Sword Dancer gives Sadler's Joy chance to make amends

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The 7-year-old Sadler’s Joy appeared to get his first win of the year when he crossed the finish line first in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Stakes here on Aug. 1. But the horse veered in a path on two occasions in the stretch, and the stewards deemed he caused enough interference to warrant a disqualification from first to third.

Saturday, Sadler’s Joy will try again to get his first win of 2020 when he seeks his second victory in the Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer Stakes going 1 1/2 miles at Saratoga. This will be the fourth straight year Sadler’s Joy has run in the Sword Dancer, having won it in 2017 and getting beat a neck by Annals of Time when second in it last year.

:: DRF's Saratoga headquarters – Stakes schedule, previews, recaps, past performances, and more

Tom Albertrani, trainer of Sadler’s Joy, pointed out that in the 2019 Sword Dancer Annals of Time pushed Sadler’s Joy out a couple of paths “and there was no inquiry.”

Albertrani felt the incident in the Bowling Green could have gone either way.

“He was the best horse in the race,” Albertrani said. “It was a shame.”

Albertrani said he likes how Sadler’s Joy has trained since the Sword Dancer.

“He’s been really sharp,” Albertrani said.

Albertrani doesn’t like seeing a forecast that calls for an 80 percent chance of rain, which could soften up the turf course.

“He’s run on all different surfaces on grass between heavy and firm,” Albertrani said. “Ideally, we don’t want it to be a bog. If it got to be like that, we may not want to run.”

:: Get DRF's Betting Strategies for Saratoga's weekend cards

Javier Castellano, who was aboard in the Bowling Green, will be back on Sadler’s Joy again Saturday.

Sadler’s Joy drew the outside post in the eight-horse field. Inside of Sadler’s Joy, from the rail out, are Highland Sky, Aquaphobia, Marzo, Channel Maker, Corelli, Cross Border, and Pedro Cara.

The forecast for rain prompted New York racing officials to card the Grade 3, $100,000 Saranac Stakes for 3-year-olds as race 3.

Vanzzy, Bye Bye Melvin, and Irish Mias, the top three finishers from Monmouth Park’s Jersey Derby, are among the 11 entered in the Saranac, carded for one mile.