SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Until such time as his connections find a suitable open-company stakes in which to run him, Spirit of St Louis figures to once again dominate a New York-bred stakes when he takes on four familiar foes in Sunday’s $200,000 West Point Handicap at Saratoga. Spirit of St Louis, a 5-year-old gelding by Medaglia d’Oro, is 6 for 7 on turf, including four consecutive victories in stakes. Spirit of St Louis’s success is not just confined to turf as he is 2 for 3 on dirt, including a 5 3/4-length victory in the off-the-turf Kingston Stakes run here in June. Most recently, he handily beat the same four horses he meets Sunday in the Hudson Valley Stakes on July 7 at Aqueduct. Chad Brown, who trains Spirit of St Louis for Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and Richard Schermerhorn, didn’t want to run Spirit of St Louis against stablemate Carl Spackler in the Fourstardave. The open-company Bernard Baruch run here Sept. 1 is only worth $150,000. “Always thought a lot of this horse,” Brown said. “He has age on his side as he was destined to be a better older horse.” Spirit of St Louis, who will be ridden by Manny Franco, carries 126 pounds and is spotting six to seven pounds to the remainder of the field. It shouldn’t matter. Dakota Gold has finished behind Spirit of St Louis in his last three starts, including a three-length loss in the Hudson Valley. :: Gain a competitive edge at Saratoga with DRF's premier handicapping data — purchase our meet packages today and bet with confidence. “I don’t think anyone wants to run against Chad’s horse, I mean he’s just so much the best,” said Danny Gargan, trainer of Dakota Gold. “We’re hoping by some miracle we can win, but if we run second he’ll have run good. He tries every time. I thought his last race was good, he kind of got stuck down on the inside and once he got out he come running. “That’s what he does, he likes to be on the outside and make a big run.” Dylan Davis rides Dakota Gold from the rail. City Man defeated Spirit of St Louis in last year’s West Point. He has finished behind Spirit of St Louis the last three times they’ve met, including the Hudson Valley, City Man’s only start of his 7-year-old season. Trainer Christophe Clement said this is an important race for City Man, who has won 11 of 33 starts and earned $1.25 million “He looks well, he’s sound, but this could be his last chance at this level,” Clement said. “He needs to step up.” Itsallcomintogetha, who set the pace but finished third in the Hudson Valley, and Jerry the Nipper, beaten by Spirit of St Louis four times since last October, complete the field. The West Point is carded as race 4 on an 11-race card that begins at 1:10 p.m. Yaddo Stakes Though not quite the monster that Spirit of St Louis is in the male turf division, Silver Skillet is rapidly becoming the dominant force in the New York-bred filly and mare turf division. She’ll seek her third straight stakes win in Sunday’s $200,000 Yaddo Stakes, which goes as race 9. Silver Skillet, a daughter of Liam’s Map trained by Clement for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, won the off-the-turf Mount Vernon here June 9, then won the Port Washington at Aqueduct by seven lengths, though she only defeated three rivals. Clement has already run Silver Skillet in open company and though she hasn’t won, she has been very competitive. Clement thought about running Silver Skillet in the $135,000 De La Rose here July 31, but felt that race was too close to the Yaddo. “The Yaddo is the main New York-bred filly race for the year,” Clement said. “She’s nice. She’s doing great. She’s got tactical speed. She’s a filly that will be suited by a faster track, firmer turf.” Trainer Jorge Abreu sends out the uncoupled pair of Moonage Daydream and Venti Valentine. Moonage Daydream won a New York-bred sprint race in May and then finished fourth of five in the Perfect Sting Stakes going a mile July 4. :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day. “She got a little tired stretching out from three-quarters to a mile first time and she was on the lead, she did most of the work,” Abreu said. “She’s been training pretty good. I think there’s only one horse to beat [Silver Skillet]. She’s the class of the race, but I like the way this filly’s training now. I think she can do mile and a sixteenth.” Venti Valentine is a 5-year-old mare who is 7 for 22 and earned nearly $900,000, but she has never raced on turf. Abreu said he didn’t have a good option for Venti Valentine and did like the way she worked on firm turf earlier this meet. Whatlovelookslike, fourth in last year’s Yaddo, hasn’t been out since a fourth in the Grade 3 Long Island on Nov. 12. Lisa’s Vision finished second to Silver Skillet in the Port Washington. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.