Upstart targeting the big races

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – If trainer Rick Violette had any trepidation about running his top 2-year-old prospect Upstart on just nine days’ rest in last Sunday’s Funny Cide Stakes, it certainly prove unfounded. Upstart won the race for 2-year-old New York-breds in impressive fashion and earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure.

Now Violette will give Upstart a little time off before pointing him to either the one-mile Champagne at Belmont Park or the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, both on Oct. 4.

“He came out of the race good, so the decision now boils down to whether we want to keep him home for the Champagne or if we want to go two turns in the Breeders’ Futurity,” Violette said. “The hope being that if he runs well enough, he might warrant a trip to the West Coast for the Breeders’ Cup.”

Graeme Crackers seems okay

Violette reported that Graeme Crackers showed no signs of serious injury after being eased going barely a quarter-mile in Sunday’s Seeking the Ante Stakes.

“We haven’t found anything distinctive yet, but we’re still doing some tests,” Violette said on Tuesday. “Right now she’s walking, looking and acting good, so perhaps it was nothing more than a ‘she just kind of wrenched herself’ sort of deal.”

The Funny Cide and Seeking the Ante were two of the six statebred stakes on Sunday’s New York Showcase Day. It was the first time Showcase Day was run at Saratoga after previously being run at Belmont Park.

“I think it was a very good inaugural running of the Showcase Day at Saratoga, and hopefully something we can build on for next year,” said Violette, who is president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.