Sunday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Grand Opening can turn the tables on Mike Lee foes
Saratoga | Race 3 | Post Time 1:54 p.m. (ET)
Antonio of Venice (No. 1) figures to be a prohibitive favorite in this Mike Lee after winning three of his last four starts, all against stakes company. Those last two triumphs have been particularly impressive. He absolutely romped to an easy score in the Damon Runyon two back before beating a tougher field that included main rival Doc Sullivan in the Times Square division of the New York Stallion Series last time. He is going to be a handful in his current form. However, he’s facing one of the toughest fields he’s encountered during his career and now drew the rail, inside of at least one fellow speed.
A contested pace would enhance the chances of Doc Sullivan (No. 4), who settled for second behind Antonio of Venice when they met April 14. He was hitting his best stride too late that day, doing himself no favors by lugging in behind the leader when launching his run in upper stretch. That’s been a consistent problem for him, as he has a tendency to gravitate toward the rail in the stretch. That almost worked against him last time when he again lugged in behind tiring runners in upper stretch, but he was able to find a seam inside and rally to victory. This horse has real talent, but he may be best going slightly farther than this seven furlongs.
I’m instead trying to beat the favorite with a horse who might be able to get in front of him early. Grand Opening (No. 5) was unable to make the front over Antonio of Venice when they met in the Times Square, but he was making his career debut that day in a very ambitious spot. He got bumped away from the gate and was ridden passively to rate in behind the winner. He actually ran on well thereafter, despite spending much of his trip in tight quarters down inside. He subsequently broke more sharply when beating maiden company in his second start at Pimlico. He registered a 109 TimeformUS Speed Figure for that performance, which matches the best number Antonio of Venice has earned. This time he’s drawn outside of that main rival, and I would imagine the connections will look to be more aggressive here. I believe he’s as talented as anyone in this field, and he may now be ready to show it against this level of competition.