Shuvee a good fit for Flashy American
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Ken McPeek said that the older Flashy American gets, the better she gets. And based on that statement – and what happened last summer at Saratoga – Flashy American is the one to beat in Saturday’s $200,000 Shuvee Handicap at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga.
Flashy American finished second, beaten a length by Authenticity, in the 2013 edition of the Grade 3 Shuvee. In the year since that performance, Flashy American has won 3 of 8 starts, all stakes, including the Grade 3 Sixty Sails Handicap this spring at Hawthorne Park. She is coming off one of the best efforts of her career just 15 days ago when finishing third in the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap.
“I would love to have a little more time between starts, but she seems to have come out of her last start none the worse for wear,” McPeek said. “She loves a mile and one-eighth and has always run well over this track. There weren’t a lot of spots for her between now and the end of August, and this looks like a really good one for her.”
Flashy American will break from post 2 in a field that also includes Swinger’s Party, Antipathy, Unlimited Budget, Stanwyck, Hot Stones, and Ambusher.
Antipathy comes off far and away the best race of her career when finishing third, beaten a neck by Close Hatches and Princess of Sylmar, in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park.
“She’s coming off a great race, and luckily, Close Hatches and Princess of Sylmar won’t be running in the Shuvee,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.
The multiple graded stakes winner Unlimited Budget gets a little class relief and a surface change in an attempt to turn her form around. She finished far back in Grade 1 stakes in her last two starts.
Stanwyck finished third in a pair of Grade 1 races, the Apple Blossom and Santa Margarita, earlier this season and seeks her first victory since capturing the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm Handicap last fall at Belmont Park.
KEY CONTENDERS
Flashy American (Last 3 Beyers 95-90-90)
◗ Her second-place finish in the 2013 Shuvee is her only setback in three career starts at Saratoga.
◗ She’s never finished worse than third in six outings at 1 1/8 miles, including three victories.
◗ Seems to do her best running from off the pace, rather than pressing, as she was forced to do at Delaware, and she should get some honest splits to run at with Swinger’s Party and Antipathy likely to cut out the early running.
Antipathy (Last 3 Beyers 101-83-95)
◗ Owns both the highest last-out and career Beyer Speed Figure in the field with the 101 she posted while finishing just a neck behind Close Hatches and Princess of Sylmar in the Phipps.
◗ She remains a question mark at 1 1/8 miles and is likely to get pressed early or taken out of her preferred running style due to the presence of Swinger’s Party.
◗ The last time she posted a career-top Beyer, she regressed 12 points in her next start.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Antipathy. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is 7 for 14 (and 86 percent in the money) with a $3.64 ROI over the past five years in dirt routes with fillies or mares at Saratoga. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Unlimited Budget (Last 3 Beyers 53-76-92)
◗ She is a three-time graded stakes winner, but her recent efforts have not been up to par.
◗ Trainer Todd Pletcher said, “She is training as well as ever right now,” and indeed, Unlimited Budget was full of run at the end of her latest work, a half-mile in company with Silsita on July 20.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Unlimited Budget. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 7 for 20 with a $3.79 ROI over the past five years going from turf to dirt in routes at Saratoga. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Stanwyck (Last 3 Beyers 96-96-93)
◗ Held her own against Grade 1 company in her last two starts but has been idle 3 1/2 months and is a question mark over the local surface.
◗ Although off the board in her only start at this distance on dirt, she has won at 1 1/8 miles on grass.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Ambusher. Trainer Ian Wilkes is 3 for 11 with a $4.40 ROI over the past two years in graded stakes dirt routes following a layoff of between 31 and 44 days. Click for more details. – Dan Illman
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