Somelikeithotbrown, Make Mischief easily win off-the-turf stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The heavy rain that inundated the local area not long before post time Friday wreaked havoc with the New York Showcase program at Saratoga, especially in regards to the afternoon’s two main events carded for turf, the $200,000 West Point and its filly counterpart, the $200,000 Yaddo.

Both The West Point and Yaddo were shortened to a mile and switched to a sloppy main track.

The West Point was particularly decimated, scratching down to just three starters, including main-track-only entrant Bankit. In the end it was the longest price of the trio, 5-2 Somelikeithotbrown, who proved much the best, drawing off to a surprisingly easy six-length victory over the 3-5 Bankit despite having failed to hit the board in his only two previous starts on dirt.

With jockey Jose Ortiz Jr. aboard, Somelikeithotbrown stalked the early pace of Jerry the Nipper, stuck his head in front midway on the far turn, shook clear while out near the middle of the track upon settling into the stretch, ultimately increasing his advantage under steady urging through the final furlong.

Bankit, returning on relatively short rest following his hard-fought victory in the Evan Shipman Handicap just two weeks earlier, stalked the early leaders while in perfect striking position down the backstretch, angled widest into the stretch but could not kick on when roused, proving no match for the winner while 4 1/2 lengths in front of the tiring Jerry the Nipper.

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Somelikeithotbrown, who entered the West Point with more than $1.2 million in career earnings, was racing on the main track for the first time since finishing fourth in the 2019 Blue Grass. He completed the distance in 1:37.68 seconds over the muddy and sealed surface, returning $7.60 to win.

The victory was the second in three days in a stakes race switched from turf to the main track for trainer Mike Maker, who sent out Girl Dad and Bluegrass Parkway to finish first and second, respectively, in the John’s Call here on Wednesday.

“It really didn’t bother me when they took this race off the turf, I knew it would be a short field and he ran fourth as a 3-year-old in the Blue Grass at a mile and one-eighth, which was probably a bit too far for him,” Maker said when asked about the decision to keep Somelikeithotbrown in the West Point despite an inauspicious record on dirt. “This was at a one-turn mile, I thought the wet track would be to his favor so I figured why not give it a shot.”

Maker said the race scenario developed exactly as he and Ortiz thought it might.

“It was a three-horse field, Todd’s horse looked like the speed, and it played out just as it appeared on paper,” said Maker. “We have a lot of options with him for next time. Maybe we’ll just pray for rain.”

A field of five older fillies and mare contested the Yaddo, with Make Mischief the major beneficiary of the surface change, registering a popular and one-sided 8 1/2-length decision over Ice Princess. Make Mischief rallied from just off the early pace before drawing away with complete authority over the wet going.

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A daughter of Into Mischief, Make Mischief was ridden to victory by Dylan Davis. She is trained by Mark Casse for owner Gary Barber and paid $3.20 after completing the mile in 1:37.63.

Make Mischief would have been making her turf debut had the skies stayed clear and the Yaddo was contested on grass.

“I actually want to run her on the grass,” Casse said. “I thought she worked really well on the grass and the mare has produced four winners on the turf. But we’ll wait for another day. As soon as they said the race was off the grass, my confidence grew. I didn’t know how many would scratch, but I knew there would be a few.”

Casse said he thought Davis made a good decision to take back off the pacesetting Wasp after being the first to show in front following the start.

“Dylan made a good move, he took back after Flavien [Prat aboard Wasp] pushed him down to the rail, came outside and from there he took control,” Casse noted. “She’s kind of in a class of her own on the dirt here with New York-breds. I don’t know what we’ll do next, but Gary Barber has never shied away from anything so if I were a betting man I’d say you might see her on the grass next time.”