Twilight Eclipse pointed to Sword Dancer

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y – Twilight Eclipse, a troubled third last out in the Grade 2 United Nations at Monmouth Park, got the opportunity to stretch his legs over the main track here on Tuesday morning, breezing an easy half-mile in 51.53 seconds.

Twilight Eclipse is nominated to Saturday’s Grade 2 Bowling Green but will skip the race to await the Grade 1 Sword Dancer on Travers Day, Aug. 29.

“We just felt this might be a good time to give him a little break and get his feet back under him to come back for the fall campaign, starting with the Sword Dancer,” said trainer Tom Albertrani.

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Albertrani also has Ready for Rye nominated for a stakes on Saturday, the Grade 2 Amsterdam on the main track, but will wait to bring him back on the turf Aug. 6 going 5 1/2 furlongs in the Quick Call. In his only start on turf, Ready for Rye won a Belmont Park allowance sprint with a 96 Beyer on July 4.

“I thought his turf debut was super,” Albertrani said.

One horse who might be in the gate with Ready for Rye in the Quick Call is The Great War, a 3-year-old son of War Front. Trainer Wesley Ward had The Great War on a path to the Kentucky Derby until he bled and finished last as the odds-on favorite in the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park in late February. Ward was given The Great War to train following his fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

“We’ve done a lot of hyperbaric treatments with him since his last start, and he’s been in Kentucky doing well,” said Ward. “He’s nominated to both the Quick Call and the Amsterdam, and we’ll have to make a decision with him which way to go. Even though he’s made the majority of his starts on turf or artificial surfaces, I really believe he is just as good on the dirt.”

A small field is expected for the Amsterdam, with or without The Great War, and is likely to include Barbados, Holy Boss, March, Requite, and Victory Is Sweet.