a good one, with three horses having come back to win and two others finishing second.

Saturday, Rhyme Schemes will likely go off a solid favorite when he meets just five rivals in the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special for 2-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga.

Rhyme Schemes, a son of Ghostzapper trained by Norm Casse, finished fifth on debut at Churchill Downs. Equipped with blinkers for his second start, Rhyme Schemes galloped to a 9 1/2-length victory going 5 1/2 furlongs, earning a gaudy 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

Casse said he took a different approach this year with his 2-year-olds. Instead of getting them fully ready for their debuts, Casse got them gate ready and then “raced them into fitness,” he said.

“We knew first time out we weren’t going to win and weren’t expecting much,” Casse said. “Second time is more of what we really thought the horse was. First time out we learned a lot about the horse, too, by virtue of running him. He just ran really spotty and the blinkers obviously fixed that.”

Casse said Rhyme Schemes is training and breezing the same way going into the Special as he was for his maiden score. The fact he drew the outside post in the six-horse field is perfect for Casse, who will have Ricardo Santana Jr. to ride.

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“We’ve been really unfortunate with a lot of draws this summer, so that one was a pleasant surprise,” Casse said.

Steve Asmussen has won the Saratoga Special five times, including in 2020 with Jackie’s Warrior. Saturday, he’ll send out Edified, a son of Tapit who won his debut by 3 1/2 lengths at Ellis Park on July 1.

“He’s obviously a talented colt and I do believe there’s room for improvement with him and that gives us a lot of confidence that the farther we go the better we’ll be,” Asmussen said.

Joel Rosario rides from post 5.

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Haul, a son of Army Mule, won his debut at Belmont by three lengths for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“I thought it was a solid debut, he did everything right.He’s come back with some good breezes,” Pletcher said. “He’s been a very straight-forward colt for us, very professional and trained like he would run well in his debut.”

Market Street, a son of Street Sense trained by D. Wayne Lukas, won his debut by 3 3/4 lengths in the slop at Ellis Park before finishing sixth, after stumbling at the break, in the Grade 3 Sanford.

Woodcourt, a second-out winner who has since changed barns to Brendan Walsh, and Lasso, a debut winner in June at Gulfstream Park, complete the field.

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