Top New York-bred turf runners meet again
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Lubash and Kharafa, two of the top New York-bred turf horses on this circuit, are likely to renew their rivalry in an $85,000 allowance race going a mile Sunday at Saratoga.
Kharafa has beaten Lubash in three of their last five meetings, but Lubash is coming off a performance in a similar race July 13 that his trainer, Christophe Clement, called “phenomenal.”
Boxed in along the inside until deep stretch, Junior Alvarado got Lubash outside, and he came with a powerful run to win by 2 1/4 lengths.
Clement expressed some concern about running back in three weeks, knowing that he wants to run back Lubash in another three weeks in the West Point Stakes here Aug. 24. Clement is also concerned about the forecast for rain.
“I’ve been spacing all his races by four or five weeks,” Clement said. “Now I’m running back in three weeks, which could be a mistake, knowing the New York-bred stakes comes back three weeks later. I got to think about that, think about the weather, think about everything, then make my mind up.”
Trainer Tim Hills entered Kharafa in Saturday’s Lure Stakes, but only in the event that this race didn’t fill. Hills said he plans to run Kharafa on Sunday and is looking forward to facing Lubash again.
“It’s all about the race flow, and I’m a little more adaptable to the race flow than he is,” Hills said. “It’s a pretty good rivalry. It’s usually whoever gets the best trip is the one who gets there. I think I have more tactical speed than he does, and in a big field, he’s more suspect to traffic than I am.”
Hills said he, too, is concerned about the weather, noting that Kharafa didn’t handle yielding ground well when second in the Forbidden Apple Stakes at Belmont on July 4.