Saratoga: Summer Front staying home for Duluth

Trainer Christophe Clement may eventually attempt to stretch out Summer Front in distance, but didn’t think the circumstances were right to do it in Saturday’s Virginia Derby.

With the possibility of less than firm ground at Colonial Downs, Clement scratched Summer Front from Saturday’s $600,000 Virginia Derby and instead will run him in Sunday’s $100,000 Duluth Stakes at Saratoga.

The Duluth is a one-mile race, a distance at which Summer Front has won three stakes, including the Grade 3 Hill Prince in his last start.

“The horse is well, we just didn’t think it was a good idea to stretch him with a question in the weather,” Clement said. “I think he will stay the mile and a quarter. It’s easier to stay a mile and a quarter on firmer ground.”

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Summer Front, a son of War Front, is 4 for 4 on turf. He overcome serious traffic issues and surged in the final sixteenth of a mile to win the Hill Prince by one-half length over Howe Great. Howe Great is cross-entered in the Duluth, but he was expected to run in Saturday’s Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park.

Trainer Graham Motion will still be represented in the Duluth by Gold Megillah, who is winless in five starts on turf.

Film Shot, who was third in the Hill Prince, is back in the Duluth.

Trainer Todd Pletcher has three horses entered, including Heavy Breathing, second in the Lamplighter at Monmouth; Our Entourage, sixth in the Hill Prince; and Star Channel, seventh in the Hill Prince.

◗ Fast Falcon, beaten a neck by Teeth of the Dog in the Dwyer Stakes, worked four furlongs in 49.35 seconds Friday morning over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for next Saturday’s $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes.