Saratoga Special, Adirondack winners eye Grade 1 races

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – I Spent It and Cavorting, the winners of Sunday’s Grade 2 juvenile stakes at Saratoga, both came out of their races in good order, and now their connections will ponder whether to give them a Grade 1 opportunity sooner or later.

I Spent It, a son of Super Saver, rallied through a narrow opening along the inside to win the $200,000 Saratoga Special for 2-year-old males by 2 3/4 lengths. Though his final time of 1:16.79 was 0.30 seconds slower than that of Cavorting one race earlier in the Adirondack, I Spent It was impressive going through a narrow hole and in the manner he galloped out after the race.

“He was 10 lengths in front of them,” trainer Tony Dutrow said Monday. “None of it was a surprise.”

I Spent It is now 2 for 2, having won a maiden race at Belmont last month. At age 56, Dutrow said he appreciates more having a horse of this caliber than he would have in his youth.

“I’m well aware how lucky and fortunate we are to work with a horse like this,” Dutrow said. “If I was in my 30s, I wouldn’t appreciate it the way I do now.”

Dutrow said I Spent It would ship back to Fair Hill, a training center in northeast Maryland, while he ponders where to run next. The Grade 1 Hopeful here Sept. 1 is one option, though the more likely option is the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont on Oct. 4.

“We’ll nominate to the Hopeful, but I don’t want to be committed to anything,” said Dutrow, who trains I Spent It for Alex and JoAnn Lieblong.

In the Adirondack, Cavorting was wide down the backstretch. Then, after saving some ground around the turn, she came wide again in the stretch and outfought Angela Renee to win by 1 3/4 lengths.

“I loved the way she did it,” said Kiaran McLaughlin, who trains Cavorting for Stonestreet Stables. “She trains very aggressive, always on her toes. I was afraid she might not be able to settle and finish. They were going really fast, and it helped her settle. I was impressed she was able to go three or four wide around the turn and keep going.”

McLaughlin didn’t rule out the Grade 1 Spinaway here Aug. 31 but said he would “most likely” wait for the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont on Oct. 4.