South Bend dual-surface threat for new connections

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – South Bend, runner-up in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby, was purchased privately by a group that includes Gary Barber and Adam Wachtel and is now with trainer Bill Mott. South Bend is under consideration for either the $1 million Runhappy Travers Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile dirt race on Aug. 8, or the $500,000 Saratoga Derby, a 1 3/16-mile race on turf Aug. 15.

Though South Bend is 3 for 6 on dirt and 0 for 5 on turf, Wachtel believes that from a speed-figure perspective South Bend “is equally as good on both surfaces, which makes him an interesting 3-year-old, to say the least.”

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South Bend is a son of Algorithms who began his career with three straight wins on dirt, including a one-length victory in the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs last Oct. 27. Trained by Stan Hough for Sagamore Farm, South Bend finished sixth in the Kentucky Jockey Club and fourth in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes before making his next five starts on turf.

Though he didn’t win on turf, South Bend was three times stakes-placed, including narrow defeats to Decorated Invader and Field Pass, two who figure to be among the favorites in the Saratoga Derby.

South Bend was switched back to dirt for the Ohio Derby, where he rallied from 10th to finish within three-quarters of a length of upset winner Dean Martini. South Bend earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 94 for that race.

“I thought his Ohio Derby was excellent,” said Wachtel, whose other partners on the horse include Peter Deutsch and Leonard Schleifer’s Pantofel Stable. “He came from way back, circled the field. It was his most professional race. He put his head down and came running.”

On Monday, South Bend had his first workout for Mott, going four furlongs in 49.01 seconds over the Oklahoma training track, starting one length behind the 5-year-old Chewing Gum and finishing on even terms at the wire. South Bend galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.92.

“He’s a really nice horse,” Mott said. “Good head, good eye, nice scope. As a horse, I like him.”

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Mott, after looking at his past performances, seemed to indicate a preference for the Travers, a race he definitely covets and finished second in last year with Tacitus.

“His dirt form looks as good or better than his turf form,” Mott said. “I guess he had some trouble in some of those [turf] races, but still.”

Wachtel said a decision on whether to run in the Travers would be made following South Bend’s next workout.

There are 18 nominations for the Travers. Those expected to run include Tiz the Law, the Florida Derby and Belmont Stakes winner; Uncle Chuck, winner of the Los Alamitos Derby; Country Grammer and Caracaro, the 1-2 finishers from the Grade 3 Peter Pan on July 16 at Saratoga; and Max Player, the third-place finisher from the Belmont Stakes.

On Monday at Belmont, Max Player worked six furlongs in 1:14.40 over the training track. He is expected to ship to Saratoga this week and have his final breeze for the race over the main track on Monday.