Smooth Breeze should have clear sailing in Rick Violette Stakes
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Handicappers should find a lot to like about Smooth Breeze when perusing the past performances of Thursday’s $150,000 Rick Violette Stakes at Saratoga. The 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-old New York-breds honors the memory of the late, longtime president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.
Smooth Breeze not only owns the highest Beyer Speed Figure of the six horses entered in the Violette – an 86 for his runaway entry-level allowance win this spring at Aqueduct – he also is one of only two members of the lineup with a win over the course. Smooth Breeze, who was stakes-placed against open company in his 2-year-old finale, will be returning to his preferred surface following a strong second-place finish over a sloppy main track nearly five weeks ago.
Tack on the facts that Smooth Breeze will be reunited with jockey Flavien Prat, who guided him to his most recent victory, and is well drawn on the extreme outside, and one can see why trainer Jorge Abreu is full of confidence coming into the race.
“I really expect him to run very well,” Abreu said. “I thought not only did he run big winning the allowance on the grass, I was also very impressed by his race last time over the sloppy track. He definitely ran better than I had expected.
“I love our post, he should be able to get a nice stalking trip from out there, he’s already proven he likes this course and he is training very well coming into the race. He had a big work over the Oklahoma turf since his last start.”
Smooth Breeze figures to sit just off early leaders Leon Blue and Sounds Like a Plan, who, respectively, set and forced the pace in a statebred allowance race decided at 1 1/16 miles here June 4. Leon Blue survived that battle while turning in a game effort before ultimately succumbing to 56-1 Outsource in the final strides while finishing a close and frustrating second for the third time in just five lifetime starts.
A versatile sort, Leon Blue registered his only previous victory going six furlongs in a restricted maiden race that was switched from the turf to a fast main track.
Outsource, who also is in the Violette, rallied from nearly a dozen lengths off the lead in the run down the backstretch on June 4 to register his shocking victory first off the claim while making his turf debut here. He returned quick dividends to his present connections, Rainbows End Racing Stable and trainer Thomas Morley, who haltered the son of Honor A. P. for $30,000 out of a fourth-place finish going a mile four weeks earlier over the main track at Aqueduct.
Outsource improved his previous best Beyer Figure by 18 points with the surface change to grass and will have the services of jockey John Velazquez once again Thursday.
The stakes-placed pair of River of Time and I’m Due complete the compact lineup. The two former claimers finished second and third, respectively, turning back to six furlongs for the Spectacular Bid division of the New York Sire Series at Aqueduct on June 21 while never seriously threatening four-length winner and prohibitive favorite Friend Ofthe Devil.
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