Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Skate to Heaven capable of better for Rice

Saratoga | Race 9 | Post Time 5:44 p.m. (ET)

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This race still sports one of the larger fields of the afternoon, despite coming off the turf. Among those in the main body of the field, Deputy Connect (#7) has the best dirt credentials. I wasn’t thrilled with his effort going nine furlongs here earlier in the meet, but that distance seems a bit far for him. The turnback to a mile should suit him, and his recent dirt speed figures put him squarely in the mix.

I had liked Yono (#6) on the turf and could still use him in exotics here now that it’s a dirt race. He obviously has more proven dirt form, but he’s a little cheaper than some others in here and I liked him with potential to improve on the grass. This spot could actually be tougher now.

The two main-track-only entrants obviously merit strong consideration, as both go out for Linda Rice. Most will default to South Street (#13), who ran pretty well off the claim for the new barn last time. This horse has never been the most reliable, but he did put in one of his good efforts in that July 1 allowance race, closing mildly against a much better field than this. He might have even bettered that result if he had been able to secure a clear path for the entire stretch run. He makes sense, but I have trouble trusting him at a short price.

I’m more intrigued by the other Rice entrant, Skate to Heaven (#14). This gelding showed real promise as a younger horse, earning a shot in the Grade 3 Lexington after winning a reasonably fast maiden race at Oaklawn Park in early 2022. Things obviously went awry for his prior trainer, as he failed to show up in that stakes and was equally ineffective in his appearance later that summer. He returned for new trainer William Walden nearly a year later at Horseshoe Indianapolis and put forth more of the same. Yet he might have needed that start off a layoff, as he showed some signs of life last time getting on turf at Ellis Park. I’m not convinced he’s really a turf horse, and now he switches into Rice’s barn while moving back up into a protected spot. Rice has excellent statistics in off-the-turf dirt routes at Saratoga, and this one figures to be a fair price.