Saratoga beckons to Galactica after futurity win

Galactica, who won the $100,000 colts-and-geldings division of the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity on Saturday night at Lone Star Park, could see stakes action next at Saratoga, trainer Bret Calhoun said Monday. He said the horse is scheduled to van to Kentucky and could catch an Aug. 3 flight to Saratoga.

Calhoun said Galactica could run next in either the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special at 6 1/2 furlongs Aug. 13 or the $100,000 Skidmore at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf Aug. 18.

Galactica has won back-to back starts at Lone Star, taking a maiden special weight against Texas-breds on July 4 and winning his first stakes Saturday. Brian Hernandez Jr. was aboard Galactica, who tracked the pace and quickly overtook the leader for a three-quarter-length victory in the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity.

:: Christmas in July! Take 20% off PPs, Clocker Reports, and more

“I thought he ran a great race, got a good trip,” Calhoun said. “It looked like he was drifting down the lane a little bit. I didn’t like that, but Brian said he thought he was just looking at the lights. He gained that position so easily, [Hernandez] thought he was kind of playing around a little bit, watching the lights.”

Galactica earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 80 for his victory. He had earned an 89 for his maiden win, in which he covered five furlongs in 57.78 seconds. The Beyer had ranked as the year’s highest for a 2-year-old in North America and was matched last Friday when Dream It Is won the Grade 3 Schuylerville at Saratoga. However, over the weekend, Galactica’s number for the maiden win was adjusted to a 79.

“When Galactica ran the first time and got the figure of 89, the number, according to our calculations, really made sense,” said Andrew Beyer. “The time was super fast in relation to the other races that day. Then there were things that gave us pause. It really looked implausible that the fastest horse in America could be in a Texas-bred maiden race, and on top of that, there has been a lot of issues with the data at Lone Star. On Friday night, the timer malfunctioned in five of the nine races. We’re not totally confident in all the information.”

Beyer said that he and Randy Moss, who has been assigning the speed figures at Lone Star since 1997, discussed the situation. The men also had been monitoring how horses from Galactica’s maiden race performed in their next starts.

“They didn’t run like they were coming out of the fastest race in America,” Beyer said. “On Saturday night, Galactica ran and got a figure of 80. The figure looked pretty solid. That seemed much closer to a true bill for him. I’m sure the owners are proud of him. On Saturday, when this horse ran an 80, a fast field of 2-year-olds in the historic Sanford Stakes at Saratoga ran a 79. So, they’ve got a fast horse. He’s just not the fastest horse in America.”