Stakes-quality allowance attracts potential stars Mahaamel, Beau Liam
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher was planning to run Mahaamel in the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes on July 5 at Belmont Park. An illness forced him to miss that race.
Plan B is a first-level allowance Saturday at Saratoga that appears to have come up deeper than the Dwyer. The seven-furlong race, which goes as race 8, has a purse of $103,000.
“The race came up really tough, like a Grade 2,” Pletcher said.
Mahaamel finished second to First Captain when both debuted on April 24 at Belmont. Mahaamel, with blinkers added, came back to win his maiden by 3 1/4 lengths, earning a 99 Beyer Speed Figure.
When Mahaamel didn’t run in the Dwyer, First Captain did and won, making him 3 for 3.
Pletcher said that Mahaamel’s second start “was an improvement partly because of the blinkers.”
“That got him a little more focused,” Pletcher said. “He ran well the first time, he just ran into a very nice horse. . . . He’s trained like a stakes horse.”
Beau Liam ran like a stakes horse on May 29 at Churchill in his debut, winning by 7 1/2 lengths, running six furlongs in 1:08.62, and earning a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.
“A lot of horses work good, but who runs 1:08 and change?” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He was rolling along very comfortable.”
Asmussen isn’t thrilled that Beau Liam drew the rail for Saturday’s race.
“I’ll be interested in seeing how the racetrack plays the first two days, but he’s trained beautifully since,” Asmussen said. “He’s obviously had plenty of time to recover from that fast of a race first time, and he looks beautiful right now.”
Ten for Ten finished second in both the Grade 3 Nashua and Grade 2 Remsen last fall. Trainer Shug McGaughey said the horse wasn’t doing well during the winter so he turned him out. McGaughey said this seven-furlong race looked like a good place to start him back.
“I just want to get him started,” McGaughey said. “I didn’t have any idea it was going to turn out like this.”
Chad Brown runs both Crowded Trade and Witsel. Crowded Trade is dropping into an allowance and cutting back to one turn after running fifth in the Preakness.
“We were looking for a cutback and some class relief,” Brown said. “We accomplished the cutback; I don’t think we accomplished the class relief.”
Witsel is making his first start for Brown after a private purchase following a dynamic debut victory at Tampa Bay Downs in December.
“He needed a little bit of time, we knew, but he’s been training very good,” Brown said.